"Everything's fine, Geo," Tammy told him. "All the paperwork's sorted out, we finally have enough workers, and all the taxes are taken care of."

"Are you sure?" he asked her. He always doubted when they thought that everything was figured out. He didn't realize just how big of a mess his mother had left the business in before she signed it over to him. At first it seemed like she had sabotaged it before she left, but he had no clue if that was something she actually did. She never really liked doing the paperwork, so it could have just been a result of her being sloppy for years on end.

He was glad he had Tammy, though. She learned all the paperwork easily, calling all the people that they needed to get everything done. They had spent a year and a half now trying to get the business back to it's former glory, and Geo was proud to say that they might have even gotten it better than his father had it originally.

"Yes, I'm sure," Tammy rolled her eyes, typing away on the office computer. "Now, I need you to do me a favor."

"What?" he asked. He was still shocked that she could talk and type that fast at the same time. It was oddly satisfying to watch, though.

"Enjoy your damn vacation," she looked at him this time. She looked annoyed, but in a playful way. "I swear, if you call at all during the time your supposed to be with Shiro or Alex, I'm going to figure out where you went and punch you."

"You act like your punches could actually hurt me," Geo laughed. Tammy had never stopped being the bossy one out of all their friends. Shiro still loved her for it. She was a good friend, even if she was a little annoying sometimes. And she shined at the job that Geo gave her. The workers even quickly learned that she wasn't one to be messed with. She whipped a lot of them into shape when Geo wasn't there.

"Don't test me on that," she squinted her eyes at him. He knew it was all in jest though. They messed with each other like that all the time. "Now go, Geo. I can handle the business for a week."

"If anything happens-"

"I'll call you," she assured him. "Now will you please enjoy yourself?"

"Fine," he smiled. He said his farewells to everyone and walked out of the tiny office. He was really happy that he had gotten this business, even if it had happened for a messed up reason. He always wanted this business when he was younger. That was why he put so much effort into learning about how to run it when he was still in high school.

His mind wandered as he drove to his next destination. He hadn't heard from his mother since she ran from the pack. After all this time, he thought that she would have at least called him. Just to see how her only son was doing, or about the business. That was why he hadn't changed his phone number. But he supposed it was probably for the best. Knowing her, she would only have caused him grief with a phone call. And he really didn't have time to be laying in bed depressed about things that happened in the past.

There was one last thing he needed to take care of before he could go home and stay there for the week. Alex was probably going to tie him to the bed just so he didn't try and go to work or check on the pack. Him and Jett both did their best to make sure that Geo and Shiro didn't work too much. It was just difficult when working was all they had done when they were kids. When you're raised on always staying moving, it tends to be difficult to stop. That and once you did, you didn't really want to get back up and moving.

"Hey stranger," Miki greeted him at the pack house. She had a huge smile on her face. "Long time, no see."

"I see you all the time," he rolled his eyes at her. She was still one of his best friends. He usually went out to lunch with her and Tammy all the time since Alex had a different schedule for his lunch breaks. They all talked about everything that was going on. Most of the time it wasn't much, just a bunch of everyday things. As much as some might find that boring, Geo absolutely loved the mundane. It was a nice break from the craziness that was his childhood.

"Not at the pack house," she teased. "You ready for the patrol?"

"Always," he smirked at her. The one thing he hated about living in the city was that he wasn't able to be in his wolf form as often as he was before. Being in the patrol helped take away the uneasiness of that. Him and Alex got their patrol schedules matched up too so that they could still make time for each other. He was really excited for Geo's little vacation, though.

"Did you guys hear that Teddy found his mate?" another warrior asked. They were all getting ready for the patrol that night. It was going to be his last before his break.

"Oh, he's so happy," Geo shook his head. "I can't believe that it was someone from the Noble pack."

"An alpha, at that," Miki said. "They're going to make him Luna, from what I heard."

"He'll make a great one," Geo told her. He remembered when Teddy told him what had happened. He was a little worried at first, because no one had really heard from him. Teddy was always a talker. He got along with everyone he met, too. If they added the fact that he had helped Geo save Alpha Nir, he was sure that the Noble pack would accept him with open arms.

Shiro was going to be at his house while they were patrolling that night, but he really wasn't that far off. In his wolf form, he typically could be at the pack house within three minutes of them notifying him. And he was still around to give orders no matter what. It was a fun little medium that they had all worked on making, so that neither Alpha would have to be away from their packs or each other.

The patrol for that night wasn't too bad. He just enjoyed the feeling of running as a wolf, keeping his eye out for any danger lurking around. It was nice to run with his pack too. They all missed him if he was away for too long. Being in the city wasn't that bad, though. A lot of other members lived there too. It helped create more of a community for them.

His thoughts stopped wandering as soon as his warriors notified him of something. There was a strange scent and some moving figures crossing into their territory. He notified Shiro and made his way over to where the strangers were seen. It was at the outer edge of their territory, and Geo was the closest to it. Geo got to the spot first, greeted by the group of warriors that had first notified him of it.

