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Oliver was nervous. For no reason other than the fact that it was his six-month-old son’s first outing with the pack at a full moon, and he had never transformed into his tiny wolf pup form anywhere other than the safety of the Queen mansion. Moira and Walter kept on trying to reassure him that everything was going to be fine. Quentin, Diggle, and Roy were going to be watching the perimeter of the pack’s clearing in the Gem Cities’ National Park, with Tommy, Laurel, and Thea backing them up. As Walter continued to repeat to him, everything was going to be completely safe and secure and there would be no threats whatsoever to his son.
The Alpha could tell that his mate was equally concerned, however. Usually, Felicity was pretty chilled out about their son. She had helped him make his first shift into his simply adorable fuzzy wolf pup form. She had let him practice pouncing with Roy and racing with Thea in the mansion gardens. The idea of Felicity being worried about this first outing with their son, just in turn made him even more anxious.
Jonas Robert Queen was currently being bounced contently on his mother’s lap in the back of their massive four-by-four, as Walter drove Oliver, Felicity, Jonas, Thea and Roy towards the National Park gates. Diggle was driving another SUV behind, with Laurel, Quentin, Moira and Tommy in the car with him. Every few minutes or so, Oliver would glance back at his son, his chest tightening for a few moments before he relaxed, seeing his sister and mate playing with the baby so happily.
They parked up on a bare patch of grass and Oliver made a low sound at the back of his throat. “Maybe Jonas would be better staying with Walter in a tent,” he suggested to Felicity, although he knew that he was going to be ignored.
Meeting Oliver’s eyes in the front mirror, the Alpha female lifted her head firmly and told him, “Oliver, we can’t hide him from the world forever. And he’s a wolf, it’s in his blood. He needs this experience.”
Oliver knew that she was right, but that didn’t make him feel any better. He took charge as Alpha almost instinctively, arranging a group to carry the supplies to the pack clearing, making a call to the park’s head of security to tell him they were locking the gates. Jonas was squealing excitedly in his mother’s arms, arms flapping about as he attempted to squirm out of her grasp to run free in the glass. It made all the adults chuckle, the sheer enthusiasm at which the young pup reacted to the new environment.
“Oliver.” The Alpha startled, realizing with a sheepish huff that he had been so focused on watching his son with his mate that he had halted in place and not done anything in the last few minutes. He turned with a small growl to see Quentin gazing at him with an uncharacteristically soft expression. “Jonas is going to have the time of his life. He’s going be fine.”
“You can’t know that,” flew out of the Alpha’s mouth in response.
“I’m pretty sure of it though,” Quentin replied. “We’re not going to let anything happen to him, Oliver.” And then, he added on the end as an afterthought, “You have my Word.”
Some of the tension in Oliver’s shoulders flowed out and he found that he was actually able to breathe better, knowing that the beta had promised him they would protect his son. He gave a small nod to the wolf before moving off to begin helping carry the canvas of the tent.
The entire campsite for the night was set up within an hour. There were three four-man tents pitched, with a small fire crackling at the edge of the clearing near Walter’s tent, far away enough that the flames wouldn’t startle the wolves. Food and water had been laid out around the area to encourage the pack to stay together and not drift off into the parkland to hunt. A small area on the fringes of the campsite with a pile of blankets, a nest of sorts, had been set up so the wolves could groom each other there if they wanted to. Everything was prepared, and with the full moon rising steadily in the tangerine and pink streaked dusk sky, Oliver gave his permission as the alpha for the pack to let loose.
He transformed first, slipping into his wolf form seamlessly and shaking out his dense dark grey fur. His ears pricked and he let out a low whine as Thea followed into her sleek red wolf form, Roy in his light brown wolf form not long behind her. Oliver saw Quentin, the black wolf, stretching, and out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the darkish brown Laurel and lighter grey Tommy nipping at each other’s hind legs to greet each other, which quickly turned into a mini fight. Diggle appeared out of nowhere, his russet form looming above the others as he growled at them to knock it out.
Moira appeared beside him in her whitish-grey form, tucking her tail beneath her elegantly as she settled on her haunches, watching Felicity and Jonas curiously. Felicity was sitting on the ground comfortably, still in her human form, with baby Jonas in her lap. The baby blinked up at his father in wolf form with wide, amazed eyes and squealed, reaching pudgy hands up to bury into his scruff. Oliver let out a comforting rumble as he buried his muzzle under his son’s chin before brushing against the crown of his mate’s head, crooning.
It didn’t take long for Felicity to encourage Jonas to transform into his puppy form. A haze shimmering the air, Oliver felt a rush in his blood as he observed his six-month-old son shifting into his tiny fluffy puppy form. He had mottled grey fur, as all wolf pups had, but there were a few patches of white and darker grey, and surprisingly some blond, dotted over his pelt. The pup tumbled over onto his belly, yapping at his mother excitedly. Within seconds, Felicity transformed as well, the silver she-wolf wrapping herself around the puppy and licking the fur at the top of his head.
