On the Outskirts of Manhattan

Ava had to give it to Alex. He at least let his pack members in on werewolf news. He just wasn't nice to them. However, all of them knew who she was, and who she had almost been mated to. They understood who Greyson was, and the power that Ava had. But they never thought they would see her. Never in a million years did they expect to feel the urge to turn from their current leader and bow to the pretty, petite woman that stepped out of the car beside him, but that urge they did indeed feel.

Typically, after Ava left the pack in Grey Wolf Mountain, the Council had kept everything about Ava secret from where she lived and who she knew to how often they consulted with her throughout the year and so on. So naturally, the slowly rising pack in front of her didn't expect it when a small boy jumped out of the vehicle and grabbed onto his mother's hand possessively just as Dawson rounded the corner and stood protectively at her back. From the way Dawson stood so close to her, and the way she seemed to unconsciously move so that the man was flanking her, it looked almost like a family portrait. From the looks of things in the pack's perspective, after Greyson died, she'd found another man and made a family.

Dawson noticed the hostile, and interested looks, and noticed Ava getting restless. It was her wolf, of course, reacting to the skeptical glances being sent her way, but also a part of her wanted to tell the pack off. What kind of Alpha made their pack bow to them? It infuriated her.

Dawson placed his hand gently on her arm; the same way he had done while holding her back from hunting Logan those several years ago. He had a purpose then: to make sure the Grey Wolf Mountain pack was safely sheltered. He held a purpose now: Ava wasn't in charge here. She didn't hold the power to criticize Alex's rulings. However, it was useful. That comforting hand on her arm sent a comforting wave through Ava. Her body reacted to what Dawson was trying to portray. Her son was safe, he was protected and no one was challenging her; nothing would happen with Dawson around and as a leader, Alex held the right to get his pack to greet him any way he so chose.

Ava felt herself lean back into Dawson's chest. His arms came up to support her sides and he bent his head down to rest on top of hers. Somehow Ava still managed to look strong and in charge in such a stance that showed affection in front of the curious wolves in front of her.

“This is Ava,” Alex started. “Her along with a select group of wolves from across the country have joined our pack. There will be ten more wolves moving in here within the next few days, however the Council has to sort out their paperwork before the others join us. As you all know, Ava is particularly special to the Council, so they gave her a guard along for the ride.” There were a few chuckles around the large group of wolves. The idea of Ava needing a guard was something in itself. During the years that Ava had been gone from the werewolf community, rumours circulated that she was the most powerful wolf out there. That she contained so much power that the Council forced her away from werewolf society. There were rumours that Ava had killed a Council member, and then rumours that she had joined the Council. Rumours were the only thing that blocked the wolves from being surprised at the amount of power that radiated off of her.

Ava was surprised in herself. She hadn't been near wolves in over four years; well, besides Riley. She wasn't used to the amount of awed submission that they sent her way. The wolves in Grey Wolf Mountain never felt that way about her, not even when she first joined their ranks. She was beginning to understand that she wasn't the same person she had been back in that small town. Ava was beginning to understand that somehow, amazingly, her power might have grown. A lot.

“That's her son, Nolan.”

Dawson was a bit surprised that Alexander remembered Ava's son's name. Alex seemed to be the kind of guy who only remembered things for his own self interest. Dawson fleetingly wondered if Alex remembered this certain piece of information to get on Ava's good side, but cast that aside when the tracker embedded near his ear chirped. He was wanted back at the Council Chambers.

“Ava, I have to go back now.” Dawson caught her attention by placing his hand softly against her hip and whispering in her ear. The woman turned from the crowd to look at Dawson; something surprising in itself as many dominant wolves refused to turn away from large packs for fear that they would all attack. Ava, obviously, had no such fear.

“Okay, thanks for dropping me off,” she smiled at him softly as he handed over her keys. “Oh, do you need a ride back?” she asked, but he just grinned and burst into his brilliant white wolf in front of her and took off the way they had came. Nolan let out a shocked gasp and clapped excitedly.

“Mommy! He's just like you!” Nolan insisted, tugging on his mother's light jacket.

“Yeah baby,” Ava smiled down at her son before leaning down to pick him up and cradle him against her. She turned back to the group who had stood watching the exchange silently.

“Ava, let me lead you to your new home.”

***

The hotel-like building in front of her was almost exactly that; a hotel. There was a front desk with a receptionist, a lobby, a restaurant and a swimming pool. There was an elevator that led to several floors of the large building, and on those several floors were the living quarters of dozens of werewolf families. However, Ava was led into what appeared to be a courtyard that was surrounded by the hotel. There were three houses inside, surrounded by beautiful garden scenery and a small pond as if the three houses created a neighbourhood—even if it were a small one. The middle house was by far the largest and most intricate. As Ava walked and several men followed behind with her and Nolan's belongings, she observed the construction of another building. Originally there had been a generous plot of land besides the middle, large house. However, there appeared to be another house being built on the land.

