Disclaimer: not mine

Sorry for the very long wait. I am trying to get back into Anita Blake enough to finish my stories. Haven't read the books in years. Trying to find a way to get cheap epub's versions of at least up to burnt offerings.

Chapter 15

Dean collapsed on the couch as soon as they were inside the house, hands shaking slightly and Sam was instantly there to hold him, offering comfort. Sensing his distress the leopards dropped to the floor, some crawling to press against his legs.

"It's okay Dean, you didn't have a choice," Sam murmured as he held his lover close.

Dean swallowed and slowly nodded. he glanced down to see a woman and a teenager pressed against his legs and he reached out a hand to gently rest on an auburn head. The teen looked up and Dean was surprised by lilac eyes and the fact the teen was male, he had assumed female with his hair. The boy dropped his eyes quickly and pressed into his touch. "Hello, I'm Dean Winchester and this is Samuel Colt," Dean offered and the Pard all looked up at them.

One of the women stood, anger and pain in her eyes. "Elizabeth, mate of Gabriel.

Dean stood up and stared her down, she fought to keep eye contact but finally her gaze dropped. "I'm sorry for your loss," he offered, and he meant it. He may hate what he'd heard of Gabriel, but this woman had obviously loved him. "If you want to leave and find a new Pard then you can. If you stay then I expect you to accept I am now in charge."

She glanced up at him, surprised by the offer, but nodded and lowered her eyes before dropping to her knees and rubbing against his leg. She loved Gabriel and hated that he was dead, killed by someone who had been a leopard for bare months, but she could feel his power and knew she would never survive challenging him. She didn't want to leave St. Louis and her job either.

Sam sat back and smiled as Dean handled the situation. He would help if asked but Dean needed to learn how to lead the Pard on his own. Dean walked back to the couch and sat down, leaning into his side and Sam wrapped an arm around his shoulders. The young leopard at Dean's feet glanced up, curious, before quickly dropping his gaze. "What is it little one?" Sam asked gently and the boy glanced up again.

"Why do you feel safe?" the teen whispered, and Sam smiled.

"My animal to call is the leopard," Sam answered.

"Sam saved my life when I was attacked, and I became his Human Servant. I've only been a wereleopard for two and a half months," Dean admitted. "We came here because Sam knew the Master of the City and he wanted me to be able to join a Pard, taking one over was not the plan."

"Then why?" a tall, skinny man asked, and Dean glimpsed kitty fangs, a sign of spending too much time in animal form.

"Because the way you were being used was wrong. Shifter or not, you are still people and being forced into porn and being used to punish the wolves is not right. If you like doing porn then that's your choice, as long as you're safe. Now, how about telling me who you all are?" Dean suggested, glancing down at the teenager who rubbed against his leg. "What's your name kiddo?"

"Nathaniel Graison," he answered shyly.

Dean smiled softly, "Nice to meet you Nathaniel." He glanced at the young woman leaning against his other leg.

"Vivian," she whispered.

Dean glanced out at the others, who began giving their names. The guy with kitty fangs was Zane, Gabriel's second in command. Then there was Cherry and Gregory. It was a small Pard and Dean could feel Sam's concern, so he opened the Marks further. "Sam?"

"No true alpha's among them, they're all submissive except Elizabeth and Zane and even they aren't really alpha's, just more dominant. What was Gabriel thinking? This is not a healthy Pard."

"So we help them get stronger," Dean answered, and Sam smiled, proud of Dean, especially since he was so new and hadn't been looking to take over the Pard.

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Dean stretched out on the bed, watching as Sam redressed to return to the Circus. Until the work in the basement was done, Sam was safer spending the day in the underground rooms of Jean-Claude's 'lair'. The Circus creeped him out, so Sam had told him to stay in the house during the day. Today would be different since the Pard were spread through the house, all wanting to stay and bond with their new leader. Sam leant over and kissed him, and Dean kissed back. "Sleep well," Dean whispered when Sam pulled back.

"Have fun with your Pard," Sam answered before leaving.

