Jayce woke up the next day and went downstairs to make some tea only to see a pot was already made, meaning his grandfather was already up. He made himself a cup from the still hot pot and went looking for the old man, finding him on the back porch.

"Hey," Jayce greeted as he sat down with him.

"I'm glad you're awake so early," Keagan told him somberly. "I have some news I need to share with you that I don't want your sister to hear just yet. And you need to know because the council was informed yesterday so the pack is going to know soon."

This felt foreboding, and Jayce wanted to be back in bed to try this day again without the looming news. "What's going on?"

"I'm sick, kiddo. Doc says six months to a year."

"Cancer? Like grandma?"

"Unfortunately." Keagan sighed and sipped at his tea. "I hate that I'm doing this to you, but I need you to take Katie to your friends' place and then come right back here. I'm going to be challenged for Alpha and you will need to participate if I'm beaten."

Jayce looked at him in shock. "Me? Why?"

"The only ones who have their eye on my position are LJ and his nephew Justin. I think Rusty might be interested, but only because he doesn't like you. And I don't know who else might want to for the same reasons, but I'm sure you can win against them all."

"Gramps, I'm not even close to as strong as you are."

Keagan chuckled. "Kid, have you not had your wolf stand next to any of the others?" Jayce shook his head. "I'm pretty sure with size alone you'd prevent most from wanting to fight you. Maybe if one of the bears decided they actually wanted a leadership position you'd have some trouble, but honestly? I bet you'd even win then. Kid, your wolf is a dire wolf. That's rare as hell."

Jayce knew his wolf was large, but he rarely ran with the pack for the full moon runs given the fact most of them could care less if he was there. It's caused even more of a rift between him and the pack, but Jayce didn't mind. Until now, he assumed he'd be leaving if something was going to happen to Keagan.

"Why do I need to be Alpha though? I could leave for an accepting pack."

"And if you don't win, I need you to go to one of them," Keagan told him. "I want you there if nothing else. If you feel like you can't be Alpha, I won't force you. But you would be good at it. You've got the heart."

Jayce drank his tea in silence before he sighed. "Okay. Let me contact the twins and let them know what's going on so they stay out of the territory, and then I'll take Katie out to them."

"Thanks, Jayce."

They finished their tea in silence, Jayce trying to decide which twin was more likely to be awake while they watched the sky lighten from the sun coming up on the other side of the trees. Once his mug was empty, he went inside and rinsed it before leaving it in the sink and going to his room.

Casey was a heavy sleeper so if neither of them were awake, it was a safer bet to call Karey. And before yesterday, he'd have made that call instantly, but today his face warmed as he realized that he might be calling her while she was still sleep mussed and in her pajamas, and the fact that he was flushed over that now when he hadn't thought about it before made him wonder if he was interested in her only because she admitted she liked him or if he just didn't let himself think about her like this before.

"Jayce? Everything okay?" Karey asked when she answered, Jayce heating up more at the sleepy sound of her voice. If they talked in the morning it was usually through text, so he hadn't heard her like this before. At least not since they hit puberty and stopped having sleepovers together.

He cleared his throat. "There's some pack stuff going on today, so can I bring Katie to stay with you guys until it's over? It might be more than just today."

"Is it bad?"

"I don't know. I won't until it's over."

There was a pause, then, "Are you going to be safe?"

"I don't know," he admitted quietly. He made sure that Kaitlyn was still asleep and his grandfather was still downstairs before he quietly said, "Gramps is sick, and the council knows so the pack is going to learn soon if they haven't already. There's a few members of the pack that haven't liked the way Gramps handles the LGBT pack members, especially me, and will probably challenge him."

"Then don't you need to get out? I'm pretty sure there's a pack an hour or two away from here that will take you."

"There is. And I would, but Gramps wants me here. He'd like me to join the challenge, and thinks I'd win."

"That's so dangerous though!"

"It is. But I'm apparently not just any type of wolf, I'm a dire wolf. I guess it's bigger than a normal wolf, and since I sit separate from the pack whenever we meet up no one has noticed, including me."

Karey let that sink in, and Jayce closed his eyes to try and image the scene there. Karey was tall and blonde with blue eyes, just as Casey was. But where she was lithe he was bulky, and Jayce could just imagine her shoulder length hair messed up and her eyes lidded from sleep and felt a warmth he'd never experienced before go through him.

He cleared his throat and shook the image from his mind. He shouldn't be thinking about her like that, especially when he still wasn't sure how a romantic relationship would work out between them.