“What are you building?” Ava asked, pointing.

“It's going to be a torture chamber.” Alex answered with a straight face.

Ava rolled her eyes. “And by “what are you building?” I really mean, “whose house is that going to be?””

Alex chuckled. “Yours. For now, you'll be staying in my place. Not for long hopefully. And I sure hope those continuous transformations are over with. Although it would be my pleasure to pin you to the ground with my strength and fawn over your naked body for hours, I'd rather get some work done.” He smirked at her. “Mine's obviously the huge building in front of you. Hope you don't get lost in my castle.”

Ava raised her brow at him, “Are you done yet?”

“Probably not,” he chuckled and walked over to his front door, letting it swing shut behind him, slamming in her face.

Ava turned to the suddenly uncomfortable men behind her and dropped Nolan's hand. “I've got the stuff from here.” One man opened his mouth to protest, but Ava's arms were already comfortably full and her son followed behind her with his own tiny suitcase. She shut the door softly behind her with a smile at the helpful men.

Alex was nowhere to be found once Ava and Nolan entered his house, so Ava took the time to take in her surroundings. Standing in the foyer and looking straight ahead appeared to be a kitchen and a dining room. The dining room held a sliding glass door that led to a beautiful backyard garden. However, the view of both the kitchen and the dining room were slightly obstructed by two large, adjacent staircases that led upstairs. To Ava's right was a large bathroom accommodated with everything except a shower or bath, and to her left was a dark walled family room which held the most up to date technology and the biggest mounted television Ava had ever seen or hoped to see. As a yoga instructor at her local gym, she didn't make much money and was always she was happy to see that her small, old fashioned television in her apartment wasn't turned on when she came home. She didn't want anything to result in a hike of her electricity bill.

Shrugging, Ava started toward one of the staircases, hoping to find a suitable room for Nolan and herself for a couple of days. Alex seemed sure that it wouldn't take longer than that for the house he had ordered to be build to be completed.

“Wait! I have blindfolds!” Alex stepped out from behind the staircases. He had apparently been in the kitchen. Not only did he hold blindfolds, but he also held a bottle of beer and what appeared to be a butcher's knife.

“We'll do without,” Ava continued, shifting the things in her arms to pull her son closer to her and up the stairs.

“Awh, you're no fun,” Alex chuckled, dropping the knife on the table and the fabric on the ground. “Find a room. You can even choose mine. The brat can sleep in the cupboard under the stairs.” Alex winked at Nolan.

Ava shot a look Alex's way and pressed at her son's back for him to continue up the stairs. The little boy simply giggled, and hurried up the stairs on all fours. By the time Ava caught up to him, he was already in the first room on the left. He had left the door open and had passed out face down on the king sized bed. Besides the boy and the bed, the room contained a dresser, an open door to an empty closet and a night stand. Ava set their things down gently, grabbed Nolan's stuffed wolf and placed it beside him before covering him up and laying down beside him. She took the time to think about how much their life had changed and how much she wished she could get her little boy back to his life without three hundred plus wolves, a cocky Alpha and the impending dangers that new life brought to them.

***

It was the next day before Ava decided to go out and meet the pack members. If this was the life she was forced to live, then she'd make the best of it. She knew she couldn't blame the rest of the wolves for the unfortunate change in her life. She was also aware that as a dominant and highly talked about new wolf in the pack, the other wolves would want to meet her. So taking her son's hand, she led him down the stairs of the house and was just getting ready to head out and find where breakfast was when Alex called to her from the kitchen. He held a steaming frying pan in one hand and a spatula in the other.

“Where are you going? I'm making breakfast,” he told her.

Ava stared at him for a second. “You're making us breakfast? Don't you have a communal breakfast?”

“Don't be ridiculous!” Alex scoffed, “I'm not your slave. I'm making me breakfast. You can make yours after and wash my dishes. And no one does communal breakfasts anymore. We all eat our own in our own rooms.” Alex chuckled, heading back to the kitchen area.

“Mommy, eggs?” Nolan looked up at his mother while rubbing his eyes.

“Sure baby, scrambled?” Alex was really starting to tick her off with his constant attitude. She couldn't understand how he had become an Alpha and stayed that way. From what she understood, Alpha's out in the real world usually changed constantly. There were packs that hardly held a leader for more than a few days at a time. It was the packs that held their leaders for more than a year that became notorious. According to Dawson, Alex would be considered notorious. Greyson had been a legend.

“I hear you get constant visits from the Council?” Alex asked as he ate his eggs and toast at the table. While Ava was pushing eggs around in the frying pan, he offered the kid a quarter of his toast which the boy accepted with a smile.

