Word Count: 5435

The next morning Harper decided it was time to have a conversation with the sirens about wolf behavior, instinct, and reactions. Her run in with Sana proved that the sirens didn't have any idea what they were dealing with. Which made sense, they never learned anything about wild wolves the way human children do, they didn't even know what wolves were before they met them.

"Listen you guys," Harper started off as everyone finished breakfast. "I think we need to explain a few more things to you about wolves and our culture and instincts. It occurred to me yesterday, that you have no idea how we're going to react to some of your behavior or how you'll react to some of ours so I thought it would be a good idea to have a little Q&A session where we can compare cultures and explore some of the areas where there might be conflict."

Everyone at the table nodded, Hera and Mena exchanged an uncomfortable glance, but in a way they were relieved they would have this conversation, it would give them a chance to explain as well.

"First of all, like we talked about last night, wolves are pack animals," Harper started. "And as a pack we stick together, if you attack one of us, you're going to have to deal with all of us. If you offend, harass, or piss off one pack member, every pack member is going to know about it and remember it."

"That can potentially cause huge problems," Matt stepped in to add. "we as sirens don't have territories, or packs, or groups, so if there is a conflict between two people, it stays between those people. Not so with wolves, if two wolves from different packs have a confrontation, it can literally cause a war between the two packs."

"That actually happens often, there are pack wars all the time." Porter put in.

"Another important thing, that I wasn't aware of at first, is that the wolf side of a werewolf is a separate being than the human side," Eden said, smiling. "I was shocked to hear this, even more shocked to actually speak to the wolf spirit inside of Celie."

The sirens gaped at Eden as if he'd lost his mind.

"Yes, our wolf side is completely separate from us, we are two completely different spirits sharing one body. When we are in our human form, we are in control and our wolves are sort of in the back of our minds. They are intelligent and emotional beings; they understand what is going on in our world, but they don't usually get involved in it. I say usually, because sometimes they do. You have to remember the wolf spirit, though highly intelligent, is still an animal, with an animal's instincts and nature. They react differently to things than we do." Harper told them.

"And the stronger the person, the higher their rank, the stronger the wolf spirit, and they do have the power to take over and force us to shift in certain situations or force their will on us. They can be extremely hard to control, extremely hard. Pissing off someone's wolf spirit is really asking for trouble. Though they understand what's happening, they don't always understand consequences the way we do. They will take over and act, or attack if provoked, and we, the human, just have to deal with the fallout after they give us back control." Porter explained.

"Once we shift into our wolf form, they are in control, and we are in the back of their mind." Harper continued. "So if we are in our wolf form, you need to keep in mind that you are not dealing with the human you knew, you are dealing with a wolf. A true wolf. We're still in there, we still hear, and understand what is going on, and we can have some effect on the wolf's behavior, but we are not in charge. It's the same as when we are in our human form and we're in charge. Sometimes we can take control, sometimes we can exert our will on them, but it's extremely difficult to overpower the wolf spirit when we are in wolf form."

"So don't, under any circumstances, or for any reason, at any time, provoke one of us if we are in our wolf form, or if our wolves are in control," Porter said. "Because wolves are dominant and volatile creatures, and they will attack you if you provoke them."

"Wolves fight all the time for dominance," Celie explained. "We fight each other, even within packs, for slight offenses, higher rankings, and more respect, but we still stick together against outsiders. You could see two warriors beating the crap out of each other, say something insulting to one, and they'll stop fighting each other, both kick your ass, then go back to fighting each other. So even if Porter and I didn't get along, even if we fought constantly, we would still work together to kick someone's ass who provoked one of us."

"It's impossible not to get along with you, Cel," Porter chuckled.

"I think some would disagree," Celie smirked.

"Can you explain, please," Laro started. "What you mean by they are separate? I cannot understand this."

"Let's just show them, let the wolves out," Harper said, and grinned at the others.

