Silver Moon: A Change

This chapter was originally unedited as were the first few chapters. I received a sort of random e-mail from Captain Siren with some really good feedback. She is a voluntary editor and really helped me clean this up so it flows better. I was both startled and pleased when she offered to help me make the chapter flow smoother. I hope the changes we made do help to make it easier to read.

This is a pure work of fiction and all aspects are from my own imagination though some parts will probably sound similar depending on how much fantasy reading you have done.

If you have any problems with what I am typing let me know but if you are only going to give crappy feedback as in 'it sucks' then go frost yourself and hope you need a new wanker... Now if you have some positive feedback please let me know.

I want to thank Somaluna for reviewing the chapters for mistakes and offering suggestions on better wording. All sex or sexual relationships are 18+. Enjoy.

I want to thank Somaluna for reviewing the chapters for mistakes and offering suggestions on better wording. All sex or sexual relationships are 18+. Enjoy.

I am going to briefly comment on my view of lycans and how they differ from humans. This is being added to the newly edited first chapter. The comment was posted by an Anonymous user who was too scared to use his/her login. The comment was in chapter 2 of the Geoff and Mari spin off.

First off I am going to briefly touch on how I view wolves and then lycan's in general. Wolves and dogs tend to be very gregarious creatures. Have you ever seen dogs pile in a dog pile while sleeping? Walk past each other and randomly lick the others muzzle? The same could be said for cats as well. This is very normal for dogs and wolves. In winter it helps keep them warm. Now with Lycan's they have a wolf half and have much the same actions as normal canines or lupines.

Second how many of you have children? I have three though they are now all adults. I remember when my children were little and if they had a nightmare we would tuck them in with us for the rest of the night. Granted the pups weren't having nightmares but is their crawling in with him and Mari any different? Same goes for bathing them. My ex and I bathed our children till they were about 5ish and we were sure they knew to clean all of their bodies including their bottoms and groin. If that idea bothers you then I feel sorry for you.

Third lycans are very tactile in my universe. This does not mean that when Dan hugs a guy he is feeling him up or when he comforts a pup he is going for something sexual. If your mind automatically goes that way again I feel sorry for you. This is another reason for random touches as they walk past each other and all it means is they are keeping the pack bonds up. There isn't anything sexual to it.

Fourth I will say when it came to the shower scenes I did consider whether to include them or not. I finally decided that they added more than they might detract. Again going from personal experience I have known several people who did shower with their children till they were somewhat older. Mind you when I say older I am still talking 5 and under.

Fifth when it comes to nudity again we are talking werewolves. They are trained from a very young age to strip before they change to keep from ruining their clothing. There is nothing sexual with this, simply common sense. To them it would be like going to a nudist beach and taking their clothes off before hopping in the water. There isn't any stigma or wrongness connected with it. Since some people did complain I did stop mentioning stripping and simply started saying they 'changed form' for the most part. If this still bothers you then I strongly suggest that you are the one with issues and not me. I do hope what I have had to say has some sort of impact on how those of you who have some issues view my stories but if not then I will politely invite you to read other stories that don't upset your little confined world.

Now having said all this above I hope you can see past what would be considered human notions and see that yes they have human bodies but they don't always react as humans. They are lycan's and some of their actions and reactions won't be the same. There isn't any underage sex or even vague hints of underage sexual relationships. Yes I did make a point of writing that Paulo and Sylvia are to be mates but I made a specific point of Dan saying they were not going to mate till they are over 18.

*

It seemed like he had been running forever, but no matter how long he ran and how fast, Dan never seemed to be able to outrun the pain that was residing in his heart. It hadn't even been a week since his family had been destroyed by that damn drunk driver. If the bastard who had been celebrating a him into shreds for what he had done.

~A week earlier~

When Dan rolled out of bed he had to smile since Nang muttered at him. She usually did since he tended to get up a bit earlier than she did so he could get some exercise in. After pulling on his shorts and a shirt, he leaned over and gave her a peck before leaving the room. His morning exercise tended to consist of weights, the daily dozen, and a good run. By the time he was back, Nang would have Allie and Ana up.

