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The next morning, I woke in my warm bed beside the most gorgeous cat in the world and I felt that I was a more complete cat with her beside me. After lounging in our bed for a bit longer I got up to take care of things, when I was coming back from the bathroom I heard a surprised yowl from my mate and I was in the room in a flash before I began laughing at the sight that greeted me. Anna was holding a happy little girl in her arms and when she saw me her glance conveyed volumes of meaning.

"I thought you were single Mark?"

"I was up until I met you, I had reason to adopt Katy before I left the Pack where I was being sheltered during my Turn." I replied out loud, walking over and sitting down on the bed. Then I told her how Katy and I met, and the fate of her family.

When she heard that it was another cat that had taken her parents away she growled. "Some day that cat will pay!" and I could see the fire in her eyes that told me her cat was there too.

"I intend on it dear heart, and I will be the one exacting the price from his hide! He has much to answer for including my turn. I love what I am dear, but at the same time I'd rather have had the choice given to me and not had it forced upon me like it was."

She nodded slightly, giving Katy a gentle cuddle and I could see that her eyes had tears in them, "Mark, she's your daughter, now isn't she?"

I silently nodded. "If I hadn't been there when her parents died... I am not sure how she could have survived."

She hugged Katy gently, "Mark, I can help you with her, I want to help you." She told me hugging my pup. "What you told me, no cub needs to experience that, it makes my cat both sad, and a bit happy that you were there when she needed you most. I'd like to help you with this task now Mark, but just because I'm here doesn't mean that you're dumping her on me every time she's done a number in her pants."

I laughed, "I can handle that myself most times Anna, and until this thing is done I'm not sure when she will train. She was partly trained before he did what he did to her parents, when they died she regressed a bit and I am not sure when she'll get back to where she was before."

I leaned over and gently picked Katy up, "Come on pup, we need to give Anna time to get up and get ready for the day, and you are almost ready to float away."

A short time later I made my way downstairs with a dry pup in my arms.

"Morning sir." Sergey said cheerfully before handing me a steaming cup of coffee. "I am glad that my brother didn't get her. This Pride would be a thousand times worse off if he were to become its Guardian."

"Why don't you like him Sergey? Is it because he follows your father's style?"

He shook his head and sensing that he needed it I put my cup down on the counter and gave him a hug. "It isn't that, ever since I can remember Ivan's been making my life a living purgatory. He knows that I don't have ambition to lead and he makes the most of that knowledge. I know that if he ever got me alone, just to prove his superiority over me he'd... do horrible things."

I swore with a growl. "He should know better! From the sounds of it he is little better than your other older brother."

"Dad doesn't talk much about Mikel, but from what I've heard dad wouldn't have exiled him, even after what he did."

"What did your older brother do that is so awful?"

"I don't know everything but from what I've heard from some of the other members of the Pride Mikel was seeing a human woman, and at some point, I guess she was a bit unfaithful, somebody got her pregnant. When he found out about her affair... He lost it and killed her. After he did that he broke his bonds to Shanna and Olaf and they declared him Rogue on the spot. Though I am not really sure if that is true cause when I've had time I've looked it up on a friend's computer, and though she is listed as missing they never found any remains."

I shook my head and growled, killing an innocent human was bad enough, but severing your bonds to you Pride was worse. After a moment, I realized that Sergey was shivering in my arms as my mate came down the stairs, she paused at the base of the stairs and recognized who I was hugging.

"Mark why is... he in this house?"

I turned to look at her and then replied, "Because he's an innocent cub who's been caught up by his family's reputation Anna. He doesn't want anything to do with what they've become, or what they represent."

She stepped forwards and then looked Sergey in the eye. "Is what my mate says true?"

Sergey gulped softly and nodded, "Yes, it is Assistant Matriarch. I want only to have a good person to assist. I don't like my father or my brother's power games."

I moved slightly and hugged her gently, "Dear your scaring him, he's had a bad enough time as it is with people wanting nothing to do with him because of his family."

She looked at Sergey for a moment, and then at me. "Mark how can you have him in your house when a Berekov did such a thing to you?"

