[Austin]“Ladies and gentlemen, please follow us into the packhouse. None of you have winter clothes and it’s far too cold to conduct our business out here. The first seating of lunch will be served in an hour. We’ll get you sworn into the pack and start finding places for all of you to live. Some will be temporary, but we can get many of you into homes today,” Alpha Trent announced. The crowd was silent. Parents picked up their small children. Others grabbed their bags for them and we followed the ranked members of Hallowed Moon into the packhouse. I helped my father move while Gemma grabbed his bag of things. It wasn’t much. Most of these people were traveling with only the clothing they owned. It was hard to see them all as family, but I knew I’d get there. We found a table in the dining room that was mostly empty. The omega staff peeked into the dining room and looked appalled. They disappeared into the kitchen and I could hear orders being given. It seemed like they were going to speed up the production of lunch for the first seating. There were quiet, nervous murmurs in the crowd, but only the smallest of children were looking around. There had to be about eighty people in the room. I never realized my family was so large. This seemed like a random assortment of omegas had been grabbed and tossed onto the bus. I saw a table with four older couples sitting at it. That meant they must have grabbed more than just my family, right? My mother saw me looking at them. “That’s my parents and your father’s parents. The couples with them are my aunt and uncle. There is another table with your father’s uncles and their mates on the other side of the room. These are our cousins and their mates. I see my sisters and their families. Your father’s two brothers and three sisters are over there. I think this is the closest we’ve ever had to a family reunion,” she whispered. “What’s going to happen to us?” my little brother asked. “Alpha Trent is going to bring everyone into the pack and you’re going to have a happier life here than you ever could have had at Radiant Moon,” I explained. “Don’t get his hopes up, Austin. We’re an unexpected burden on this pack. If he throws us all to the rogues, I wouldn’t be surprised,” my father said. I didn’t try to explain more. They wouldn’t understand it from me. They wouldn’t believe it. I knew it took me months to believe it. I only hoped they opened their minds sooner rather than later. “I’m Alpha Trent Padua and you’re in the Hallowed Moon Pack. This is my mate, Luna Lily Padua. To my right is Beta Mike Rosen and his mate Beth. To my left is Gamma Ben Holden and his mate Darla. We’re the ranked members of this pack and the ones responsible for you now. “Many of you have been worried about what this means for you. I have a full account from Austin Lewis about what happened in your pack. We know what the norm was for most of you and what you’ve experienced. You may not take my word for it, but that’s not the norm for omegas and other wolves in our pack. “No one, except ranked mates like the female leadership, take their rank from their mate here. Omegas are paid for their work and have reasonable working hours. The pack is here to help you. Children are all given the same education, no matter their rank and some even earn scholarships, including omegas. “You are not a burden. You are our friends and neighbors. You are the backbone of your pack, not the back to be broken laboring for it. I am fully prepared to accept all of you into our pack. It may take a couple weeks to find homes for all of you, but we will do our best. “The older children will be taught in a special classroom in the high school. Those who are close enough to the seventh grade age will go into those classrooms at the start of the new school year in September. Until then, we will work on assessing students and getting them to the right grades. “If any of the adults would like to further their education, please speak with Beta Mike. He will start getting together a way to get you your GED and helping to fund your future education. Omegas here are not restricted in what work they can do. We will meet with each of you individually to find out what your aptitude is for and we will help you find out how to get jobs in that field. “Are there any questions?” Alpha Trent asked finally. A woman stood. Her mate tried to pull her back down, but she pushed his hands off of her. She held herself in a way that I’d never seen an omega hold themselves. She looked directly at Alpha Trent. “My husband is a farmer and loves being around plants. It’s not something he needs a further education on, but I’m sure you have enough farmers in your pack. What can you do for him?” she asked. He smiled. “You weren’t born an omega in that pack, were you?” “No. I am Desiree Cook-Jensen. My brother was the Alpha of the pack. I was ‘demoted’ to omega when I accepted my mate. I had hoped that my brother would change that law if his darling little sister was at stake, but that didn’t move him. I wouldn’t give up my mate,” she answered. “You’re right, we have no openings on our local farms, but the owner of the nursery is getting ready to retire and none of his children want to take over. He would love to pass it down to someone who loves plants as much as he does. The nursery comes with three large greenhouses and a home for whoever owns it. The owner has already moved into a smaller home with his mate in the pack lands.” “And our children will be treated better? They were bullied for having omega parents, even though they were born common wolves.” “We have a zero tolerance policy for bullying in the local schools. It doesn’t matter what rank your parents hold. Everyone is treated with the same respect.” I leaned over to my mother. “Is Jensen your last name, too?” “It is. They said they had to give you a new name to start a new line and so no one else would connect you to our family. Will you be keeping it?” she asked quietly. “I will. It’s who I’ve been for most of my life. Plus, Gemma Jensen sounds funny and I want my mate to have a name that doesn’t make people giggle. Will you be okay with that?” “All we ever wanted was for you to have a better life and be happy, Austin. If you want to be whatever they named you, then be that. You’ll always be our son,” she replied and squeezed my hand. There were a few