The forest was dark, almost pitch black, but the scent coming from this small crowd was familiar. It reminded him of when he was much younger. The figures were hardly even shadows, they blended in so well. Their cloaks covered their whole beings. But they didn't seem that threatening. If anything, they merely seemed worried about something.

He growled lowly as a warning. The trees liked to echo a growl. It was the best way to try and scare any strangers away. They typically weren't nice. The group stopped. They must have heard the echo. Instead of running, though, they looked around. They seemed like they were there with a purpose.

"Warriors of the Reverence pack," a woman's voice echoed back to them. "It is Reji, the witch of the Healing Coven."

Reji? Geo remembered that name. She had helped to teach them how to create healing concoctions from the things that the forest grew. He remembered just how difficult it had been hiding her and her coven from Sakdah when they first came. Shiro didn't want him to know that he was learning from them. He probably would have just ordered them to kill them.

Geo walked out of the dense trees into the clearing that they were in. One of them had lit a lantern so that they could see. He slowly walked into the lit area, making sure that it was known that he wasn't there to harm them.

"I remember you," the cloaked woman in the front of the group said. "You came with your alpha to greet me the last time."

He wished he could transform, but he didn't want to in front of witches. All of them were women, and he had learned that most of them had never even been with a man. So, transforming into his naked human self might cause some unnecessary drama.

"Reji is back," he mind linked with Shiro. "You might want to change and put some clothes on. I'll keep them in place."

"Alright."

A part of him knew that they would be back eventually. Most of the things that they had traded helped with their potions, but there was one key ingredient that they could not grow. The tree sap from the BlackCreek forest was the last and most important ingredient to most of their concoctions. They had given them enough to last quite a while, but it had been a long time since they had been there last.

"Reji," another woman said. She sounded scared and unsure. "I don't know about this."

"They're friends," Reji assured. "They have helped us, and we have helped them."

"But I don't know if they could help us with this problem."

Another problem? Geo cocked his head. He wasn't sure what issue they had now, but Shiro would help them. They had given them a lot of knowledge that aided in their mission when they were younger. Geo doubted that Shiro would pass up helping them.

"Might I speak with your Alpha, wolf?" Reji looked to him again. "I must see him about an important matter."

Geo didn't grunt or move or anything. Instead, he sat down and continued to look at them. There was no way of telling them at the moment that they needed to wait just a little bit longer. He was just going to have to keep them occupied in the meantime.

"How do you know that's a werewolf?" another woman asked. "He seems too small to be one. They're typically large."

"I wouldn't underestimate these ones," Reji said. "They've been through a lot, from what I could tell when I first met them."

"Do you really think they're the best choice for this?" a younger woman's voice came from one of the cloaks. From her, Geo could smell something different. She was carrying something. It was nothing but a bundle of cloth, but it had a scent to it.

"If not then they can help," Reji told her. "Don't worry dear, nothing bad will come to us."

"It's not us I'm worried about," the woman held the bundle to her chest. It moved a little bit, but stayed quiet.

"I think you might want to hurry, Shiro," Geo told him.

"Is there danger?"

"No," he said. "But I think they have a werepup."

That was the only explanation to the smell that he was getting. He was surprised by how quiet the thing was. Babies are generally pretty loud. This one must have been a heavy sleeper.

"Reji," Shiro's voice came through the trees. He walked into the lit clearing wearing a simple robe. He smiled warmly at her. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

"I'm glad to see you as well, Shiro," Reji bowed a little. She had learned that it was their culture the last time she visited. "It's been quite a while."

"It has," he said. "Are you here to trade again?"

"That's partly the reason I traveled here," she nodded. She took off her hood to show the red head that they all remembered. There were some lines on her face to show her age, but her smile always made her seem ten times younger.

"Allow me to escort you to somewhere you may all rest your head," Shiro said. "There are many things to talk about."

"I don't have much time," Reji said. "Perhaps a few days, at most. But I wanted to ask for your help with something before anything else."

"Before getting rest?" Shiro asked her. "You all must be tired from traveling."

"We might need to continue our journey if we cannot get your help," Reji explained. "The true reason for our travels are too important to stay in one place for too long."

"I see," Shiro nodded. He looked at Geo for a second before turning back to her. "Then I assume this is about the child that you have with you?"

The younger woman immediately held the bundle tighter to her chest. They all seemed shocked that they had been able to figure out their cause for coming. But Reji just smiled at Shiro.

"You have always been bright, Shiro," she said. "Even when you were merely a child. That is why I thought I could trust you."

"What is the problem?" Shiro asked her.

"We came across him in our journeys," Reji explained. "He was about to get culled by the pack that he was in before. The woman that we could only guess was his mother got slayed for trying to protect him. She asked us to save him, so that he might have a better chance for a life than he did before."

The warriors were immediately curious when she gave her story. If a child was to get culled, then it meant that there was a health issue. Most packs didn't do that anymore, as it was very inhumane. Geo could only guess what that woman was feeling when she realized they were going to kill her baby. Their pack could relate to that story easily.

"How old is the boy?" Shiro asked.