"Sorry, Kaitlyn is always welcome here for however long is necessary. And if you need to stay here you can."

"It's all right. I didn't mean to rush you, I just-" How was he could to explain this? He sighed before he softly admitted, "I was just thinking about you being just woken up and it hit me that I haven't seen that in a while. And that I'd probably like to see it."

He was sure Karey was smiling even while being slightly embarrassed as she said, "I wouldn't say no to a sleepover, but I don't think we should do anything more until we've had at least one date."

"And a kiss?" Really, where was this coming from? Jayce was never this bold, and from Karey's inhale he was sure he surprised her too.

She cleared her throat before mumbling, "Maybe if you survive this thing with the pack. Even if it means we would be doing this thing with some distance, I- Well, I really would like to see you still if you end up changing packs."

"Yeah." He shook his head again. "Right. I need to focus on the pack right now."

"Sorry."

"No, this was my fault." Jayce took a deep breath and stood up. "I'll go get Katie up and have her pack for a couple days, then we'll head that way."

"I'll get Casey up and make him cook some breakfast." It was the one thing Karey couldn't cook, though none of them could figure out why. She could bake cookies and cakes, make casseroles and turkeys, but nearly every breakfast food seems to be beyond her. "See you soon."

"See you soon." They hung up and Jayce looked at his phone for a minute before shaking his head roughly. He was a little frustrated that he was being such a guy about this, but at the same time it was almost validating. A pretty girl said she liked him and now he's basically sexualizing her. Well, romanticizing her? He just wanted to think about the pretty girl, that's all.

With that train of thought, he tried to let himself think about Karey in a sexual way but ended up blushing hard. If he looked in a mirror, he was sure his face would be bright red even. Yeah, he probably liked her a lot too, she was really beautiful, but he wasn't ready to think about sex with anyone, especially her.

Maybe he'd try looking up lewd pictures or porn or something if this whole thing with the pack didn't end with him dead. He wasn't sure why his grandfather had such faith in him, but he wasn't going to let him down.

His focus now shifted, he got up and went to Katie's room to wake her up. She didn't really seem awake enough to understand much more than a sleepover with Karey, but it was enough to get her to pack an overnight bag and go to the Jeep in her pajamas.

Kaitlyn wasn't much more awake by the time they got there, and in fact had fallen asleep so Jayce just tossed her bag over his shoulder and picked her up in his arms before carrying her to the third floor and knocking with his foot at the door to the twins' apartment.

Karey answered the door and went, "Aww," when she saw how Jayce had carried her up. She led him to her room, and both flushed as he laid Kaitlyn down in her bed. Their departure was rather swift, and Jayce forgot to drop Kaitlyn's bag in the room so he just set it next time the front door.

"You'll be careful?" Karey asked him quietly. Jayce frowned and looked towards the kitchen where he heard sizzling. "I haven't told him exactly what was going on yet. I didn't know if you wanted me to."

He shouldn't have even told Karey, but Jayce wasn't sure he would ever want to keep the twins out of the loop on things with the pack that could affect their trio. "You can explain it to him later, just not where Kaitlyn can hear please."

Karey nodded and Jayce walked towards the kitchen. Casey grinned when he saw him. "Hear the pack has something going on so we're watching thr missus."

"Yep. Don't spoil her, and I'll call if this ends up going beyond tomorrow. I have a feeling ill be over tomorrow, but I can't promise that," Jayce told him. He motioned to Karey. "She's got the details, but please make sure Katie doesn't know about all this. At least, not until it's over."

"Sure thing. Might just wait to hear about it until it's over myself," his friend admitted as he focused on the skillet in front of him. "Means one of us won't be worried about you enough to totally freak Katie out. Karey can do enough for us both, I'm sure."

"Hey! Do your own worrying, don't make me worry for you! Lazy bum!"

"I'm making your lazy ass breakfast, so don't call me lazy!"

Jayce shook his head and chuckled. "Love you guys. I'll text or call when I can."

"Maybe kiss my sister for good luck," Casey jokes, making the two flustered again. Karey walked with Jayce out into the hall, and he was about to leave when she tugged at his shirt.

"He may be an idiot, but... maybe he has a good idea this time?" she asked shyly. Jayce swallowed and nodded. It was still the completely wrong time to be focused on this, but Jayce couldn't help but want to know. And he could tell Karey was interested too. So he stepped closer, and she did too, and he put his hands on her hips.

"This okay?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah."

Nodding a little, Jayce leaned up and Karey leaned down, and their lips pressed together is a sweet, chaste kiss. It lasted only a few seconds, but when they separated, even with warm cheeks from the slight embarrassment, they both smiled shyly at each other as they moved away from each other.