The sirens sat shocked as the wolves came forward in their humans. All their eye colors changed, their posture changed as the wolves sat up proudly, the weight of their presence was heavy in the room.

Harper/Ria looked over the sirens with curiosity, until her eyes rested on Sana and her lip curled slightly.

"I am Ria," Harper's wolf said.

"I am Sira," Celie's wolf said, her voice stronger than it had ever been. She'd never had a rival before, now that she did she would show her strength.

"I am Madden," Porter's wolf said in a deep gravelly voice.

"I am Noah," Reese's wolf said.

"I am Lee," Alpha Lucas's wolf said.

"I am Connor," Adam's wolf said.

"You're honored to meet them, aren't you?" Matt prompted the stunned sirens. "They're easily offended if you're not respectful." Matt then whispered.

"Yes," Hera recovered her voice first and bowed her head. "We are very honored to meet you."

"As are we," Madden replied, with a slight nod. He was an alpha; he didn't bow his head to anyone.

With that the wolves retreated, everyone relaxed, and their eyes going back to their normal colors.

Mena gasped, her hand going to her chest now that the humans were back in control.

"That is...that is...just unbelievable," Hera said.

"To us, it's normal," Harper said, smiling a little. "I wouldn't know how to live without my wolf spirit, I would feel empty and alone without her."

"Our wolves are the most important thing to us, next to our mates, which we value equally." Alpha Lucas said.

"They are us," Celie said.

"They are always with us, they speak to us, they influence us in ways you will never understand," Reese explained. "If you ever see us stare off into space and seem to be not paying attention, we are either talking to our wolf, or mind linking each other. If you see our eyes flicker or change color completely our wolf is trying to come out or is out. If you are looking into the wolf's eyes, you are dealing with the wolf, not the person, even in human form."

"Everything we do, is affected by our wolves, if they don't approve of our actions, they let us know. Sometimes we even fight with them, because their nature is that of an animal, and we are humans. We have to rein them in a lot of time, their reactions are always very powerful." Adam said.

"So it will benefit you to remember that, when you deal with us, you are dealing with two very different beings," Harper said. "Though most of the time they stay dormant in our minds, they are still there, they listen to everything, they react to things that upset or anger them. Wolves are very sensitive creatures, they are easily offended, they are easily angered, they have strong emotions, it is best not to upset them."

"Another thing to remember is that there is a very specific, and very important hierarchy in a wolf pack," Porter said. "I know you've heard us refer to each other by our titles. My father is the current alpha of our pack, I will be alpha in a few weeks when my father passes the title to me at the full moon. Reese is the alpha of his pack, Lucas is the former alpha of their pack, and Adam is the beta of their pack. An Alpha is the ruler of the pack, the strongest and most powerful wolf, the Luna is the Alpha's mate, she is the strongest female of the pack. If you insult the alpha, or the Luna, the whole pack will attack you for that offense. After them the beta is the second strongest, along with their mate, then there is a gamma, after that are warriors, then regular pack wolves, then omega's."

"A wolf of a lower station will always submit to a more dominant wolf and will never dare to offend them, to do so is considered a challenge." Harper said. "If a person, wolf, or other being, offends a wolf, especially if that wolf feels the person is lower than they are, the wolf sees it as a challenge, and will fight, sometimes to the death, over the offense."

"We regularly have challenges over offenses," Reese said. "Within a pack, it's rare for the challenge to be to the death because every pack member is valued, and challenges are usually just to prove who is stronger and make the other submit. But if someone not considered pack challenges a wolf, the fight almost always ends in death."

"We humans, try to keep that under control, but sometimes if the offense is grievous enough, we can't stop the wolf from responding to the challenge and killing someone." Porter said. "Again, the more dominant the wolf, the more easily offended they are. They are more prone to see things as a challenge and need to assert their dominance over those weaker."