"Kitten, I have him here because I know that he's a good cat, all he wants right now is a father who doesn't treat him like a pawn in some great game." I told her, "You have to look past his last name Anna, to what kind of person he is. From my experience with Sergey, I've learned that he's a smart, intelligent, resourceful, and dependable young man."

She looked at me, then at Sergey and finally nodded. "I guess I can give him a chance." She said softly. "I just haven't really had the best luck with his older brother, his father, or that harridan his mother."

Sergey looked up from his hug of me over to Anna. "Mom has always been hard to get along with I think. When I was little she'd show me off like I was a prize or something, but as I got older and I didn't turn out like my brothers... well she and dad lost interest in me until I was exiled from the house because I didn't want what they wanted."

"Anna, you might have some problems seeing it since you are closer to his age, but I can see what has happened to him because I'm old enough. The really sad thing is that his parents disowned him, technically all he has left from his family is his last name."

She looked at me, "What do you mean you're old enough Mark?"

"Anna, I am twice your age, I'm also old enough to be his father and I can see the hurt in his eyes and the loss that he's also suffered. His family has not only hurt this Pride, it has also hurt their own flesh and blood. They disowned a cub because he didn't measure up to what they thought he should be."

She looked at me and her fingers went to her shoulder where I'd bitten her last night to seal our bonds. "What about me Mark? Am I too young to be your equal?"

I let go of Sergey and gently gather her into my arms and leaned my head down to gently nuzzle and kiss her softly. "Never, I will never think of you as anything but my mate. We will be equal in everything you desire." I gave a soft laugh, "Besides you will be the Matriarch someday. That means that you will be the ultimate authority in the Pride."

"But as the Guardian you also have great power Mark." She replied softly returning the kisses that I was giving her, though we both were taking great care not to get too carried away.

A short time later the doorbell rang, and we were both surprised to find her parents there.

"May we come in?" Shanna asked formally, though I could tell that she was in good spirits from the way her eyes were sparkling and the feel I was getting from our Pride Bond.

"Of course, please come in. After all, you're family now." I said as I let them in before closing the door. The weather outside was truly frightful with a sharp north wind and blowing snow, which definitely boded well for having a truly white Christmas.

Olaf shook slightly as he took off his heavy jacket and hung it on a coat rack by the door. "At least your home is nice and warm. I think the furnace in the Pride House is about to expire."

I winced, ouch, "How ancient is it?"

"Probably older than you are Mark. They don't make them like that anymore."

I nodded, "Well if you'd like you can always sleep here." I told them.

"With the furnace acting up it is all the more reason for a rebuild Mark. The basement is also having problems Shanna and I have been arguing with the council about the need to completely rebuild the Pride House."

"Oh? That would be quite the undertaking, wouldn't it? And with the added costs of integration of actual modern technology it would probably be very expensive."

Olaf nodded, "That's the rub of it Mark, the house is almost 100 years old but its showing its age, and not in a good way."

I nodded, "The issue that you're going to be running into is those that say that since it has worked so well for almost a hundred years, and you built it all those years ago, that it should still be good, even when they don't have to live with it day to day."

Shanna smiled at her daughter, "I have to say dear that the fates chose a good one for you."

Anna glanced over at me and her father, "I am rather happy with how things are turning out mom. He's perceptive and intelligent which is more than I can say about Ivan and the rest of his house."

I glanced at her and then over at Sergey pointedly and she got the point.

"Not to say that they are all bad, at least one of them is a reasonable and thoughtful cub." She amended, walking over and giving Sergey a gently hug, "Mark trusts him with his house, and I need to learn to embrace that trust myself."

I smiled at my mate, "Dear heart, trust is something that is earned, and it will probably be a while before you can trust anybody from House Berekov, even one who was thrown out of that House."

Anna nodded and smiled. "Yeah, that is probably true Mark."

"Anna, you may have to listen to your mate frequently because although he will be the Guardian and you'll be his Matriarch he may have some ideas that you will want to listen to." Her mom commented before there was a sharp rapping on one of the kitchen windows and Anna looked at me then at her mom, "Mom I must have left Katyusha outside last night... she won't be happy with me... In fact, she's a bit cross..."