"I guess I have to win," Jayce told her, earning a questioning look. "I don't want to have to drive two hours every time I want to do that again."

Karey went a little darker in her cheeks, but she nodded. "I agree. So, I guess you better win today."

When he got back to the Alpha's cabin, the driveway and nearby empty lot kept empty for this reason, was filling up with cars. Which meant that the council had called for the entire pack to be present. Jayce sighed as he parked as well, mentally preparing himself to deal with his parents. When we walked inside, he wasn't surprised to be immediately accosted by his mother.

"Where the hell is my baby?" Tess demanded, grabbing at his shirt collar. Luckily his height was from his father not her, so she didn't quite reach it. At just over five foot, he was over a head taller than her and he had dodged her hand so she only managed to grab the belly of his shirt instead. His father, Ryan, was nearly six foot but just shy of it. He still said he was for his license, but he was close enough that it didn't matter anyway. Jayce was an inch taller than his father, but still an inch shorter than the twins.

"She's safe," Jayce told her, trying to push past her to his grandfather.

"You have no right to keep me from my child, Jayce Marie!"

Jayce stopped dead and spun around, eyes narrowed. "My name is Jayce Keagan, not Marie. I am a man raised by Keagan, Alpha of this pack for the last fifty years. Raised by your father because you couldn't stand to love your son. Your daughter is currently in a safe place and since you are a member of this pack, human though you are, you do not have leave to go get her. So you may as well shut the fuck up and go sit down."

Tess withered as he spoke, leaning into Ryan who stared at Jayce wide eyed. As he turned and walked through the main room outside, he saw that the pack members who hadn't yet moved outside were also staring at him with surprised or shock on their faces. But rather than pay any of them any mind, he went outside to help his grandfather set up the circle, the raised chairs already in place for the council of elders and two bleachers being pulled out for the seating. There were also other chairs stacked nearby, but they would only need those if there were courts or challenges being issued before the council, so he went to help with the bleachers.

By the time the backyard was set up, nearly everyone in the pack had heard about my outburst and there were a large amount of the members looking at me with respect, more than Jayce had ever anticipated given the way everyone seemed to ostracized him. There were the usual suspects looking at him with disgust and disdain, including two of the elders. The other elders seemed to have been given reason to see him in a new light and were studying him as he moved around the space and even offered a few smiles and nods to members of the pack.

They were a mixed shifter pack, meaning they didn't have only one type of shifter. His father was a feline shifter, though Jayce couldn't remember what kind. He was given the wolf gene by his mother, which didn't activate for her but did for him. And, apparently, it decided to give him a burst of extra wolf somehow. Likely, the dire wolf gene was a rare part of his ancestry and it stayed dormant until now.

But Jayce didn't really understand or care about biology beyond what he'd had to learn to pass high school and his general courses at the college. Rather, he only cared about what this would let him do. Which was, according to his grandfather, spook enough of the challengers for Alpha that many if not all should back down.

Eventually everyone was seated and Keagan stood before the council.

"We have called this meeting of the pack because out Alpha has told us he is no longer fit to lead due to an illness. We open the floor to let anyone who is interested in the position to stand before us," Elder Phillip announced, one of the ones that didn't care that Jayce was transgender.

Jayce watched as several people hesitated, but there were three who didn't. Sure enough, TJ, Justin, and Rusty had immediately moved to the center of the field. After a moment three others - Diana, Geoffrey, and Kyle - moved in as well. Looking at his grandfather and meeting his eyes, Jayce waited until he saw Keagan nod before he moved to the center as well, making many people start whispering through the rest of the pack.

"Any others?" Phillip asked. When no one else moved, one of the other elders, Ivan, jumped up and exclaimed, "We can't let the abomination join this challenge!"

TJ shouted, "Yeah, what's a freak like him gonna do, make us all like him? No thanks!"

Another elder, Josef, stood and glared down at TJ before turning to Ivan. "He is pack and therefore he is allowed."

"I can't believe you call her like she's a boy," Justin sneered.

Phillip raised a hand and everyone went quiet. "Josef is correct. Jayce is pack and therefore has the right to be a part of the challenge." He looks at the challengers. "Change, and then we shall begin."

Jayce sighed before he stripped to his boxers and then let the wolf come forth. After giving his fur a good shake, he stretched out and listened to how people were reacting to his wolf. A lot were shocked, but a few seemed excited. Of the challengers, he could hear two growls while three voices talked between themselves.