"That's one of the reasons we do our best to avoid humans," Adam said. "But it's usually easy to keep our wolves from killing a human over an offense, because the wolf considers them so far beneath us that they don't bother with them. It's like a mouse challenging the wolf, we ignore them because they are weak and ignorant and not worth our time."

"We're telling you all this because we want to avoid challenges," Harper said, her eyes steady on Sana. "You don't want to challenge a wolf, you will not like the result if the wolf emerges. Yes, you are stronger than humans, and stronger than our human form, but our wolves are vicious and are likely equal, or superior, in strength to you. My wolf and I have killed many tritons, female and male, so we are not afraid of your kind."

"In addition to that," Matt said, "wolves are raised and trained to fight in both forms from the time they are young and throughout their lives. So their fighting skills are most likely superior to yours. We can fight and win in the water, but on land, against a trained opponent, the only advantage we have is physical strength and that may not always be enough."

"You'll be dealing with a lot of wolves during the time you're here," Porter said. "We thought it would be a good idea to warn you, so you're not blindsided if you ever find yourself facing a pissed off wolf because you said the wrong thing to the wrong person."

"As a species, we're extremely aggressive, volatile, territorial, possessive, and easily offended. We, in this room, are actually some of the most laid back wolves you'll probably ever meet." Adam nodded to Sana. "In any other company, your comment yesterday, would have gotten you killed about ten seconds after the words left your mouth. Especially against a wolf as strong as Ria, you're lucky Harper has a lot of control."

Harper's eyes flashed amber and a soft growl came from her at the mention of the insult.

"I said I meant no offense," Sana said defensively.

"Yes, you did," Eden called her out.

"It was obvious," Matt agreed, "everyone knew exactly what you were referring to, we're not stupid Sana."

"Even though we are beasts." Harper smirked, letting them know she'd heard their conversation last night. She hadn't been eavesdropping, she'd been bringing up laundry, and they got a little loud and she did have werewolf hearing.

Sana'a face went red, and her jaw clenched in anger and embarrassment realizing everyone must know of Mena and Hera scolding her for her behavior.

"We're not trying to gang up on you here, or threaten you," Celie said. "We're warning you, because we know you don't understand what you're dealing with, and we really don't want anything to happen to any of you. You can like us or not like us, I honestly couldn't care less if you don't like me, my life will go on. But we don't want violence or for anyone to get seriously hurt, you or us."

"We want to work together and have a good relationship with no conflict," Harper said. "But we realized you really don't understand us, you've never been around our kind. Most people born on land have heard of wild wolves, have been educated on them because they are dangerous predators. But since you didn't grow up on land, you have not been exposed to them at all, and don't know anything about them as a species. Celie and I have been around Matt for a long time, we are familiar with your culture already, you're just not familiar with ours. So we thought it would be best for everyone if we gave you the information before anything happens that can't be fixed. It hadn't occurred to me that we might need to have this conversation, because every siren I've ever met has been super nice."

"Normally, we are," Hera said, throwing an annoyed glance at Sana.

"Yes, we pride ourselves on the fact that our civilization is non violent and respectful," Javen said. "Some have forgotten themselves because of the upsetting, and unusual, situation we find ourselves in."

"Understandable," Porter shrugged. "No harm done...yet. Which is why we're talking about this now. Is this going to be a conversation we need to have with every group of sirens we meet?"

"No," Mena, Hera, Javen, and Laro said together.

"Yes," Eden and Matt said at the same time.

"I doubt that will be necessary," Mena said. "But if it will make everyone more comfortable, I would not mind mentioning the basic facts to incoming sirens to make sure they are aware to tread carefully around your kind."

"We're planning on doing that going forward," Matt said, motioning to Eden. "We're the ones most familiar with wolf culture, we can probably answer any questions easier than you could."

"Ara has already mentioned speaking to anyone who arrives at the Keys pack to answer her calls," Eden said, indicating this discussion had been sanctioned by the other sirens present during the incident. "She and Sagan have been living in the same house with a dozens of wolves for a few days now, so she's learned quite a bit about wolf culture."

