like father like daughter.

Seventeen year old Hazel walked down the hall of the large mansion that the pack lived in, a book under her arm as she headed to her room. Her lessons, taught by one of the other females, had finished for the day, and so she was heading to her room for some time to herself.

For werewolves such as herself, the first transformation happened at eighteen, so it was something she hadn't experienced yet. After that, she would work around the mansion like the other females. She wouldn't be available for mating or breeding until after she turned twenty, and it was a big taboo for especially females to engage in any fraternization until then. When the males turned twenty, that was when they were eligible to begin leading.

Closing the door to her room behind her, Hazel curled up onto her bed, pulling a blanket around her as she began to read her book, expecting to have a few hours alone until dinner.

Matt walked down the hall to Hazel's room, having some news to share with her. He was extremely proud of his daughter, and he was honestly considering some other options for her other than what the typical theme was with the pack. She was doing fantastic in school, better than all his other girls, so he wanted to let her know that he was proud of her. It wasn't something he usually did, but ever since she was born, he'd taken a liking to her. She was sweet and charming and cute, and she reminded him of the daughter he'd always wanted when things weren't like the way they were now. He walked up to her door and reached up, knocking on it. He bit his lip as he stepped back, folding his arms across his chest as he waited for her to answer.

Hazel looked up from her book as she heard the knock on her door, adjusting herself so she was sitting up. "Come in!" She called, putting the bookmark back in, then setting the novel on a shelf near her bed. Pups didn't often have much interaction with their fathers, as the strict gender roles of the pack didn't make them the responsibility of the males, so it was special when the fathers did come to meet with their children. When her father entered, her eyes widened a little at seeing him. "Oh, hi..."

Matt offered her a kind smile as he walked into her room, shutting the door behind himself. "Hi Hazel," he greeted. "I heard that you're doing extremely well in school. Better than the other girls." He walked over and sat down on her bed, making himself comfortable. "That makes me very happy. And I'm very proud of you." It was always a competition between him and the guys to see which one of their children ended up doing the best, and it seemed that right now, Matt was winning with Hazel. He reached out and touched her cheek. Not only was she intelligent, but she was also beautiful, thanks to her mother. He pulled his hand away after a moment and cleared his throat. "So, I was thinking, and I don't do this very often, but how would you like to have the opportunity to visit a real college in about a year or so? Maybe take some classes of your choice?"

Hazel smiled, happy at her father's approval. She vaguely knew of the competition between the leaders, but she was happy to know that she was doing so well. She really liked her dad, he was kind and sweet, and whenever he'd been around, he'd always spoiled her, though not so much as to make her a brat. She felt like she had a special sort of affection for him, something special between the two of them. As the enjoyable touch of his warm hand left her cheek, her eyes widened at his offer. It was very rare for werewolves to interact with humans outside of the pack system, and to go on to higher education was something that only a few of the smartest wolves got to do, and those who went often obtained places of leadership within the pack. "I'd love to," Hazel said, a sweet, excited smile stretching across her face, revealing mirror dimples to her father. "Thank you so much!" She reached across and threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

Matt chuckled, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her back. "You're welcome," he said. "But don't tell your siblings. They'll get jealous and I won't hear the end of it." He smiled as he pulled away to look at her, sighing contently. She looked so much like her mother it killed him sometimes. At one point in time, he had actually been in love with the woman, but after time and so many children, they'd sort of drifted apart. And now she was only there when he needed her for mating season. It was unfortunate, but life went on. "You know, you remind me so much of your mother. You're smart, beautiful, kind-hearted. You have all her spunk and energy. You live every day as if it were better than the last, and it's something I've always envied." He thought for a moment. "Would you like to join me for dinner? We're having steaks."

"I won't," Hazel promised. Her siblings definitely wouldn't hear; that would definitely be disasterous, as there were some siblings that were far more competative than Hazel was. As she gazed at her father, who seemed to be studying her face intently, she thought to herself that he really was a handsome man, and she was lucky to have him as a father. Some of the other leaders were much more distant and impersonal. She blushed and grinned at her father, giggling a little, enjoying his compliments. "I'd love to join you for dinner...." She said, getting out of bed, still feeling warm and happy from her father's kind words. What he thought of her meant so much to her.

"Great," Matt said as he stood up. "Dinner is at seven, and I'll expect you to be wearing something formal." He smiled at her, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead. "Keep up the great work, Hazel. I'm really proud of you." He patted her arm before he left the room, shutting the door behind himself. He walked downstairs to the living room, sitting down on one of the couches and thinking to himself for a bit. Maybe he should really start spending more time with his children. None of them really spent a lot of time with their children, but maybe he could make a change about that. Out of all the men, he was definitely the most family-oriented, although he tried to keep his distance. He was still a man, after all. He couldn't let the women run his life.

Hazel felt glowy and excited for the remainder of the time towards dinner. Her dad was so proud of her, and she was so lucky- leaders had many children, and for a female pup to gain the approval of her father was incredibly rare. If the leaders took and interest it was always in a male pup, so they could train him to lead.

For a few hours, she continued to read, then brushed her hair, and put on a pretty, formal navy blue dress. Now that it was almost dinner time, she was nervous. She'd never had dinner with the leaders before.

Brian strolled down the hall towards the dining room, looking over at Matt as he passed him. "Hey man, how's it going?"

Matt looked up at Brian and grinned. "Hey, man," he greeted. "Everything's good for me. My daughter will be joining us tonight. I hope you don't mind. Keep your eyes to yourself." He knew how Brian could get. The man wanted to put his dick in anything. And while Matt might not care about any other woman, he certainly cared about Brian putting his dick into any of his daughters. He smiled when Jimmy joined them, soon followed by Zack and Johnny. He greeted his brothers, glad to see they were all still doing very well. He stood up, walking over and standing at the door, awaiting Hazel's arrival. He had to wait for her so that he could shut the doors after she got in.