Nang's morning cue to rise was the kiss Dan always planted on her before he went out to run. Once she was showered and dressed, she would wake the girls and gt them ready to take to school. As usual, they were dressed just about the time got back, and just to be a stinker, he pretended to try and catch them for a sweaty hug. The girls squealed and ran away from him so they didn't get any sweat on them. It was part of their morning routine which he, and they, enjoyed. This was sort of his time to just be a father and not the Alpha.

After a quick shower, Dan came out and gave them a quick hug and peck. Mary had delivered breakfast since she also lived in the house and keep it clean as well as doing much of the cooking. Nang usually helped with dinner so Mary would have a break from doing all the cooking.

Once they had eaten Dan scooped the girls up and gave them another hug and kiss as his daily goodbye before handing them over to Nang to take to school. Then he headed downstairs to see what pack issues he needed to deal with before heading to his business.

Nang packed the girls into the car and made sure their booster seats were securely fastened. She couldn't help but smile at the girls and gave both of them a hug. "I hope you have a good day at school. I or one of the pack will pick you up at noon." Allie was six and in Kindergarten, and Ana was four and going to preschool.

Brown-skinned with black eyes and hair, both girls had gotten their looks from their mother, who was from Malaysia. Allie had gotten some of her size from her father and was a bit more on the tall side, while Ana was more like her mother and was a petite little girl.

Allie wrinkled her nose at her mother. "You say that every day, mommy." It was a routine for them, and for some reason it made Allie giggle as she returned the hug before grabbing her cup of water and taking a sip.

Ana simply returned the hug and sort of played with the extra bit of seat belt. She was pretty shy, which was one reason she was going to preschool, to see if she would interact a bit more with other children.

Once Nang was sure they were secured in the seats, she climbed in. After a quick check to make sure everything was working, she left the house and headed towards town. They lived in the pack house on a large piece of land that backed on a national forest so they didn't have to worry about it being turned into tract housing in the near future. The actual den was completely separate from the house.

As far as the pack house, any of the pack could come by and relax in the pack side whenever being around humans got to be too much or they simply wanted to relax. Dan's side of the house was off limits unless they needed to talk to him or his mate, and he always had an open door policy. Many of the pack lived in the city where they worked. Several worked for him, several in private security, others in banks and whatever else might tickle them. Their submissive even worked in a flower shop, which was actually sort of nice since she would occasionally bring home some lovely arrangements for the table.

As Nang was approaching town, she came to the first of a number of stoplights and smiled when it was green since she was running a bit late. If she hadn't been in such a hurry she might have seen the black Suburban that was coming down the cross street, but it probably wouldn't have mattered. As she was going through the light something made her look -- the last thing she saw was a massive grill and then everything went dark.

***

About that time, Dan was in the common side of the pack house with his Beta and one of the other senior wolves. Last night had been a full moon, and as was the habit in his pack, the morning after a moon night he would sit down with his Beta and one or two other senior pack members and discuss any issues or problems that might have come up since the last moon night. Today they were talking about one of the pack, George, who was getting a bit uppity, and that there was probably going to be a challenge.

"...Well if he is feeling that froggy, he is close enough to the top that it wouldn't be untoward for me to convince him to challenge me and beat him into the gr..." Dan never got the chance to finish that statement. When he felt the bonds with his wife and children snap, his head snapped back and a wild keening came from his mouth as both he and his wolf reacted to the loss of their family.

Those in the room froze for a moment as she died and then they keened as well. The loss of one pack member was bad but when it was an Alpha, be it the Alpha or his mate, it impacted all of them. They were shocked enough that when Dan went down nobody was able to catch him.