Her mom looked at me and sighed. "Mark, I think it is time that we let you in on a Pride Secret that we really aren't sure how it started. However, what I can tell you is that they are invaluable to us."

As she was saying that Anna had gone to the window and opened it letting in a very large raven into the room. The bird flew around the room a few times before landing on my mate's shoulder and rubbed its head against hers crooning softly. "Mark this here is Katyusha, she's my companion Raven almost every pride member over fifteen has one."

I glanced pointedly towards the stairs, "Matriarch I have guests staying with me today, and like you said this is a pride secret."

Shanna looked at her mate. "Mark if you and Anna get the training we want you to have you will have to take the Ravens with you, and we already know that your guests are from the pack that is hosting the training."

"Okay," I replied as I looked into the eyes of the bird on Anna's shoulder and I was surprised that she was returning my gaze with one of her own, and furthermore the gaze showed a surprising level of intelligence.

"Mark the Pride Ravens are very special to all of us." Shanna said as she went to the window and looked at it, "Oh the night latch is broken. Sergey, you see this?" Shanna stepped aside so that he could see what she was pointing at.

"Sorry Matriarch didn't think it was all that important, since Mark doesn't yet have a Companion, I will get somebody from the main house to have it fixed right away, though I am not sure if anybody will listen to me." He commented looking a bit enviously at Katyusha. "My parents said that I didn't deserve a companion because I am not like them and I don't bring honour to our House." He said sadly with his head hanging before Olaf put his hand on Sergey's shoulder.

"Of course, every cat in the Pride, no matter their rank deserves a companion and today we're going to make sure that both you and Mark both finish the day with your companions, for now how about we all have something to eat?"

I nodded watching as Katy looked up at Katyusha with definite interest. "Big black birdy."

Anna smiled and knelt down slowly, so as not to disturb her raven. "Now Katy can you be gentle, Katyusha is really a nice birdy."

Katy nodded and held out her hand, I was slightly surprised at how gently Katyusha was when she gently tapped her beak against Katy's small fingers and crooned gently.

After a moment, I looked over at Shanna as she opened the night hatch and a significantly older looking bird came in and landed on her shoulder. "This here is Baikal, she's been my companion for the past seventy years."

It was at that point that Mika came down the stairs and gave a soft woof before coming forwards to sniff at Katyusha, who cocked her head and gave a soft croak. The two regarded each other and I knew that there was some silent communication going on between them before Katyusha gave a happy sound and flapped up and landed on Mika's shoulders.

Anna laughed out loud and then said to her mom, "Katyusha, says that Mika is a nice furry foot warmer"

At that point Chris and the wolves came down the stairs, and Chris seeing his Companion laying on the rug in front of the fireplace with a large raven on his back cocked his head at me, "What the heck is going on Mark? Why is there a raven standing on Mika's back?"

"Chris, we would probably prefer if you keep quiet about this, but the raven's name is Katyusha, and she is Anna 's Companion and right now, from what Anna has told me Katyusha is saying that Mika is a nice foot warmer."

Both Robin and Lea also looked more than a little curious about the birds, since Baikal had settled on Shanna's shoulder and was making soft noises in her ear and Olaf had gone to the window and his own Companion had flown in and landed on his shoulder.

"Mark," Olaf said, "This is Nestor,"

I looked at the bird on his shoulder and I could not make much of him, other than the fact that he was a good deal smaller than the other two ravens, though from what I knew that was common since among birds females are generally larger than their male mates. "He looks like a nice old gentleman of a raven." I finally replied, I'd always respected ravens. In my mind the largest of the corvids was never to be underestimated since they were more than a little intelligent.

Sergey, who'd been hugging Shanna finally stepped back and looked around, "I only have coffee prepared. I haven't managed to get started on breakfast."

Olaf laughed, "Well since the main reason that Mark always ate here is resolved how about we all go to the Pride House for breakfast, the furnace may not be working very well, but I can assure you that the stoves and ovens still work just fine."

Sergey nodded and smiled, "I miss eating with my friends that live at the Pride House, though most of them are kinda low-ranked like I am."

Both Anna and I walked over and gave him a hug, "Sergey there's nothing wrong with you deciding not to be a fighter, hell without you and your friends I believe we wouldn't have a Pride."