Brian leaned back in his chair, smirking at Matt. "I don't have many limits, you know that man, but even I wouldn't go for a female under breeding age, it's not the fact that it's your daughter that holds me back." He knew that it would get under Matt's skin a little, which was why he said it.

Hazel walked to the meeting room that also was usually used as a dining room for the leaders, feeling more and more nervous. She was intimidated by the leaders, and as she reached the room she felt a little better as she saw her father immediately and smiled, following him into the meeting room.

Matt rolled his eyes at what Brian said, shaking his head. He smiled when he saw Hazel, leading her in and shutting the doors behind them. He sat down in his chair, watching her as she sat next to him. He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair, sighing softly. He was extremely exhausted after a long day of training his sons. The years leading up to their 18th birthdays were all training and education. He had to train them to prepare them for what was to come when they turned 18 and after that. His son Logan was the first one of the bunch who would turn 18. That was in two weeks. So he'd been spending extra time with the boy to prep him. So to say he was tired was an understatement. But he still tried to be awake for his dinner guest as well as his brothers.

Hazel sat in her chair, crossing her legs as she scooted in, glancing around the table at the other men, then back at her place at the table. She felt a little out of place, and she could tell by the way that the leaders were glancing at each other, they were questioning her father's choice. She had no future in leadership. She glanced at her father, and noticed the bags under his eyes- he hadn't looked so tired earlier. A door in another part of the room opened, and some of the women who worked in the kitchen entered, placing bowls of food on the table. A couple of the guys thanked them, and started to load food on their plates.

"So I've started contact with the pack to the north, after the new batch of kids go through their transformation, we might trade a few with them," Zacky said, sipping his drink and eating some mashed potatoes. Most packs that had truces often had children traded between the two to prevent inbreeding, and in the two years between transformation and either breeding or leadership, the wolves often chose whether to stay with their pack, or go to a different one.
@urie.

Matt raised an eyebrow as he looked at Zacky. Sure, the other four men might not share sentimental value with their children, but he certainly did. The last thing he wanted was to be sending his children away and receiving one he didn't even know the name of much less who they were as a person. He wasn't a fan of outsiders. That's why he wished the other four would do things the way he did; let his son choose a female from another pack, sign a contract with their alpha, ensuring that each pack would at least receive one of the pups. It had been working for a while, and everything was fine. But then again, he had been the one that granted his brothers the freedom to do what they wanted with their children. Maybe that had been a mistake.

As Hazel listened, she thought about what they were saying- it was clearly much different, and more impersonal when this was dealt with by the males. Some girls were sent off to other packs, some fell in love with others from other packs, some stayed. Hazel had decided long ago that she wanted to stay. She didn't want to be away from her father, the thought made her scared and sad.

Zacky shrugged. He knew Matt's views. "Doesn't have to be your kids." Jimmy nodded. "Though this one," he gestured at Hazel, his mouth still full of food, "she might be a good one to send off, she's pretty and smart, would make an excellent way to keep the peace between some of the tribes we aren't on as good terms with."

Hazel's eyes widened. She wasn't used to being talked about as if she wasn't there, and she'd heard how some of the packs were much more violent and rough than the others. She was beginning to lose her appatite.

Matt narrowed his eyes slightly. "Don't you dare say a thing like that," he said sternly. "My method works just fine. If you four feel comfortable shipping your offspring off to god only knows where and never hearing from them again, that's up to you. But don't bring mine into it. I care for my children. I don't use them as a means to keep peace between packs. If we want to keep peace, we grow a pair and talk to them like the men we are. We don't use people. We're classier than that." He stabbed his fork into the center of his steak, placing his palms on the table to keep himself calm. He easily got riled up about subjects that were dear to him. They might think of him as weak for caring about his family, but honestly he didn't care. There was a reason he was alpha and they weren't.

"It's not like we never hear from them." Zacky said, unphased by Matt's obvious displeasure. "And other packs do it Matt. It's kind of tradition. Plus, maybe you'd like to be in the women's area of the house, since you seem to be so attached to your kids," He teased. "But whatever. What are your plans for this one?"

Hazel watched her father, feeling even more intimidated by the other men. She felt safe with her father, but she felt like the others didn't view her as a person.

Matt chuckled at Zacky's words, standing up and looking at the four men across the table. "Maybe I would like to be in the women's area," he said. "Would you four like to join the toddlers? I could easily make that happen. Or maybe you'd like to be kicked out altogether? I know a few packs that would love to eat you up. You four are lucky to have me. I could send you out right now and you would be completely lost. So if I hear another fucking word about this, I won't hesitate to put you out on your asses." He narrowed his eyes as he stared them down. "Are we clear, men?" When none of them had anything to say, he sat back down in his seat. "Good. I'm glad we're on the same page." He looked over at Hazel, offering her a kind smile. "Dig in." He looked back over at his brothers, clearing his throat. "My plans for Hazel are to send her off to a college, where she could get a real education. She can take whatever classes she pleases, because she's incredibly smart and talented. And when she's ready to come back home, she can. And maybe she'll find a boy she'll want to mate with. But that's her decision."

The men knew when they had to submit to their alpha, and they stared at their food. "It's been a long time since we've let someone into the world outside the pack..." Johnny commented softly, showing a little bit of approval towards Matt's words. They did go out to get food regularly, but they never were actually a part of the world outside of werewolves.

Hazel smiled at her father, truly appreciating the way he was standing up for her, and wanted to give her a future. She started to eat again, feeling a little better.

"Out east, there's rumors that there are some packs that are letting women start to lead." Brian said, glancing at Matt.