"I think she likes us," Celie laughed.

"She's of warrior blood, and a triton hunter," Hera smiled. "Of course, she will like being around a warrior species, you share a similar nature."

"She must have been very comfortable around you to leave her young in your care," Mena said. "She felt you were no threat to him at all."

"Of course, we're not," Celie said. "We would never hurt a child, even a raging wolf would never let anything happen to a child of any species. Well, a species that's not food anyway, rabbit and deer babies wouldn't have a shot. But if anything, our wolves are even more protective of pups than we are."

"Pups?" Javen asked, confused, making the rest of the table chuckle.

"Young," Celie laughed. "We call our young pups. All sirens seem to get a big kick out of us saying that."

"It's funny," Matt grinned. "I'm starting to see puppies when I look at kids now."

"You were always able to turn to wolves?" Laro asked. "Even as children?"

"We get our wolf spirit around the age of thirteen," Harper answered. "It's a little weird at first too, suddenly a stranger is talking in your head and knows your every thought. It takes a little getting used to, never having a private thought again."

"I've wanted to ask," Laro said, glancing around. "What does it feel like to change into something so different?"

"It hurts...at first," Porter snorted. "The first shift is the hardest, every bone in your body breaking, your skin ripping apart, your face changing shape, and it's hard to get back into your human form without someone helping you. But after you've shifted regularly it stops hurting, and it just sort of feels like when you're popping your fingers."

"Do you...uh...mate in your wolf form?" Hera asked, her face pink.

The wolves chuckled; this was a common question when people found out about wolves.

"Some do, some don't," Porter shrugged. "Depends on the couple and what they like. It feels good both ways. Do you mate in both forms?"

"Ah...yes," Hera said, her face going even redder, she hadn't thought about that question coming back at her.

"There would either be more sirens in the sea or all of them living on land if we could only mate in one form," Javen snickered.

"Tritons can only mate in human form, which is weird honestly," Matt said. "I've often wondered why that is for them, you would think they would have evolved the ability to mate at sea in their marine form by now. Also to be able to impregnate and produce offspring at any time instead of just during mating season."

"Further reason why their population is dwindling, and they are on the verge of extinction," Harper said.

"Well, this took half the day and I have shit I need to do, so you guys can continue without me," Celie stood up. "I'll be in my studio painting if you need me, since we're not on the boat I might as well get some work done, I have an exhibit in two months and I always run out of paintings."

"That's because they sell out the second you list them," Matt smiled, then turned to the sirens. "I don't know if we told you what the girls do, but Harper is a pediatric surgeon, she treats and operates on sick children. Celie here is an up and coming semi-famous artist, she paints pictures that will take your breath away. If you go into the formal living room you can see her work, the one of Harper in her wolf form howling at a full moon is my favorite."

"You painted that?" Hera turned to her; eyes wide. She had admired that picture since they arrived.

"Yep," Celie smiled. "I painted that one last year, I hung it in my gallery for a couple of months before I brought it home. I had people offer thousands of dollars for it, but it wasn't for sale, I just wanted to show it off for a while before I brought it home."

"That's a picture of Harper?" Javen asked surprised, he'd thought perhaps it was just a painting of a random wolf.

"Well, it's a painting of Ria, her wolf," Celie laughed. "Ria even sat and modeled for me so I could get it just right."

"She loved doing that," Harper chuckled. "She's asked me several times when you're going to paint her again."

"We'll talk about it Ri, I've got a few ideas," Celie said, winking at Harper. "I might be in the mood to paint something different, maybe I could use a male model."

"You want to paint my junk, huh?" Porter sighed. "You're like my big sister Cel, not sure I can flaunt the sausage and biscuits in front of you."

"I will never, ever, under any circumstances, ever, paint, draw, sketch, photograph, or even look at, your sausage and biscuits." Celie grimaced at the thought. "You were not the volunteer I was fishing for."