by Aiden Bates
Gavin's feet took him aimlessly around the gathering. He stopped sometimes to chat with someone he knew, offering up a smile and discussing what they'd been doing since the winter meet. There were children underfoot everywhere, their parents watching fondly from a few feet away. Gavin wrapped his arms around his stomach. Twenty two and still not mated. It was almost unheard of in their area. There were so many Alphas to choose from. He knew that he wasn't the only one thinking about his single status. Sometimes he could see it in the eyes of the people he spoke with - the pity. The questions. Gavin turned away from them as quickly as he could while still being polite.
"Morning, omega," a warm voice said above him, and Gavin lifted his gaze from the ground.
He swallowed back the smile that wanted to settle on his face. They couldn't be obvious here, of all places, where anyone could see them and report back to his father.
Gavin dipped his head in a respectful nod. "And to you, sir."
They moved on past each other, Raul's hand bumping against his hip like it had been an accident. Gavin laid his own over the place his Alpha's fingers had touched, and stood for a moment to let the pleasant heat of the contact curl through him. Soon. Just a little longer, and he would know.
Chapter Eight
In the afternoon, Gavin met his father back at the truck and they put the tent up. Well, his father put the tent up. Gavin pulled the supplies out of the truck and set up the cooking space, then set up the tent with their sleeping bags and the rest of their things. They would be up here for the whole weekend, everyone eager to have as much time together as they could get. Those who didn’t live in the woods already were undoubtedly eager to get away from the cities. Tomorrow was the full moon, and they would all run together. It was a way of forming strong bonds between packs, promising alliances that could always be called on.
“I’ll be speaking to Raul Fallon this evening,” his father said as Gavin stood over the little grill at one end of the camp site, laying out burgers. Gavin bit down on his lip.
“Yes, sir,” he said quietly, trying to keep his voice even.
He wasn’t certain he had been entirely successful, but his father didn’t ask him any question. He just grunted an acknowledgement and sat down at the edge of the fire ring to wait for lunch. Around them, the scents of cooking filled the air. They weren’t the only ones getting ready for a meal.
Gavin served his father a burger, then took one for himself and sat down on the log opposite the one his father had taken. They ate in silence, but it didn’t feel strained. Around them, people were talking, laughing. The wind moved through the trees, setting them rustling. Gavin took a deep breath of pine-scented air and settled in to eat.
When they’d finished, he cleaned up while his father wandered around the camp, greeting people the way Gavin had earlier. Circulating was obligatory for the pack Alphas. They needed to assess the social situation, see where relationships were beginning to weaken and shore them up. Packs squabbled all the time over petty little problems. The summer meet was the chance to work all that out. To keep their connections strong.
Gavin couldn’t bring himself to go out and mingle again. He walked instead toward the far edge of the camp site, where he could follow one of the trails into the woods. Slowly, the sound of happy chatter faded behind him. The wind in the trees became the loudest sound. Overhead, the sun was high in the sky, and its light filtered down golden and warm through the layers of forest. Gavin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was better. He enjoyed the interaction with members of other packs usually, but today he was too restless. He needed to be away from all the questions in their eyes.
He was turning to go back toward the camp, the sun sinking on past midday and toward afternoon, when he heard a sound at his back. Gavin turned too quickly and nearly threw himself off balance, stumbling against something tall. When he looked up, Raul was looking down at him, a grin on his face, and his Alpha’s hands were on his hips.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Gavin said instantly.
Raul’s eyebrows rose. “No?”
“No,” Gavin answered, a little more sharply than he had meant to. “If they scent you on me we’re both done, and my father will never let you touch me again.”
Raul lifted a hand and ran it through his hair, and despite his better judgement, Gavin leaned into the touch. “I’m not going to push you for something that would put us both in danger, sweet thing. Just wanted to say hi.”
He smiled a little crookedly, and Gavin would swear he felt his heart skip a beat. He hadn’t known that was actually possible until he met Raul.
“Oh,” he said quietly. “Well in that case, I guess I’m okay with it.”
Gavin loved his Alpha’s low chuckle. It made him feel warm. With a sigh, he leaned against the broad chest, letting his Alpha’s arms wrap around him.
“I’ve missed you,” he said.
“I’ve missed you more,” Raul answered, because he had clearly never grown up.
Gavin laughed against his chest. “We’re not going to have that argument again.”
“No?” Raul sounded a little disappointed, but his hand slid up into Gavin’s hair and his arm wrapped tighter around him. “Well, then, we’ll just have to find something else to do.”
Ordinarily that would mean something that it would be really stupid to do this close to the summer meet’s camp grounds. This time it just meant Raul leaning down to kiss him, slow and careful and soft. And that was just fine with Gavin. He arched up into the touch, arms sliding around Raul’s neck, and sank into the moment.
When they parted, they were both a little short of breath. Raul brushed a lock of hair back from Gavin’s face.
“This evening,” he said.
Gavin nodded. “This evening,” he echoed, throat tight with new nerves.
Raul looked down at him. “It will be okay, sweet thing. I promise.”
His hand settled briefly against Gavin’s cheek and Gavin turned his face against it, pressing his lips to the palm.