“That is one adorable kid,” Tommy grinned, popping up next to Moira with his tail wagging furiously. “Hey, Jonas, it’s your Uncle Tommy! And - you don’t care about me.”
Oliver felt a burst of pride as the puppy staggered towards his father on overly large paws, tongue lolling out of his mouth and ears perked excitedly. Crouching down so he was more on Jonas’ level, Oliver let out a playful snarl, which Jonas responded to with a cute, tiny yip, tugging at his father’s left ear with tiny canines.
It didn’t hurt, but Oliver gave a small, submissive whimper to give the pup a boost of confidence, rolling over onto his back so that Jonas could jump onto his belly, smothering kisses over his dad’s face rather than pinning him.
“Jonas, come here, baby,” Felicity called to him softly, smiling as the pup immediately scrambled back towards to where the white wolf was lying relaxedly in the grass.
The puppy nuzzled her before bounding towards Laurel and Quentin, where they were watching, amused. After literally only a few seconds of prancing around them enthusiastically, Jonas stumbled over to his aunt and her mate, nipping at Roy’s muzzle and patting at Thea’s paws. He spent more time with Diggle, balancing on his hind legs to place his paws on the russet wolf’s shoulders, yapping. It only took a sharp call from Oliver, however, to prompt his son to return to his parents, where he engaged in a rough and tumble with Felicity, snapping at slightly taller blades of grass.
“That’s too cute,” Thea said, her whiskers twitching in amusement.
“Jonas, the grass isn’t food,” Felicity sighed. She swept him back towards her with one outstretched paw. “And you had a bowl of mashed banana barely an hour ago, you can’t be hungry.”
Diggle snorted, trotting past as he headed to the more heavily wooded area with Laurel, Tommy, and Quentin to begin a short perimeter check. “He’s Oliver’s son, he’s always hungry.”
Jonas whined, kneading Felicity’s stomach and trying to suckle. She nipped at him with a scolding growl and he whined, obviously thirsty. Exhaling, the Alpha picked up the pup by his scruff to try and distract him, as Felicity had already fed him twice today and was no doubt exhausted. Luckily, Walter had thought ahead and packed a bottle of milk Felicity had pumped earlier and stored in the fridge. The Brit took the pup from the wolf and propped him on his knee while he fed him. While Oliver and Felicity remained with the human and the pup, the rest of the pack bounded off into the trees to patrol the surrounding area. After he finished the bottle and had been burped, Jonas wriggled out of Walter’s grasp and ran towards his parents.
When Oliver leaned down to nudge their son towards his mother, Jonas dodged out of the way, stubby tail a blur as he trembled in elation. Raising an eyebrow, the Alpha placed a paw in front of himself, as if about to take a step towards the pup, and Jonas squealed and rolled over himself, away from them. He wanted to play. Oliver tried to pick him up again but the puppy squirmed out of his grip and crouched in front of him, giving a little snarl.
“Jonas,” Oliver said warningly, his ears flat against his skull. “Don’t -”
The puppy barked at him. Oliver blinked. Jonas’ ears perked up with a cheeky wolfy smile. Felicity rolled her eyes, pushing her body into her mate’s to shove the Alpha aside. If Jonas didn’t listen to his father, he would definitely listen to his mother.
“Come here, you little rascal,” Felicity laughed.
Jonas let Felicity scoop him up into his mouth. She was careful not to dig her canines into his skin too hard as she carried him over to the blanket nest. Dropping the puppy into the nest, Felicity motioned for Oliver to join them. He huffed, unhappy that his son had so easily let his mother catch him when he’d been so difficult with him, but he curled up next to his mate and pup, content to watch as the she-wolf groomed Jonas affectionately.
The lovely tranquility lasted for around ten minutes before the peace was shattered by Tommy bowling back into the clearing, yowling Jonas’ name. The puppy, who had been on the verge of falling asleep, immediately shot up and dashed towards his uncle. He kicked Oliver in the face and stepped on Felicity’s tail as he did so, but their son was so enthusiastic that they felt guilty telling him off about it.
“Come and play with your uncles and aunts!” Roy said, grabbing the pup by the scruff and slinging him up onto Tommy’s back. Laurel and Thea flanked Tommy and nosed at the puppy to make sure he wasn’t going to fall off. Diggle nudged him up when he started sliding down Tommy’s tail, covering the back. Jonas squeaked and dug his claws in at first, scared, but after he realized how high he was on Tommy’s back, he mewed happily. “That is…” Roy tucked his tail beneath his legs, “If it’s okay with the Alphas, of course.”
“It’s okay,” Felicity told him. “Just not too rough, alright?”
“Yes! Let’s go, buddy, I wanna teach you how to pounce properly with your full weight, so you can pin down your dad,” Tommy said, walking off with the other wolves, carefully balancing the puppy on his back.
“I’ll keep an eye on them,” Diggle reassured them.
“Thanks, Dig,” Felicity smiled.
Oliver was so intent on watching Jonas, a little worried about his pup slipping and falling, that he startled when Quentin and Moira cleared their throats, now standing beside the nest where the two Alphas were curled up together. He flicked an ear at them to indicate he was listening, while half of his attention remained on his son.
