Chapter Text
Bruce hadn't planned on coming across a murder site when he left the den early this morning.
He had brought his first and oldest son, Damian, as well as the youngest pup of their pack. The later, named Jason, was finally allowed to hunt along with the two alphas and even though he had a lot to grasp, Bruce felt he was a fast learner and had done a lot of progress since the first time they took him out. Today, Jason had managed to hunt down a rabbit under the sharp eyes of his instructors. Skillfully placing one paw in front of the other, his body laying low and all muscles tense, he had stalked his prey and waited for the opportunity to throw himself out of his hideout and give it a fatal bite on the back of its neck. He had been carrying the body proudly in his mouth, until now.
The three of them had been on the trail of an unknown pack. It was the first time they smelled their scent on their territory and it was necessary for B. to meet them, to make sure they were only passing by and not being a potential threat. Otherwise, he and Damian would have to fight them out. This forest had been their territories for years, and it was going to be theirs for much more to come. However it seemed like someone had been faster than them and took care of the issue beforehand. Blood was splattered all over the area, against the trunk of trees, painting the leaves of familiar bushes and grass. The wind carried smells telling stories, the smell of fight between humans and wolves. The smell of gunpowder and fear. Most of the bodies were gone, but some had been left behind as if they were not good enough; too damaged to make acceptable trophies.
B. watched as Damian was walking around, his head low and warning his little adopted brother of the possible danger. "There could still be traps." He heard him growl. "We don't know if they will come back." Jason rolled his eyes when the oldest wasn't looking. He sniffed one of the bodies, his muzzle pressing against the greasy fur. The warmth was completely gone and the animal's limbs were stiff , yet the smell of the men was still clearly present. The massacre must have been recent - a few hours ago, which was making Jason confused. Why would humans attack a pack of wolves in the middle of the night ? Their eyes were not as developed, they were slow and clumsy and yet they had won the fight. The young wolf went to another body close by the one he had smelled. Muttering to himself, he noticed this one had tried to protect a litter of pups. "They're all dead."
He brushed all six of them with his muzzle. None of them were moving and Jason felt anger grow inside his stomach. Why would a creature be cruel enough to kill a mother and leave her and her offsprings for dead? The more he learned about humans, the more he hated them. A yelp took him out of his angry thoughts, a jump to the side and his fur erected along his spine, he looked back to the litter. Cries were coming from one of them, it was struggling between its siblings who blocked any of its movement. Jason called to B. and his older brother. "There's still one alive !" He looked back at the small creature and before he could add anything the two were next to him. He shifted so there was enough room for Bruce to examine the struggling puppy. He watched as the adult gently lifted the youngster who was now screaming and wriggling wildly. A feisty one. Jason couldn't help but feel amused. He kept his eyes locked on the pup as the Alpha placed him back on the floor. His ears and eyes were open, and his coat was a mixture of dark grey and black. His deep blue eyes stared at them, a high pitched growl making its way out of its tiny shaking body.
The three wolves looked at each other, then back at the no more than 3 weeks old puppy who was trying his best to reach the corpse of its mother as well as making itself fearsome by growling and complaining. "What do we do with it ?" Jason asked finally. He stared at the pup who had its face against the fur of its mother, probably looking for warmth and a teat that could fill its belly. He couldn't help but relate to the small being, for he too had lost his mother when he was young. He remembered his first time meeting Bruce, back when he was inexperienced and had been found stealing the freshly hunted pheasant. Luckily for him, Bruce did not try to kill him and offered him to join his pack instead. A rather small pack made of only 5 other wolves, but that was okay with him; Jason wasn't very comfortable in crowded spaces.
Damian turned around. "Do as you wish, father. But I am not going to babysit another brat. "
"Another brat ? Is he talking about ME ?" Jason thought. He threw a mean glare to the pure black wolf and wished he could reply back like he normally would back at the den. Too bad he had made a deal to keep himself well behaved so he could go on more hunts. But neither Bruce nor Damian could read his thoughts so this was okay if he sworn very loud in his head, wasn't it ?