“I wish I could stay,” Raul said.
“You’ll be able to,” Gavin answered. “Soon.”
He wasn’t sure whether the words were more for him or for his Alpha. Raul’s hand fell away, and he reached into his pocket to pull out a little tin of mints, offering one to Gavin. He took it, setting it on his tongue. It would disguise the scent of Raul on his mouth. He saw Raul do the same. With one last wave, they both turned their separate ways, Gavin taking the time to walk through a stand of pine with lush, low-hanging breaches. Their strong scent filled his nose, and he rubbed a little against the needles so that when he returned to camp he would smell of them and not of the hands that had been on his body.
-----
Evening came slowly. So slowly. Gavin went back to their camp site and started preparations for dinner, cutting up everything that he could cut up ahead of time and then sealing it back in its container. That done, he wandered around the camp again, restless, and talked to members of other packs. There were wolves up from as far as Wyoming, though they were visitors who had come with family that belonged to one of the packs in the area. Talking to them was better than talking to the people he'd grown up with. They didn't make him think of Raul. Raul, who must be talking to his father by now, surely. He wondered where they were, and tried to breathe in and out slowly, to settle the upset flutter of his stomach.
Gavin made his way back to their tent, but his father still wasn't there, and there was little point in starting dinner until he knew how when his father would be back. He ran a hand through his hair, looked out at the others who were chatting and playing and starting the preparations for the evening meal. Soon. He had to be back soon, right? How long could it take to present a suit? Most of the things Raul would bring forward about himself Gavin's father already knew. Most of them were public. Everyone knew Raul was the Alpha of a strong pack. Everyone knew he was a good leader. Gavin paced across the camp site and back the other direction, ha
nds tucked into his pockets. His heart was beating too fast, his breath coming a little unsteady, and he couldn't make them settle.
When he turned again on his heel, his father was there. Gavin caught his lower lip between his teeth, looked up through his lashes.
"Sir," he greeted softly.
"Where's dinner?"
Gavin dropped his gaze. "I wasn't sure when you would be back. It's ready. Just needs to be heated."
He'd made certain to pick meals that didn't take long to prepare. His father nodded, and stepped past him into the tent, and Gavin hurried to get dinner ready, his hands shaking as he filled the plates.
His father had come out of the tent again by the time he served the food, and sat on a lock poking the lower fire in the fire pit with the end of a long stick. He didn't look like he was in a particularly good mood, Gavin thought as he took his own seat. He didn't look like he was in a good mood at all. Gavin's tongue flicked out to wet his lower lip, nervous.
"I suppose you want to know what answer I gave to Raul?"
Gavin's fingers curled around his fork until his knuckles went white.
"Yes, sir," he said. "I would like to know."
His father's eyes lifted from his plate and met Gavin's, and Gavin was startled by the anger in them.
"I told him no," he said.
Gavin's fork slipped out of suddenly numb fingers, and he dropped his gaze to search for it, setting the plate aside while he picked it up.
"You told him no," he said, very softly, still staring down at the fork.
Suddenly he wasn't hungry.
"May I ask why, sir?"
His father laughed. It wasn't a happy sound.
"Two reasons, omega." Gavin heard him set his plate down. "Look at me, Gavin."
The demand in the low growl pulled Gavin's head up. He met his father's eyes. His stomach flipped over.
"The first is that he and that sister of his have made a mockery of the traditions that have kept us safe since the time of the first shifters." His voice dropped another register. "And the second," he continued, a growl at the edge of the words. "Is that any Alpha who would do me the disrespect of touching my son without my permission isn't worth adding to my family line."
Chapter Nine
“What?”
His father stared at him. “Think carefully about how you’re going to play this, omega, because someone saw you.”
Gavin pressed his shaking hands against his thighs, ignoring the fork that had once again slipped from his grasp.
"Saw us? I don't-"
"Saw his," his father repeated, growling.
Gavin reached up and ran a hand through his hair, mind spinning. What was he supposed to say? Who had seen them? When? This morning? Another time? If someone had seen them before today wouldn't his father had said something about it? If someone had seen them before today, there was nothing and no one that could convince his father to change his mind, because having an omega who went behind his back and let himself be touched by an Alpha the way Raul had touched Gavin - an Alpha who would do that - it wasn't something his father was going to forgive.
"Father, I..."
"You what? I'm waiting, Gavin, for some kind of explanation."
Gavin was waiting for one to magically drop out of the sky. Thus far it hadn't been forthcoming. He looked down at the dirt under his feet, and tried to find the words to explain to his father that what had happened wasn't enough that he should say no to Raul's suit. For a moment he wondered if it would be better to confess to everything - to more than that, even. If he was ruined for anyone else, his father would have to give him to Raul. But the question of whether his father would do it without publicly shaming both of them for their sins wasn't one he was sure of the answer to, and as much as he had always been a little unsure of his father, he didn't want to lose him completely.
Footsteps intruded on his thoughts, and then there was a hand in his hair, yanking his head back so he was forced to look up into his father's eyes.
"You have three seconds, omega."