Dean lay in bed, not wanting to get up yet, it was still dark after all. After a while he heard a hesitant knock on the door and sat up, pulling the sheet up. "Come in," he called quietly, and the door opened to reveal Nathaniel. "Hey kiddo, did you need something?" he asked gently.

Nathaniel shuffled over to the bed, eyes on the ground. Dean shifted to the edge of the bed and reached out, gently tipping his head up to look at his face. Nathaniel gulped, waiting to be hit or told off but it didn't happen. He bit his lip nervously, trembling and then his new alpha was gently tugging him down to hug him, and Nathaniel found himself clinging to him.

"It's okay Nathaniel, I've got you," he whispered, reaching cautiously for his beast, letting it come closer to the surface, feeling Nathaniel's react and uncurl. Nathaniel relaxed, practically purring as he rubbed his head against Dean's bare chest. "Did you want to sleep in here?" he asked, and Nathaniel shyly nodded. "Okay," Dean hadn't slept with someone he wasn't sleeping with since he was a kid, but he knew this was all part of being a shifter. He let go of Nathaniel, nudging him onto the bed and then grabbed his sleep shorts from the floor to pull on under the sheet. Pard or not, Nathaniel was a kid and there was no way he was sleeping naked with him. He got comfortable and Nathaniel curled up against him. He ran his fingers through soft auburn hair, soothing the other leopard to sleep. He was almost asleep himself when he sensed someone and looked up to see Vivian, Gregory and Cherry so he nodded, and they crawled into bed as well. Dean's last thought before sleep claimed him was that it was a good thing he'd bought the really big bed.

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Sam nodded at the guard as he entered the back area of the Circus, moving down the stairs. He was heading for his room when Jean-Claude stepped into view.

"I assume Dean won?"

"Yes, the Pard is with him at the house, getting to know each other. Have you dealt much with them?"

"Non, outside of Gabriel and then usually only with Raina as well," Jean-Claude admitted as Sam opened the door to his room, following him inside and sitting on a chair. "You are concerned?"

"There are no alpha's within the Pard and many of them are far too submissive. Also, Raina may be an issue from the way she looked at Dean when he won the fight."

Jean-Claude nodded. "It would be better for all if Richard were ready to challenge Marcus for his position," he admitted. "Do you think your Dean is up to the challenge of healing the Pard?"

"Yes, he trained as a physical therapist to help people, this is just another way of helping." Sam smiled, proud of his lover.

"Will he be looking to add to the Pard?"

Sam blinked in surprise at the question. "Dean would never infect someone, maybe under extreme circumstances to save someone who understood and accepted it. I could see him accepting new members who move to St. Louis as long as they would be a good addition and not a danger to the Pard."

"It seems the two of you are very well suited," Jean-Claude smiled, remembering Samuel's vehement denial when asked about creating his own Children. "I assume his taking over the Pard means that you will be staying permanently."

"As long as you allow it."

Jean-Claude nodded. inviting such a powerful vampire to live within his city was risky but he had kept an eye on Samuel since they had met and nothing he had done suggested he wished to claim a territory for himself, despite being more than powerful enough to do so. It was why he had agreed to their coming to St. Louis in the first place. "I will not ask you to take a blood oath, I doubt any Master in America would be powerful enough to actually bind you to one," he admitted and smiled as Samuel stilled, watching him carefully. "The position of Témoin is open to you if you wish it."

"I am honoured," Sam managed to say, carefully keeping the shock from his voice and body language.

"Please, consider it."

"Of course. I plan to move into the house with Dean once a room is secured for my use. Shouldn't your second live here?"

"Perhaps, but it may also be safer to live separately."

"No attack during the day taking both out," Sam nodded.

"I shall leave you to consider it, sleep well." Jean-Claude left to prepare for his rest for the day.