other people who asked questions. Some were more nervous than others. The kitchen staff started bringing out trays filled with food. I was pretty sure this was more than they planned to serve to the other seatings for lunch. It seemed like they were trying to make up for all the meals everyone had ever missed. The children were in awe and dug in quickly. The smaller they were, the less inhibited they were. Older children looked to their parents first, then started eating. Alpha Trent watched as his people went through the room handing out plates and bowls filled with food to my family. “Please have your meals. We’ll have you taken to find winter clothes. There is a meeting room. Someone will take you there and we’ll get all of you sworn into the pack. While you’re all eating, we will look into accommodations for all of you. I promise, you will all have somewhere warm to sleep tonight,” he announced, then the pack leadership left the room. A plate and bowl of food was put in front of me. I kept the plate and moved the bowl toward my father. He stopped it halfway between my mother and himself. “I want you to share this with me,” he whispered to her. She blushed and nodded. Gemma gave her extra bowl of food to my brother. He looked like he felt guilty about taking it, but she smiled at him and he blushed, then accepted it. We ate with my family, not the meal we had planned, or the location, but a family meal, none-the-less. Other family members peeked over at us. Desiree caught my eye and winked at me. She, at least, seemed happy about the move. Of course, she would have seen other packs and known ours was different. None of my family, otherwise, seemed to know how different their lives would be now. The pack had lost a lot of omegas when they decided to kick my family out. Maybe they hadn’t realized how large the family was when they decided to pull it from the roots. “If anyone is finished with their meals, I can take you to our clothing storage closet and we can start getting your winter clothes,” an omega announced. A few people got up sheepishly and gathered children. Groups were taken to the storage, then to the meeting room. My table was last to go. My father was a little stronger, but still needed help. I was more than happy to provide support for him. There were two omegas waiting there for us. They smiled brightly at our group and started digging through boxes. They pulled out a beautiful blue jacket for my mom that looked thick and warm. They got a red one for my brother and a darker blue one for my dad. I helped my dad get his coat on and his eyes watered slightly. “This is the nicest thing I’ve ever owned,” he whispered. “It’s only the first nice thing. You’ll own a lot more than that in the future. I promise,” I told him. “Welcome to Hallowed Moon,” one of the omegas said. “This is only the start. Trust us, this is the best place to live and you’re going to love it in our pack.” “Thank you,” my parents answered. “I’ll take them to the meeting room. I know which one they were thinking of,” Gemma told the omegas. “Okay, Gemma. Is there anyone who still needs jackets?” “No, we were the last ones. Thank you for your help.” She smiled at them and waved. Gemma led us through the packhouse and into a meeting room with a lot of chairs. It looked like it was built for exactly this sort of thing. We took my parents to the front row of seats, which was completely empty, and settled them there. It seemed like most of my family was too afraid to sit up front. Alpha Trent was standing there with a bowl and knife. His mate was beside him. He nodded to the omega at the door and she exited, closing the door behind her. “This process is fairly simple, but there are a lot of you, so it will take a while. Anyone who has a wolf needs to come forward and swear to honor and protect the pack to the best of their ability. I will cut you and myself and we will blend our blood. “It is a little painful, but it only hurts for a few minutes, then it will heal and you will be part of the pack. Is there anyone who wants to go first?” Alpha Trent asked. Desiree stood and walked to the front. Her mate followed her, not wanting her to go alone after already singling herself out at lunch. She smiled at Alpha Trent and put her hand out to him. She held her hand out to him and he accepted it. I watched. This had been explained to me, but it was my first time seeing it. “Desiree Cook-Jensen, do you promise to uphold all the values and traditions of the Hallowed Moon Pack? Following our laws, accepting our punishments, and carrying on in a way that honors our pack and its leaders.”“I do,” she responded. “Do you promise to care for its members as if they were your own family? Joining with their happiness and helping heal them in their sorrow.” “I do.” “Will you lay down your life to protect your pack and its Alpha? Using your claw and tooth to ensure the lives and wellbeing of all our people.” “I will.” He cut her hand and his own, then held them over the bowl where their blood dripped together. After a few moments, they let go of each other. The cuts were healed. “Welcome to the Hallowed Moon Pack. We’re very happy to have you and your family here,” Alpha Trent told her. “Thank you, Alpha. I’m happy to be here.” She turned to her husband and put out her hand. He accepted it and she pulled him to stand beside her. “Come on, my love. Just do what I did and we have a new home.” We watched as the process started over with her mate. There was no difference in the oath sworn or the actions of the Alpha. People started lining up to swear their oath to the pack and the Alpha. It took a while, because Alpha Trent had to take a couple breaks. He was losing a lot of blood, but looked happy. This was a lot of growth for the pack and Gemma told me that Alphas loved growing their packs. After each person finished swearing into the pack, Ben got information from them about how big their family was, what they did for their pack before the move. Mike was getting information about their kids, what grades they were in and what they needed. It looked like I was right and they left most of their things behind when they were given a half hour to pack all their things. They took clothes, important documents, and at least one cherished item. Most of the children packed a favorite toy, for some of them, it was their only toy.