"Oh god, get Mary as soon as possible before he wakes. If she is holding him his wolf should recognize her scent and do what is needed to keep from hurting her." The others were still sort of frozen and he had to bellow, "Get her!" using all the dominance he had his voice and they scattered.

Dan was still passed out, but no way in hell was Ben going near a wolf that just lost his family till either a submissive or omega was available -- and they didn't have an omega. Now that he had given orders he could feel the shock and grief throughout the pack, and a low keening from the ones that were in the house. He knew that the rest of the pack would be there in short order to take care of Dan.

Thankfully, Mary had was still at the house since she didn't have to work today and was relaxing. When she scurried into the room she froze in shock at the sight of her Pack Leader on the floor and looking old. That was very rare for a lycan since their aging tended to stop in their twenties. Even the oldest lycans looked relatively young, and tended towards looking like they were in their late twenties. Young lycans tended to appear as in their teens and early twenties.

Ben looked at her. "Go to him girl, let him smell your scent and curl up next to him. When he wakes he will know you aren't a danger, and hopefully that will give us time to bring him back from the edge." His voice was hoarse with stress and keening.

She immediately lowered herself to the floor and crawled over. "Pack Leader, it is Mary and I am coming closer." When he didn't respond she kept repeating that and finally was close enough that she could curl up next to him and tuck his head to her chest.

She was much smaller than Dan at a bit over 5' tall and Dan was just a bit over 6' tall. As a human, she would look maybe a hundred pounds soaking wet, but she weighed close to one-forty. Swimming was not a good idea since lycans weighed more than humans of the same height due to the density of their muscles and bones.

When Dan did eventually start to rise from the trauma of what had happened, he started growling and snarling since he was aware the person curled up to him was not his mate. Then he scented her odor recognized her for who she was.

She was one of the two pack submissives, and that alone did keep him from hurting her, or at least too much, since his fingers were barely keeping from curling into her skin and pulling her closer. At this point it didn't really matter if the submissive were male or female, since what was important was that they weren't a challenge to him even as far gone as he was.

"Get away, Mary." His voice was guttural as he struggled to resist the changing. It was going to be a very close thing.

"Can't, Pack leader. You need me and my wolf recognizes that. We can't leave you this way. I can take you to your rooms or to the secure rooms till time for the service for your family." She almost curled around his head and held him as close as she could. She couldn't stop her tears that were flowing or the slight sobs.

It wasn't just the loss of the alpha female or the children that she was crying for, but the loss of a good friend, and possibly their alpha since many lycans who lost mates tended to suicide.

"Come, Dan, come with me and let me take care of you." Mary felt him struggle in her arms but also knew that as lost feeling as he was, his wolf simply wouldn't let him hurt her, which was why she had been called for. She stood up and gently picked him up, which if she had been human, couldn't have, and wrapped her arms around him.

For a moment she considered his rooms, but that would be a bad idea since it would have Nang's scent all over it. That might help to calm him down or might make it worse. If his reaction got worse and he really lost control, he might not realize he had hurt her till later and he would feel horrible for that, so she headed towards the secure rooms.

Once inside one, Mary helped him strip down and got him to lie down before curling her small body around him. She made sure his nose was tucked in her neck so he could scent her. It would help him maintain control since it would tell his wolf that he was as safe as possible and there was someone there for him.

Mary finally got Dan to sleep, though she had a feeling his wolf had forced it on him. Many times the wolf was a pain in the ass since it didn't understand humans and their silly antics, but other times their mental strength was a boon. Right now, although the wolf was hurting as much as his human, he had the strength to help his other half, and right now that meant sleeping.

As she was sitting there next to Dan, the door opened and Ben stood there. She could see how haggard he was looking.

"We have convinced the coroner to give us the bodies. You will need to bring him to the circle at moon rise for the ceremony." For a lycan, he looked old, and sounded very tired, which definitely wasn't Ben.

She nodded at him and curled up a bit closer to Dan, slowly stroking his hair while ensuring his nose was resting on her neck. She could have spoken or used the pack bonds, but didn't want to chance waking Dan after finally getting him to sleep. Even when Ben closed the door, it was done very quietly.

