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“Hey Derek, what’s a Pack Mum?”
Derek almost dropped the bowl of popcorn he was holding. The pack had decided to have a movie night after the last battle with a satyr. Satyr were not the nice jovial beings depicted in myths and legends, instead they were vicious creatures who would attack any creature who walking into ‘their’ territory. The abduction of a young child had been the final straw, and they had set out to remove the creature form the preserve, and rescue the 5-year-old.
“Um.. well.. they are the carer of the pack. They are the one that supports the pack emotionally. They are sometimes called the ‘den maker’. They sort of balance out the Alpha.” Derek seemed startled and a little agitated about the question. Peter just sat smirking from his position on the stairs.
“Do all packs have them?”
“Most medium to large packs have one. They are sometimes the older wolves with experience but no longer wanting to fight any threats”
“Did your family have one?”
“Yeah, we did. It was my dad.”
“Wait, your dad? I didn’t realise he was around”
“He was, where do you think I came from…”
“I thought he perhaps died when you were young”
“No, he was there. Just didn’t often go into town.”
“What was he like?”
“He was warm. Comfy. Smelt like home, like freshly baked bread and these liquorish sweets he always had.”
“So, he was the pack-mum, and an Alpha mate? How does that work? Wasn’t he a guy?”
“Obviously he was a guy. The Alpha mate is not gender specific. That is why same packs use ‘den maker’. For us he was pack mum. Just like you get some male nurses called ‘Sister’. Wolves are not stuck with gender stereotypes. Those are a human thing”
“Was he a wolf?”
“No, Erik was human. And all the more deadly for it.” Chirped up Peter, “Nothing is scarier than a pack mum who is defending the pack’s cubs.”
“But I thought wolves are like a pack. You know; breeding pair and all that”
“That is just silly hunter propaganda, to paint us as just animals. We were a family, everything normal like that. Just with the added layer of pack.”
“So, what did everyone do? Like work wise, and in the pack?”
“Mum was the Alpha, the leader of the pack, but not like a dictator, just the leader. Then you have Dad, the Alpha Mate, who can also be the den-maker or the pack-mum, or the right hand.”
Stiles was starting to make notes in one of his various notebooks which were strewn across the loft.
“What’s a right hand?”
“Think of it as an advisor. They are usually the diplomat, the one who negotiates, and talks first before acting”
“Go on.” This was slightly muffled as Stiles already had a pen in his hand and on in his mouth.
“You then have a left-hand. They are the defender. But not as in fight everything. They are the silent protector. Peter was mum’s Left-Hand”
Stiles immediately looked over at Peter, who was inspecting his claws.
“I made sure the threat was stopped before it became a problem”
“Like an assassin?”
“If you like to think of it like that. Assassin, spy, guardian, the shadow, or the problem eliminator”
“Well, that explains a lot” Muttered Stiles
“Then you have an Emissary. They are healers, researchers, and often magic users within the pack. They also balance the territory.”
“So, Dr Deaton?”
“Yeah, he was my family’s emissary. Now it would likely be Lydia”
“Beta?”
“The rest of the pack is made up of Betas, that is a mix of people. Some human, others wolves, and also other supernatural beings who decide to join the pack. Kira, a kitsune, doesn’t need a pack but wants to be in one. I know of a pack in Romania which has a few vampires”
“I thought you guys don’t get on?”
“Perhaps not normally, but sometimes. Just depends on the pack really.”
“Okay… So, you have all of those, and then there are Omegas? The feral wolves without a pack?”
“No. A packless wolf is just that, a packless wolf. Can be between packs or had their pack destroyed, lots of reasons really”
“So, what is an omega?”
“Well humans say that is the runt, and the lowest member of the pack. They aren’t. Also, no modern pack uses the term anymore- it is considered rude and taboo. They are the playful one. So, help the pack relax and enjoy themselves. They bond tightly with the pack and keep it from getting to structured and rigid. Uncle Finn filled that role, and he was amazing. Best jokes ever and a real nerd. Loved computer games”
“I read something else, a Luna?”
“That is an extremely respectful term for the Alpha Mate, used by those external to the pack. So, when meeting another pack, they respect the Luna equally as much as the Alpha. He, or She, is always equal to the Alpha. No one would question a Luna.”
“Well, seems almost everything I read is wrong. Do you have any books or things about this sort of stuff?”
“I will look in the vault; we should have something. It will be helpful to you to know this sort of stuff” Peter said as he got up and headed out of the loft.
“When are you going to tell him? Tell him that he is the Alpha-Mate, that he is yours, that he is ours, that he is the heart of the pack” Peter said this under his voice, quiet enough so that only Derek could hear him as he walked down the stairs.