“Yes,” Ava answered. “It's supposed to be yearly, but sometimes it's monthly, sometimes more often than that,” she supplied.

“Expecting a visit any time soon?” Alex asked nonchalantly, as if he literally had no idea that Riley was planning to visit that very day and sit down for a meeting with the two of them.

Ava scooped the eggs onto a plate, popped the toast, added jam to it and cut it in four triangles for her son before turning to look at Alex. She placed the food in front of her son then looked at Alex. “Today.”

“Great. We have daycare for the kid,” he offered.

Ava nodded at him and sat down beside her son, running her hands through his short brown locks that curled slightly at the ends. She let the silence go on for several more moments before she got back up and started on the dishes.

Alex sighed, he moved to get up and tell her that she didn't actually need to do the dishes when his doorbell rang. His attention momentarily diverted when one of his most trusted Beta's—Blake—walked in and then diverted again when he was followed by another of Alex's Beta's; Jackson.

“What's up boys?” Alex sat back down, discreetly handing the little boy beside him the juice box of orange juice that he had yet to touch.

“Just got back from patrolling,” Blake commented. “Heard that I missed last night's introduction of the new mistress and her little punk,” he winked at Ava. Ava's eyes narrowed as she quickly assessed the new additions to the room. Blake was tall and extremely well built. He wore all darks, his almost-black hair was cut short and he displayed a welcoming, friendly and even joking grin. As far as Second in Command's went he wasn't half bad, or at least Ava assumed that was what he was (he was only the second she had come into contact with), he was infinitely better than the first. Beside him stood what appeared to be a similarly built man, but about five years younger with a touch of nerd. He wore a shirt with a picture of the Periodic Table covering the vast majority of it, and large black rimmed glasses adorned his face. He smiled at Ava and after several seconds stepped forward with his hand outstretched.

“I'm Jackson,” he smiled at her when she wiped her wet hand from the dishes on her pants and stepped forward to shake his hand. Blake was immediately beside him, reaching his hand out as well.

“And I'm Blake,” he grinned charmingly at her again.

“Nice to meet you both, I'm Ava, that's my son Nolan,” she motioned to the boy who had a juice box gripped tightly in both hands as he drank its entire contents in several deep gulps. Ava took the empty box away quickly and gave him a look. The little boy struggled down from his chair and walked first over to Blake and gave him a powerful hug for how small he was and then he did the same to Jackson, only he included pointing out Hydrogen on the chart listed on the man's shirt.

“Nice to meet you little buddy, we're here to give you and your Mommy a personal tour of the place. You up for it?” Blake asked the kid.

“Oh, thank you, but I have to finish these dishes first,” Ava answered quickly, Nolan gave a dramatic sigh and Alex rolled his eyes.

“Just leave them Ava, you can finish them later,” he told her in a sigh.

Looking conflicted, Ava looked from the dishes to her son and then back at the dishes. Eventually though, she grabbed the dish towel and dried her hands. “Okay baby,” she told her son, “Go put your shoes on then.”

***

As Ava found out, the members of Alex's pack didn't call the place they lived “the compound” like Ava was used to back in Grey Wold Mountain, but rather “the Base”. It was fitting since the Base was more of a large fortress surrounding several buildings and reminded her somewhat of a military fortress, while the compound had been more of a small town comprised of separate buildings and homes.

Nolan was laughing and making horse noises while getting a piggy back from Jackson who had lost his glasses to Nolan's face several minutes before. While this went on, Blake explained the lay of the fortress and a blind Jackson was being led by Nolan who could hardly see a thing through the older man's glasses.

“You'll have to tell me more about this “Beta” business,” Ava told Blake suddenly as they walked and he explained where everything was. He didn't expect her to remember much of it, if any at all. The Base was a big place, and it took new comers several weeks to understand even a small part of it.

“What do you mean by “Beta business”?” Blake chuckled lightly.

“The last and only pack that I interacted with had an Alpha, a Second in Command and a Commander in Chief.” Was Ava's answer.

“Oh...huh...” Blake paused, pressing his hand to the small of her back to guide her around a corner after Jackson and Nolan. “Well, I guess Beta's are kind of like Second in Command's. There are just more of us. Alex uses it as a promotion within the pack. Once you've proven yourself in defensive and offensive training as well as with loyalty to the pack, Alex promotes you. All the Beta's kind of have a running rivalry with each other. Each of us want to be the most important, each of us gets turned down by Alex when we ask to be Second in Command. Alex just rules differently,” Blake explained. “No Second in Commands for us.”

“You know...it bothers me that you guys treat him as royalty,” Ava commented softly. There was a long pause where no one talked. The two Beta's didn't know what to say. Ava had nothing else to say. Blake decided to break the silence.