"Two," Reji said. "We could take care of it for a little bit longer, but it won't be too long before he'll need a pack."

Geo tried to walk over there a little, but he was still in his wolf form. And the woman that was holding the small child was still very scared and protective of it. She noticed right away once he started moving closer to her and backed away from him.

"Let them see it, dear," Reji told her. "They need to see the child first."

"You have my word that no harm will come to the child," Shiro told them. They weren't ones to hurt kids, or any innocent beings for that matter.

The woman still seemed scared, but she listened to Reji. The bundle was lowered from her chest and slowly opened to show the child squirming. It was a cold night considering that winter was just around the corner. Geo went closer to her to look at it.

"It's blind," Geo said. He was shocked to see that in an infant. The boy's eyes were open, showing the cloudy white covering the blue that seemed to be the natural color. They must have given the boy something to keep him calm, because he didn't seem to be afraid of all the unknown things that were his new environment. The boy's hands were moving around, though. He seemed curious. It didn't take much for the small hand to feel Geo's muzzle as he dipped his head in a little too much. The baby giggled as soon as he felt his fur. Geo couldn't help but smile at it. He was one of the most adorable babies he had ever seen.

"It seems like he's taken a liking to you already," Reji said. He looked to see her smiling at him. "Your pack is the only one that has ever been kind to me and my people, Shiro. I was hoping that you would show the same mercy to this child that you have with me."

Geo looked at Shiro, finally getting out of the baby's grasp. He already knew what Shiro's answer was going to be just from seeing that smile on his face.

"If you would be willing to stay a few days," Shiro said. "I would like to gather some information on him. The other packs that are here won't harm you. There are plenty who might be willing to adopt him here, even with his disability."

"I can't stay unless it's for certain that you will take him," Reji said. "If not, then we must try and look elsewhere for a home for him. We cannot take care of him ourselves."

"He will be taken care of here," Shiro told her. "You have my word on that. I just wish to hear all the information that you've gotten about this child. You are, and will always be, welcomed guests because of the help you've given us."

Geo was going to try and nudge the woman to move in the direction of the pack house when a small hand grabbed his ear. The baby giggled and tugged on it. It surprised him, but he made no move to jerk away. That would only scare the little guy.

"Thank you," Reji bowed again. Then she motioned for her followers to walk with the warriors. As soon as the child was lifted back up to the woman, and she straightened to walk, he started crying. It was the first time he had heard the child cry that night. He really just wished he could hold him. He had learned from helping mothers of the pack out how to comfort a crying child.

All the warriors became more curious as time went on. They all wanted to see the child that these witches brought. Geo wouldn't be surprised if Jett wasn't on his way to see what had brought Shiro out of his house. They brought them to the first safe house they had so that they could rest before the trek all the way to the city. While they walked, Shiro told them all about the packs that were there and a few other things that he couldn't remember. He was too concerned with trying to make that baby smile when he moved that tiny face towards him. It only took a second for him to realize that it was him. He went close to him and stuck his nose up to the baby throughout the walk. Pretty soon he was a pile of giggles in the woman's hold. At least it helped her relax a little more around him.

Once they were in range of the safe house, Geo and a few of the other warriors raced ahead of them so that they could change forms and throw some clothes on. Miki was one of them. She looked just as curious as him about the child in question.

"Sorry to scare all of you when we first came," Geo told Reji when they walked towards the cabin.

"I knew I remembered you," Reji smiled at him again. "You haven't changed much in appearance it seems."

"Neither have you," Geo smiled at her. Then he heard more giggles. The baby reached out towards his direction. He couldn't have already recognized his voice, though. He only met him when in his wolf form.

Unless his sense of smell had been heightened due to his sight being gone.

The night soon turned into day as countless people came to the shed to see what was going on. Jett even came and introduced himself. Reji looked happy to see some more friendly faces. It seemed like they didn't have the best experiences with werewolves.

"It's not too often that we have friendly visitors," Jett told her. "This forest attracts a lot of dangerous beings."

"All cursed forests do," Reji told him. "As much as they attract bad, they can also bring good. I'm glad that the occupants of this forest are friendly at least."

"It took a long time to make it that way," Jett told her.

"Are you ever going to come out of that shed?" a familiar voice popped into his head. Geo had been so distracted he hadn't even noticed that the sun had started to come up. These witches mainly did everything at night, so it wasn't uncommon for them to stay up until the sun rose in the sky. They all seemed to open up to them a little more now that they knew that no one was going to hurt the child that they were protecting.

"Come in here," Geo told his mate. This was supposed to be his vacation, and he knew that Alex had already gotten to take his time off, but he wanted to stay just a little bit more. The witch that had the baby had let him hold him, and he really didn't feel like moving at that moment.

"You really know how to take care of kids," the woman said. She looked a lot happier now. "Don't you?"

"I helped a lot of the mothers that we had," Geo explained. "They get really fussy over the smallest of things."

"We had to give him a few sleeping aids just to keep him from getting upset," she told him. "Nothing that would hurt a child, of course. He really likes you, though. Every time you left or moved away, he started getting fussy."