Shanna nodded, "Mark is correct, the prides wouldn't exist without cats such as yourself Sergey, it's the whole reason that they exist." She stated as Anna and I hugged him gently."

He looked up into our eyes and I could see tears in his eyes, "Thank you Mark, you've given me a home that I can look forwards living in."

"Think nothing of it cub, I know that you needed it, the second morning I was here at the Pride."

Shanna stepped forwards and gave me a hug, "Mark, it may not be a big deal to you, but to Sergey it is a big deal, since his family has never been there for him as much as you have in the past three weeks. Every time I've seen him recently he's been happy, and his cat is content. Which is a huge for him since he's never struck me as a particularly happy cub."

"Thank you for the insight Matriarch, I replied before I grabbed my favourite bomber jacket, gloves, and toque before we all headed out into the brisk morning for the short walk down to the Pride House.

During breakfast, I was greatly amused when Ivan, who was trying to be his normal annoying self, approached us before he stopped as his nose finally decided to function and inform in that the target of his affections was no longer on the market. He looked at me and glared, though when I returned the glare his normally blue eyes shifted green and he turned around abruptly and left the room.

Anna, laughed at that loudly, "Looked like he was going to start something, but I think his cat took over and dragged his ass somewhere. I hope that cat clues him in a bit, though that is probably a bit too much to ask, since he always seems to have ignored his cat before."

"At least one morning of peace is a good thing Anna, we can always build from there, can't we?"

Anna nodded and then looked over at me, "Though we probably just delayed one hell of a nasty confrontation until the Pride Council tomorrow."

"We will deal with it when the time comes kitten." I told her softly and touched her hand.

After breakfast Olaf took myself, and Sergey up to the rookery in the top floor of the Pride House while Anna and her mother talked with our guests. Katy went to the crèche where she normally spent a good part of her day with other cubs her age.

The smell in the rookery wasn't great, but the sound was surprisingly low considering the fact that there were probably fifty plus large, black ravens in the area. *Most of the reason that this isn't that loud considering the number of ravens here is because a lot of them are using their mental voices, thought they can also communicate a lot information with their voices and body language.* Olaf told me in the quiet of my mind.

Almost as soon as we arrived a rather small bird hopped over to Sergey and flapped up to his shoulder and began making small comforting noises, which caused my adopted cub to smile and give the bird, which was obviously a male, a gentle scratch on the neck.

"His name is Buyanki, he's fairly young, only fledged this past summer. He's also a calm and patient little guy who is almost perfect for you young Sergey. Not at all like some of your family's birds."

"Thank you, Guardian," Sergey answered softly as he gently rubbed his new Companion's head. "I've seen the ones that my father breeds, he doesn't like the smaller ones, claims they aren't good for anything."

"I take it he refuses to have his household staff even think of going up to the rookery in his house?"

"Yeah, he would love if they couldn't but then he and others would be forced to clean and maintain the rookery."

"Yes, and those who do go to clean it have a companion don't they?"

Sergey nodded, and I could tell that he was a very happy young cub. It was at that point that a large raven flew through the rookery before dodging around me and then swinging back to land on my shoulder and give a gentle croak of happiness.

"Mark, now I find out that you're the one that Caspian has been waiting for, he's about the largest male in the rookery, there are some females that are smaller than he is."

I was impressed at the size of this huge male and I could feel his presence in my mind as he sent to me his pleasure at finally finding the right person for him. Reaching up and gently giving the back of the large bird's head a scratch, I was thrilled when he gave a soft croon and rubbed against my ear.

"He's only a bit smaller than Katyusha and like her, he's housebroken, though you'll have to ask Sergey to get that night latch fixed and put out a small litter box for the three ravens in your house."

Sergey, nodded and turned, being carefully not to upset Buyanki, and headed for the door. "I have a friend who fixes things like that, I will see that it is fixed right away."

"Now I guess it's time for me to learn some more things eh Olaf?"

"Yes, now let's get too it, though how about we go to your house first, you have a better computer than I do, and most of what I will be showing you is more in line with your station, now that you are officially training to be my replacement."