“We have a daycare too, which is right here. There's a lot of other kids in there around Nolan's age, so I'm sure if you ever need some time to yourself, or need to work, then they'd be happy to take him...or you can just pass him off to Jackson,” Blake was telling her when suddenly Alex was walking toward them at a fast pace.

“What's up Lex? I though you were working in the security offices?” Blake asked.

“Change of plans,” Alex stated just as Ava noticed a distinctive figure in a long, dark cloak walking down the hallway toward her.

“Can you watch Nolan?” Ava asked quickly. She didn't give Jackson or Blake the chance to answer before she walked briskly forward, reaching her hand out to stop the man from getting any closer to her son. “Hi Riley, why don't we take this downstairs in a boardroom?” she asked civilly.

Laughing, Riley pulled the hood to his cloak off his face and beckoned his fingers backward, “I brought along a friend.”

Dawson stepped out of the shadows and smiled softly at the woman. He was surprised to feel pleasure at seeing her and her hostile smile. She smiled back at him quickly and then once Alex was at her side, she walked forward, forcing Riley to trail behind them.

Riley enjoyed Ava, she never let him think that he was in charge of her, in fact, she sometimes went so far as to expect Riley to follow her rules. For some reason, that very idea fascinated Riley; a woman being in charge of him. He knew the exact power that particular woman wielded, however Riley was also aware that he contained more than she did. But only a fraction more, and only within his mental capacities. He had made it that way. He could have, of course, made her infinitely more powerful than he was, but that was an idea that didn't sit well with Riley. Besides, no one else had ever come close to having the amount of power that Riley himself did, that was until Ava. She came quite close and, Riley was noting, her power seemed to grow every time he saw her. Daily, he realized, since he had seen her the day before. Riley had a brief amount of time to wonder if Ava's power would surpass his before Ava pushed a set of heavy double doors open easily, and walked them into an empty conference room.

“You remembered where the conference rooms were,” Alex noted out loud. “I'm impressed.” Ava ignored him and sat down at the head of the table. Riley chuckled at her obvious action of dominance.

“I'll only be here for awhile Ava, then I'll be sending Dawson to check up on you,” Riley spoke to her with a hint of amusement in his voice. He knew how much Ava didn't enjoy being in his company. Well, it wasn't entirely that, although he was sure Ava didn't particularly enjoy being ordered about by him. What Ava's problem was was that she didn't want the older, powerful wolf around her son. The same building was too close for her.

“Then, what are you here for?” Alex asked, sitting confidently to Ava's right, ignoring that she took the head of the table.

“I'm here to discuss Ava's place within your wolf pack,” Riley told the other man calmly. The other two waited for the Councilman to go on.

“Since Ava hasn't taken it upon herself to interrupt your comfortable lifestyle by challenging you to your place as Alpha,” Riley grinned as the woman opened her mouth, but he quickly continued before she could utter a word, “and since she most definitely doesn't want it, we need to propose her place within the confines of your pack. She is too powerful to sit back idly and watch things go on, she has too much moral capacities to sit back and watch it. What I'm proposing is that Ava become something like your co-Alpha.”

Alex stood from his chair quickly. It knocked over and fell backward in anger. “I run this place!” Alex's voice boomed back at the other man. “And I do a good job of it! I do not favour other wolves, in fact, I have Beta's for a reason; so I won't single out any wolf as better than the rest,” Alex took a breath and glared at Riley then turned and glared at Ava. “And I'm a damn good Alpha.”

“Actually Alexander,” Riley stood, and that simple motion seemed to propel Alex back into his seat. “I agree, you are a very good Alpha Male, however, Ava is also a very good Alpha.” Ava opened her mouth to point out that she had never been an Alpha before, but Riley quickly continued. “She is a powerful wolf, and her compassion directly contradicts your hard demeanour. And it is that which leads me to believe that together, you two could run the most powerful wolf pack in the world.”

Alex stood up. He was ready to protest the older man's idea when Riley placed his hands firmly on the table. “This is not an idea that you are free to dispute. As a member of the Council, I am setting this in place as a rule to be followed, a law per se. Do you have anything you'd like to add Ava?” Riley turned to the woman who was sitting in her powerful businesswoman position. She looked up from her folded hands and shook her head once, then stood.

“No, if that's all...?” she not so subtly hinted for the other man to leave her alone.

“Certainly, I have other business to attend to. However, I'll be leaving Dawson here for the rest of the day to watch over the two of you and to report back to me how you decide to rule together,” Riley smoothed out his jacket and turned from the table. “Oh, and Alexander?” the old wolf turned back slowly to look at the significantly younger wolf and grinned, “I will know if you don't obey me.” With that, the man walked leisurely out of the room.