"Jason, go get your rabbit. We're heading home."
The young pup screamed again as Bruce lifted him up, his jaw tight enough to hold him still but not so he would cause any trauma. He walked back to where Damian had disappeared and Jason hurried behind them once he collected his prize.
Once they got back to the den, the three males were greeted by a red sable coloured comrade. Wagging his tail at first, he slowly stopped and frowned as he noticed the pup in their Alpha's mouth. The little thing wasn't moving anymore, his four legs spread wide open he seemed to be stuck and had gone almost silent a while ago. Damian walked past the wolf, ignoring him completely and went to lay on his favourite spot from where he could see everything. He listened his father explain the situation to the two betas of their pack.
Tim was a little younger than him and was already there when Damian decided to leave his mother's pack to be at his father's side. Still, he saw Tim as a lower class than he was and did not show much respect to him. The other beta was the oldest of the whole group, even older than his father. His fur was grey and shaggy, he looked tired and very slim. Damian actually liked Alfred, he was resourceful and his knowledge surpassed everyone's - though Damian did not like to admit the later.
His eyes trailed after the young Jason, who walked to his usual spot and started chewing on the dead rabbit. He seemed ridiculously pleased with himself and Damian couldn't help but sigh at the sight. His attention went back to his father who handed the puppy over to Alfred so he could check for any wound, deformation or anomaly.
Tim observed the older wolf with great care.
Ever since Damian remembered, Tim was always following Alfred around. Always watching, always ready to learn something new so he could become a better Beta. Damian liked this side of the sable coated canine, this natural curiosity, this willingness to improve his skills - that was when he felt proud to have him in his pack.
The two older wovles talked with each other while the apparently healthy male pupp made his way in between Tim's legs who raised one of his front paw but remained in a sitting posture. The little whimpery guy rose on his back legs slightly and plunged his muzzle on the fur from Timmy's belly, looking for something he would never be able to find here.
"Ah!" Jason snorted loudly. "Looks like he sees you as his mom !"
Ears down and eyes squinted, the Beta sent little thunders to the snarky wolf before getting up without thinking twice. The young newcomer fell down and, now very upset, started to cry loudly.
"Oh my Dog, make it stop!" Jason growled, covering his ears. Damian groaned, his nap interrupted by all the noise. Surprisingly, Alfred and his father looked amused by the situation and did nothing to help.
"This is it." Damian thought. "We're gonna keep the moppet."
Much to his displeasure, there was nothing he could do to make the adult change their minds. He had been unhappy when they took in Jason, and even more so when he learned it was his duty to watch over him. Another wolf, another chance of getting another alpha. Another risk of having a rival and loose his position in the hierarchy. They still didn't know for sure what Jason was; still too young to have his first heat, and his scent had not fully developed yet. Now there was a new player on the board and he had to watch him grow and wait patiently until something would give in his nature. But for now, he wanted the scream to cease. He wanted him to shut up. And he wanted Jason to shut up too. Jumping from his high spot, the pure black wolf grabbed Jason's trophy by one of its legs. "Hey !" The wolf grunted before snapping his jaw into the flesh of the rabbit. They both started growling, ears low and warning eye contacts. The rabbit's meat couldn't hold together for much longer and Damian ended up with the freed leg - which he quickly gulped before Jason could protest anymore.
"Asshole!" He heard him bark but ignored for this time.
He pushed Tim out of the way, quickly echanged a look at his father and put his nose close by the pup's head. The little one looked up at him, sniffed the new scent and started licking the blood off his lips and Damian started contracting his abdomen. The two younger wolves watched as he processed to regurgitate the leg he had just eaten. He licked the extra saliva and bile off his lips and looked at the pup's reaction. Behind him, he could hear Jason swear.