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Sam let himself into the house and smiled when he saw the cat pile on the floor, the Pard watching a movie while Dean and Nathaniel worked in the kitchen. After two weeks their lives were becoming settled with the Pard. Tonight was different though, he would not be leaving for the Circus, from now on he would be living here. Of the Pard, only Nathaniel lived permanently with them, the others had their own places, Gregory lived with his werewolf twin brother which they were watching carefully due to the animosity the Pack's Lupa held towards Dean and Sam. It was all very domestic, and Sam found he loved it, after all these centuries he finally had a place to call home and a family of his own, even if it was very different to the one his parents had wanted him to have.

Dean grinned when Sam walked into the kitchen, kissing him in greeting before plating up the meal. "Mom called," he told the vampire.

"How is she?"

"Good, she wants to come visit."

Sam grinned. "I look forward to seeing her again. Is it safe?"

"Yeah, he's in California. I think…maybe she's thinking about divorce," Dean admitted.

"Sounds like it's been a long time coming," Sam offered even as he reached out to ruffle Nathaniel's hair, getting a shy smile in return.

The youngest leopard was slowly relaxing and coming out of his shell. Dean had put a firm stop to him being pimped out and was working to help him gain confidence and self-worth beyond being used for sex. Dean had agreed to vet any potential partners for Nathaniel since the kid couldn't say no, it wasn't something he was comfortable with, but he would not let Nathaniel be endangered by the wrong partner. He was a teenager and they were working to teach him how to be one. Dean had even worked to get legal custody of him, to protect him, and Jean-Claude had helped by providing a lawyer. They had even managed to not reveal Dean's status and he had begun working in a private clinic, giving him a steady income which the court had liked. Nathaniel liked pain, liked certain things in sex that made Dean very uncomfortable but Sam had admitted that would likely be very hard to change and so they were mainly working to help him say no, to voice his own opinions. Dean had even taken him to the gun range and begun teaching him to shoot, to give him a way of defending himself.

Elizabeth was holding herself at a distance and they weren't sure if she'd stay long term, but Dean was leaving that up to her. The others were coming to understand that Dean would defend them but that he also wanted them to live their own lives, to be happy and safe. Vivian and Gregory spent a lot of time at the house and they had agreed that Stephen could come over as well, not wanting to separate the twins more than being different types of shifters already did. Sam was proud of Dean, how he was settling into the role of Pard leader and alpha. Their first full moon as a Pard was in three days and Sam was going to be there as well. They would be using the land behind the house and Sam would help ensure they didn't wander too far. He was still considering Jean-Claude's offer but was leaning towards accepting it.

There had been a few visits from Anita Blake as she came to check up on the leopards and how they were adjusting. She and Dean would talk about the Marks and what it was like being tied to a vampire, although it was different for both of them since Dean was a shifter and she was actually part of a triumvirate. Dean was also willing to help her fine tune her fighting skills against shifters since it also helped him get a better grip on his body had changed. They had swapped stories and Dean had told her about beings she had never run into before, Sam adding to them on occasion as he had seen more than either of them. Dean had even explained to her about his Father, so she knew to be on the lookout should John Winchester ever come to town.

Dean and Richard were wary around each other but there had been no more fights like when they first met. Dean had even begun working to teach Richard to really fight, training him for eventually facing his Ulfric. Everyone knew it would happen eventually, Richard would not sit back and watch as the Pack was used and abused the way Marcus and Raina did. He even gave Richard advice on getting along with Jean-Claude better since he had a better grasp on vampire quirks thanks to Sam, not that Sam was a typical vampire.

Both Dean and Sam were waiting, life was peaceful, and both knew that it was then that trouble always happened. Maybe it was pessimistic, but both knew the supernatural too well. Sam had also been talking with Mary about Dean's baby brother and the demon that had nearly killed her and he worried that sooner or later, it would come for the Winchester's again. He had begun sending out feelers to a few hunters, searching for the Colt, just to be safe. If the baby had been the target then there was a chance it would never attack again, then again with John's crusade it may come after Dean to get to his Father. He would not lose Dean to a demon. He had begun teaching the leopards how to ward their homes and what to do if a demon attacked. Dean hated that it was necessary, but he also knew that as the son of a hunter and a grandson of the Campbell's he was a very tempting target and so had joined in giving the lessons.

TBC…