Chapter Thirteen
Sharing Leadership

Sean walked over to where the group was waiting for him. Looking at Marcus he fidgeted slightly unsure of the reaction he was going to get from his new leader. He was used to being the one making the decisions and not having to ask permission to do things. "I need to talk to you," he said finally and when Marcus lifted an eyebrow he added, "alone". Following Marcus away from the others he paused briefly feeling Paul behind him. "Wait for me over by my brother Dave. He's the big dark one with the short hair. You'll be safe with him I promise." Sean glanced at Dave seeing him nodding his eyes on Sean and knew he'd picked up on the conversation and understood what he was to do. Finally Sean made his way to where Marcus was waiting for him somewhat impatiently.

"Sorry Marcus I had to send my shadow to Dave," Sean explained and he saw Marcus look around before asking, "Paul?" Sean nodded and glanced back at Dave before explaining. "I saw him and we talked for a bit. He was hiding by the dumpsters. I told him to stay with Dave while we talked." Marcus nodded and reached up to run a hand through his hair. "Is he hurt then?" Sean nodded quickly and sighed worrying about the wound once again. "His side was clawed quite badly. I told him to increase his blood intake and to stick close to me." Looking Marcus in the eye he added, "I promised him that I would take care of him."

"I know that I should have discussed it with you first, but I suppose I'm not used to having a leader again and if you wanna know the truth I wasn't thrilled with the notion the first time I had one. I can not leave Paul to wander alone. He may have a man's body, but his mind is more of that of a scared and abandoned teenager… a young teenager at that. My brother and I will take full responsibility for his care and upbringing. He's frightened, hurt, and alone Marcus. I don't have any choice. My conscience would not have allowed me to do anything else."

Marcus smiled at the last statement. "Most would say that you lost your conscience when you joined the undead." Sean scowled at his leader. "I lost my soul Marcus not my conscience or my sense of right and wrong either for that matter." Marcus nodded trying not to smile again. "I now see how you ended up with the babes you did. They were all abandoned or in need weren't they?" Sean nods slowly. "Dave and I grew up in an orphanage. The two of us huddled together on a bug infested cot with nothing but stony bread and dirty water to eat and drink. I was... sick a lot. Dave spent a lot of time taking care of me and protecting me. He even had a chance to get adopted once, but when he found out the parents didn't want me he refused to go." Sean smiled not able to resist looking at his brother once more. "He said we'd never be separated." Sean's smile fell at the memory as if he were remembering something else that was unpleasant.

Marcus arched an eyebrow but refrained from asking the obvious question. Given that they were not together when he met Dave obviously they got separated at some point. So the question was… what could have possibly happened to cause a brother who had always taken care of his sibling to be separated from him. Instead he decided to let it go for now and get back to the real problem at hand. "Sean I recognize that you are used to being the king of your mountain and I have noticed that the younger ones seem to gravitate to you. You have given Jeffrey much help with Matthew who before now would not let anyone other than his brother care for him. I am not a tyrannical leader. I do not expect that it is my way and my way alone that should be the determining voice. Never did I ever declare myself to be the leader… it just sort of happened. Being the older one and Glen's creator I was the leader of the two of us and as we added your brother and then Thomas they seemed to just follow Glen's lead. I want you first and foremost to do what you feel is right. I may not always agree with your decisions, but I will always try to understand them and I will accept that they were what you felt was needed. I guess what I am saying is I would like you to be the leader for the young ones. I will be the voice for the older ones as I always have been."

Sean thought about Marcus' words coming up with a question before he agreed. "That includes the non vampires too, Gabriel, Paul, and Peter?" Marcus nodded looking over at the group. "And I will take Tyson into my group. Any new additions to our family will be divided up as they come in." Sean nodded and sighed looking over to where his brother stood. "I would like David to be my backup like Glen is yours." Again Marcus nodded and the two vampires shook then headed back to the group as Sean turned the conversation back to Paul. "With as badly as he is hurt we need to find a place around here where we can spend a day. I wouldn't suggest trying to travel with him this evening. Then maybe we can get someone to look at him. Do you think that Raven could do anything for him?" Marcus shrugged. "I don't know, but I will go back and fetch him after we have found some place to stay for the evening." As Marcus filled the others in on the plan for the evening Sean looked around and wondered where the wolf was and what he was up to.

"That traitorous bitch is going to pay if it's the last thing I do," Kevin swore angrily and Mike shivered holding the baby who clapped happily. He had learned to shield his thoughts from this child and the big wolf. He didn't know how he had gotten himself into this situation. "Liar," his conscience said and sighing he nodded. He knew… his cock had gotten him into this. He'd taken one look at that wolf and hadn't thought about anything else, but lying on his back with the big man filling him up and now look where it had gotten him. The problem was you couldn't just fuck this one or be fucked by this one. You had to be involved in all his nasty little deeds and Mike wasn't sure how he felt about that.

The petty shit he didn't mind. He had never been a choir boy and had a long record of petty thefts with various police departments, even a few breaking and entering charges, but he'd never done anything violent… that is until he met the wolf. The longer he stayed with this creature the further he got drug in. He knew he should leave, but… Looking over at the big wolf he shivered and sighed… there wasn't a chance in hell he was goin anywhere. Now that the big wolf had lost his mate, Mike was finally needed for something more than being a nursemaid, and that he didn't mind at all. He ignored the pang in his heart that told him that he wouldn't care who needed him as long as someone did. God knows it was more than he had gotten from anyone else in his life and if he had to hurt some people to keep this big wolf… well then he guessed he would just have to suck it up and get used to it.

"What are you going to do now that the others have come master?" Mike asked timidly and Kevin growled low in response. "I don't know. I will have to think. I will need to find some more helpers." Kevin turned his head to study Mike. "The time for you to make your decision is coming." Mike nodded slowly and wished he knew what to do. "What has your humanity ever gotten you?" Kevin asked and Mike winced knowing he was right. All he'd ever gotten from being a human was pain and disappointment. Kevin was promising him a whole new world and a chance to be his new mate. Mike sighed and turned his attention to the group they were watching and wondered what it was like to be them.

TBC...

Coming soon... Chapter Fourteen