"You fucking stole my food and just puked it all up ?!"
Once again, he ignored his grumpy brother as his new sibling sniffed the vomited pieces of meat and bones. To his satisfaction, he gave a lick at the mixture and proceeded to eat ravenously. Damian raised his head and looked at Tim dead in the eyes. "Omegas process the food of the youngs until they can eat on their own. Make sure you remember that." Tim looked back at the puppy, embarassed by the situation and wishing he could have Jason's foul mouthed for once.
Soon after that, Bruce summoned Alfred and Damian to come with him to meet the other pack leaders of the area. He had to report what had happened to their territory so everyone could keep a watchful eye. Jason wanted to come, he even threw a little tantrum about it but ended up staying anyway.
Before leaving, Damian looked back at his brothers. "You are responsible for the care of Grayson, don't do anything stupid for once.“
And with that he left.
The two remaining wolves looked at each other with the same perplexed expression. Grayson ? Did he mean the pup ? They looked at the small wolf who was still eating. Gray fur possibly inherited from his mother. Was this the reason behind the name ? They would never be sure. Damian always had a habit of finding names, even if you already came with one. To him, Jason was "Todd" and the later had drawn the conclusion it was because back when he joined the pack the frogs were singing all night long. He also called Tim "Drake", which Jason found hilarious and couldn't help but make quacking sounds to annoy his brother when he felt like it.
Tim had moved to the back of the den, carefully digging a hole big enough for him to lie in and deep enough that half of his body would not be visible. "The hell are you doing ?" Jason barked, looking at the mess of earth and small rocks pilling around.
The sable-coloured canine lifted his head, brows furrowed and unhappy with the tone his younger comrade was using. "I just remembered pregnant omegas from my previous pack, they used to dig holes during their pregnancy and would give birth to their pups there."
Jason sneered. "What, you're a Beta Timmy, you won't give birth to any pup. Did you forget that ?" His brother snapped his teeth, clearly annoyed with Jason's teasing.
"I am doing that so the new guy doesn't go wandering around. Instead of acting like a smartass you should be keeping an eye on him." Jason rolled his eyes, he was living with a bunch of grumpy party poopers who didn't know how to enjoy a little joke once in a while.
The puppy hadn't moved from his position, too busy on munching a big piece of regurgitated meat and whimpering incomprehensible complaints. Jason walked to him, still a little upset about being forced to share his meal with the new guy.
As he brought his nose close to the puppy's tail to give it a sniff, a long high pitched growl made its way inside his ears. "What the hell ?" He thought, looking at the thing not bigger than a fat rodent who was vibrating and pushing long, interrupted growls. This guy deserved a lesson.
"Hey listen now!" Jason pawed at him, making it cry as it lolled on its side and squirmed like a desperate bug stuck on its back. "There are rules here, and if you want to stay with us you better learn them quick !" The little guy wasn't listening but Jason was too excited to stop. Finally, he had lost the newbie status, he was going to be one of the big brothers and this made him feel proud. "You gotta respect your oldest, understood ? " The pupp kept making noises, but none seemed to be an answer to Jason’s question. Instead, as soon as the puppy got back on his feet, he struggled to walk away.
Jay's ears twisted as he heard the Beta laughing. How embarrassing ! He grabbed the pupp in his mouth, squishing a little too hard for the small's liking and, after loosening his grip, brought him to Tim's freshly dug hole. There, they both sat and looked at the pupp circling the edges, whimpering and squeaking until he let a very high pitched howl come out. It sounded so sad, a desperate call for his mom.
The siblings couldn't help but feel a stinging pain in their chest, their eyes locked on the now lying down neonate.
Tim was the first to make a move; gently, he lowered himself near the pupp and let him snuggle against his fur. Jason didn't felt like teasing him as the newborn searched for an available teat to suckle. Instead, he laid down close by and let himself doze off while listening to the little noises coming out of his little brother.