“Told you he’d be fine,” the black wolf said, a little smug.
“You did,” Oliver admitted. “I should have believed you. It was stupid of me to worry.”
“Worrying is a natural part of parenthood,” Moira reassured him. “I still worry about you and Thea, you know. Fortunately, I don’t have to as much now, not when you have Felicity to keep you out of trouble.”
Felicity grumbled under her breath, “Trust me, that’s a lot harder than it sounds.”
Oliver observed as Tommy demonstrated stalking to Jonas, who was sitting between Thea and Laurel about forty meters away, by creeping up on Roy. The puppy giggled adorably when the light grey wolf managed to jump onto the light brown wolf, but then Diggle leaped in from the side and pinned both of them down at the same time. The Alpha couldn’t help but grin, thumping his tail onto the ground.
“Having the pack’s support lessens my concern for him,” he said.
“Jonas is family,” Quentin nodded. “You are family. We protect our own.”
A triumphant, squeaky howl caused all of the adults to glance over at the other group. Jonas had Roy on his back and was bouncing on the wolf’s belly. His small forepaws were pressed into Roy’s chest. He’d obviously just successfully pounced onto his uncle. Laurel, Thea, and Diggle rushed to praise the pup, licking him generously while Tommy crowed about Jonas one day beating his father in Dominance Trials.
“I should probably go and supervise them before one of them gets a canine knocked out,” the Alpha said.
“John’s good at wrangling them,” Moira said.
“He is, but trying to control those four wolves and Jonas all at the same time is a very difficult task. I’d rather keep an eye on them just in case.”
“Yeah, me too.” Felicity heaved herself to her paws. “Next thing we know, Roy and Tommy will be teaching Jonas to bite more people.”
“And we just broke that habit out of him.”
“Jonas bit somebody?” Moira asked, alarmed. “A human?”
“The nurse giving him his vaccinations,” Oliver informed her. “It was funny.”
Felicity shot him a glare, her tail flicking agitatedly. “It was not funny.”
“It was kind of funny.”
“No, it really wasn’t.”
“I thought it was a little bit funny,” Oliver whispered to them, before he followed his mate over to the group. “Alright you guys, knock it off. If anybody is going to be teaching my son how to hunt and pounce, it’ll be me, as the best fighter.”
Thea scowled, placing one paw over her nephew’s head. “I think you’re forgetting who won the last Dominance Trials!”
“Oliver did,” Diggle deadpanned.
“- Who won the last Hunting Competition.”
“Oliver too.”
“- Cross Country Sprint.”
“Still Oliver.”
“Alright, we get it!” Thea rolled her eyes. “Oliver’s good at everything. Which is why he should let us teach Jonas basic hunting and fighting skills.”
Diggle stared at her. “That makes no sense whatsoever.”
Jonas escaped his aunt’s hold and ran over to his parents, nuzzling at them with soft purrs. Felicity guided the puppy back to the blanket den while Oliver aimed a pointed look at Diggle to monitor the rest of the pack. Rounding all of them up, Diggle led the wolves back out to the forest for a pack run to release their energy, with Quentin and Moira bringing up the rear. Although Jonas whimpered at first, wanting to follow the rest of the pack, he eventually turned back to his two Alpha parents and allowed them to finish grooming his fur.
“All those websites saying looking after a puppy is tiring were not exaggerating,” Felicity murmured. “I mean, I know he’s technically not a puppy we adopted because he’s our son, but he’s a baby werewolf so by definition he is a puppy.”
“I’d say he’s relatively tame for a baby werewolf,” Oliver responded, resting his head on his mate’s shoulder. “Mom told me that Thea and I wouldn’t stop running around and trashing things in the mansion when we were kids. I distinctly remember the first time Thea transformed into her wolf form - I’d just turned eleven, Thea was barely one. She was so excited that she ripped apart Mom’s favorite tablecloth and destroyed Dad’s best pair of shoes.” He glanced over at their puppy. “The worst thing Jonas has done -”
“- is get a little too well acquainted with our socks,” Felicity nodded.
Jonas’ ears flicked at the word ‘socks’ and he snuffled into his mother’s chest, nibbling at one of her paws gently.
“Oh yeah, he knows what those are,” Oliver chuckled. "Socks are your favorite chew toys, huh, bud?" He licked Jonas’ muzzle fondly, wrinkling his own a little bit at the taste of milk that was caked over his son’s whiskers. Yawning, Jonas licked him in return before returning to snuggling with Felicity. “We’re not the only tired ones. I think it’s nap time for the pup.”
“And for us? The others won't be back for half an hour or so, so we have time."
“I’m not arguing with that.”
The two Alphas shifted so they were cuddled up around each other, heads propped on each other’s flanks with Jonas nestled between their warm bodies. Dragging a blanket over them all, Oliver sighed blissfully, closing his eyes and beginning to drift off to sleep. He could feel his mate’s breathing evening out beneath him, her steady heartbeat soothing him. Content that his family was safe, happy and being cared for, the Alpha let himself slip into slumber.