What did he know? Gavin had to know that to know how to answer. What did–
"What exactly is going on here?" a cool voice demanded.
The hand in Gavin's hair abruptly released him, dropping to his shoulder instead, and he let his head drop. The voice he knew, but only vaguely. Raul's sister. Larentia. He looked up through the corner of his eye, found her there with Raul standing at her side, and with them Gerard Marrock, the Alpha of the Silver Bay pack. Someone his father respected, at least. Gavin wrapped his arms around his ribs and lowered his head again.
"What’s going on here is that my son is explaining to me just what has gone on between him and your brother."
His father's voice snapped like a whip, and Gavin curled closer into himself, every instinct demanding that he fix what he had done wrong. That he make it up to his father. He caught his lower lip between his teeth and bit down until he tasted copper.
"It was only a kiss," Raul said, voice more deferential than Gavin had ever heard it. "I shouldn't have, I know. It was my fault. I surprised him. We happened to run into each other in the woods this morning."
It was a slightly disjointed explanation, but it made a little of the sick fear go out of Gavin's stomach. If his father only knew about this morning, they could still be okay. Surely Gerard would be able to talk to him. To calm him. Gavin blinked back the sting of unwanted tears. Crying now wouldn't help anything. It would only make his father more upset. Though maybe not at him. Alphas were programmed to treat crying omegas gently. He knew he must stink of distress either way, could smell it himself–sour, like rotting fruit.
"And you think that's going to make me more likely to change my mind? If you did surprise him, you've put him in a bad position. And if you didn't, you're lying to me, and that puts both of you in a worse one."
"They're young, Karl," Gerard said, entering the conversation. "What's a little youthful indiscretion? We've all been caught up in it once or twice."
His tone was so reasonable. Gavin dared to lift his head a little, found the Alpha smiling at him.
"Give them a break," he said.
Gavin's father laughed, a low, sharp sound like a bark. "Is that so, Marrock? I suppose you would know about youthful indiscretion. How is your nephew’s little mate?"
The growl that started in Gerard's throat was quickly silenced. Gavin heard him take a deep breath.
"My nephew is not the subject of discussion, Karl. What we're discussing here is your son, whom you well know is aging out of his prime mating years. You've had an offer from the Alpha of one of the largest packs in the region, and I have to say that the terms are more than generous. So what, exactly, is stopping you from saying yes?"
His father's hand tightened on Gavin's shoulder until it ached.
"He is my son. I decide what is best for him."
"And is this what's best for him? Twenty two or near enough. Unmated. Denied the chance to be with an Alpha he obviously likes. Who would you rather see him with, Karl? Is there someone better you have in mind?"
Gavin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, opened them again as he let it out. When he looked up, Raul was standing with his sister's hand on his arm, obviously upset by Gavin's distress and looking like he wanted to remind them all that Gavin was sitting right there. It almost made him smile. Of course Raul wouldn't want them to talk about him like he wasn't part of the conversation. But Gavin knew well enough that he wasn't. This was a matter for Alphas. His input wouldn't be desired, especially if he interrupted to interject it. If they wanted to know what he thought, they would ask him.
"Raul Fallon flouts tradition. He thinks he's above the laws of our pack. He touched my son without my permission. And you expect me to simply turn Gavin over to him? I will not watch my child become like the wolves Raul leads, unruly and untrained. Running wild. It's too dangerous."
"As though your son would ever be unruly," Raul said, no challenge in his voice.
His father's gaze snapped to the younger wolf, and Gavin didn't realize he'd stopped breathing until his chest began to ache.
"What do you know about my son?"
"I know that he's the sweetest omega I've ever had the privilege of speaking to, and that he would rather die than upset anyone he cares about. I am sure that you know how much he loves you. And respects you. How much he wants you to be happy with him. He doesn't have it in him to run wild." The smile that had been in Raul's voice when he spoke about Gavin slid away. "And I can protect him, whatever comes."
Gavin's fingers curled in the fabric of his own shirt.
"Yes, we all know you have a large pack."
"I'm not talking about my pack," Raul said. "Yes, there is strength in numbers, but I assure you if Gavin were in danger I would lay down my life for him."
That stopped Gavin's father cold. Gavin's own heart beat too fast behind his ribs. I would lay down my life for him. It wasn't unexpected, but to hear him say it aloud made Gavin want to throw himself into his Alpha's arms.
"All this," his father said. "For an omega you hardly know?"
"All this," Raul answered. "For the omega I desire to take as my mate. You've seen my suit. You know what I bring."
"I will need some time to consider it," Gavin's father said, his voice tight. "For now, I'd like to speak to my son. Alone."
Raul looked like he wouldn't leave, but his sister's fingers were wrapped tight around his arm, and when she dragged him away he followed, glancing back over his shoulder at Gavin.
Chapter Ten
"Tell me something, omega," his father said when they were gone. "And I want you to tell me the truth. If you don't, I'll know it. Did you kiss him because you wanted to, this morning?"
Gavin stared down at his hands, the tears he had been holding back finally spilling over. "Yes, sir." He swallowed a sob. His father was never going to let him be with Raul. "I'm sorry, Alpha. I'm so sorry."