***

Mary could feel the moon starting to rise as she woke. She sensed that someone had left some food in the room in case Dan wanted it, but she wasn't going to expect him to eat. "Wake, my Alpha, wake up. It is time for the ceremony. We need to get ready to go." She was still stroking his hair when he finally woke up, and she wanted to cry for how broken her wonderful Alpha was.

When Dan opened his eyes and sat up they were empty of everything except pain. His face was drawn and haggard, and somehow his neatly trimmed beard looked ragged. His hair was a mess as well. He only moved when she told him to, and only when she nudged him in a direction.

She moved him over to another cell that someone had set up for her and urged him into a chair. She carefully combed his hair and worked it into a tasteful braid tied off with a black ribbon. Once that was done, Mary dressed him in a black suit and tidied up his beard. "Come my Alpha, we have to show your mate how you loved them by sending them on to their next life."

She ended up having to wrap an arm around him and lead him to the circle, and they arrived just before the moon was up. She was very pleased that it was the night after the full moon and Nang and their children would be sent off on a full moon. "Come, Dan, follow me and I will take care of you, my Alpha."

Mary led him to the head of the pyres and kept her arm around him while Ben looked over the pack. It wasn't a huge pack, but it was a very well taken care of pack, and everyone knew that Dan cared for all of them, even if he didn't always get along or, in a very few cases, didn't even like each other.

"As everyone knows, we are here to mourn the loss of a pack mate and, even worse, precious children. To even make it worse, it is the family of our Alpha and that is going to impact on the entire pack for the foreseeable future. Our Alpha is going to need all of our support for the next few months, and by his wish, I am going to be dealing with the day to day workings of the pack. Now to the important part."

Ben lowered his head and a low keening came out of his mouth. It was slowly picked up by the rest of the pack, one by one. They didn't have any stupid eulogy since a heartfelt howl and keening was far more important and telling. As he was keening, Dan finally stood up tall and lifted his head and howled.

It was a very torn howl and all the faces in the pack were streaked with tears as he cried out his loss and pain to the skies and their mistress. The moon looked down at them and they could feel her sympathy for their loss, but also a calm sense of fate happens and you had to move on. Dan almost tore his throat out as he cried for his wife and children. Eventually, he picked up a torch and tried to walk forward, then staggered.

Mary didn't even think twice before she moved forward and wrapped an arm around him, and they slowly walked over to his mate's bier. She had to help him stick the torch into several places before taking him to the other two and starting them as well. Though Nang wasn't a lycan they believed that by burning the bodies it freed the soul to go to the Lady for rebirth. A minor reason was also to keep the bodies from being taken by the government for testing.

Once she helped him back to the head of the pyres, Dan lowered his head and let the tears flow as the pack kept up the keening. It did help, but not a great deal since his soul was still raw and torn from losing his mate.

Eventually the fires burned lower and finally went out, and he stayed standing there till Mary urged him away. He tried to resist but she leaned into him. "It is time for you to go back to your house. You need to sleep some more. I have had to deal with a number of people who have lost their mates and sleep will help, as will your wolf."

Dan finally let her lead him away from the ceremony and back to the Pack house. She knew that the Alpha quarters had been cleaned out of most things related to Nang and the children to try and reduce the impact, but the bed had been left the same since he was going to need Nang's scent to help him go to sleep.

Once they were inside, she slowly led him to his rooms and inside. Dan froze and closed his eyes, and then slowly inhaled the scent of his former mate as more tears slowly leaked out. Almost without thinking he walked to her dresser and opened her jewelry box. He pulled out a heavy, white gold bracelet he had given Nang, and with Mary's help, he put it on before slowly walking over to the bed where he settled down before sort of passing out.

Mary crawled in next to him and wrapped her arms around him again, making sure that his nose was tucked in her neck, and eventually fell asleep.