— Elaeya —

Shea and I were in Kaden’s grandparent’s quarter in the packhouse. She had assured me, when they would be done, this is where the guys would come.

“So you’re like some sort of precog?” Jonathan, Kaden’s grandfather, asked me. I don’t know where he heard that, but it was useless to refute it.

“No, not exactly, but I can get some insights,” I said.

“Dandy,” he said while drinking his scotch.

Celia, Kaden’s grandmother, was absolutely charming. I’ve never had grandparents myself, and it was quite a novel concept.

She had given Shea and I a fruity, creamy drink that tasted absolutely great, but I barely touched it, remembering what alcohol did to me last time, and I let Shea and Celia drink together.

We heard the voices before they arrived. They were talking quite animatedly.

“Hey there boys,” said Celia greeting the men as they arrived.

She was wearing a beautiful maxi dress in shades of dark forest green. She had traits that made me think of indigenous American First Nations. She moved like she always made sure every movement was as it should be.

She brought a tray of beers, and they all grabbed one.

There was Kaden and his father, of course, but also Jayson, Nathan, who was Blakemore’s other Gamma, and a couple more men I’d never seen that Shea said would be some of Kaden’s Alphas.

Kaden dropped on the couch next to me.

“It’s way too late, you should be in bed,” he said his voice low as he bent to kiss me.

I recoiled and quirked an eyebrow at him unamused.

He raised his fingers up, giving up.

As I’m not controlling his schedule, I don’t see why he should be controlling mine.

I bent upwards and kissed him. He tasted of the bitterness of beer.

Shae had told me than in the aftermath of an important meeting like this, a few of them would reunite while everything was fresh to their mind and do a post-mortem that would last way into the night.

They mostly talked politics. They mentioned the possibility of adding small packs to Blakemore. Kaden seemed uncomfortable with this idea, but I have come to know that this was somewhat relatively common practice here and I don’t understand the difference with it now.

I looked at him questioningly.

“Later,” he muttered, acknowledging my question.

“It’s not the first time this has happened,” said Jayson. “Every time there’s chaos or conflicts somewhere, there are a bunch of packs seeking protection. But the Brotherhood is not as hands on as they used to be. The last century, they’ve been sending more and more signatories to deal with messes for them. I don’t think their own forces have increased in numbers in what—?”

“At least since the sixties,” confirmed Jonathan.

“We’ve been one of the most involved packs to compensate for this. So what do you think happens when the Brotherhood doesn’t answer their calls fast enough?” Jayson continued.

“They call the one who’s used to do the work,” said Nathan.

“Well, we’ve answered a lot of calls ourselves in the past fifty years, so pack are getting used to the idea that if shit is hitting the fan, Blakemore can handle it,” said Sebastian.

“Yeah, but we generally notify the Brotherhood and get their approval. Now this is bypassing them altogether,” Kaden said.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been giving them a lot of curtesy calls because you barely make sure they know what’s been going on with us,” said Sebastian.

“It’s not like it’s the first time the Brotherhood is unhappy at Blakemore,” said William, the Alpha of Wulfwick.

“I know that,” said Kaden. “But things could change to worse very quickly.”

“It will,” I said.

They all tuned to me.

“The Brotherhood is at a crossroad,” I said.

“A crossroad for what?” asked Jonathan.

“Death or rebirth.”

“What does that mean,” he asked.

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“How do you know that?” asked Travis, the Alpha of Wendunon.

I hesitated. I was not used to being open about this.

“She just knows things,” said Sebastian dismissively.

“That doesn’t sound good though,” said Celia.

Kaden’s brows furrowed.

“Stop trying to take them into account,” I told him.

The look he gave me made it clear that he never truly did this before. He was readjusting everything for me.

“I will be fine,” I told him. “Do what you have to do.”

“Are you sure of this?” he asked. Our voices were low, this conversation between the two of us.

I intertwined the fingers of both of my hands between his and gave him a slight smile in what I hoped would be a reassuring way.

The others continued their conversation without us.

Kaden took a long inspiration then nodded to me.

“I just don’t want a repeat of what happened in the hospital.”

“What has to happen will happen, and what has to be done will be done,” I told him.

He gave me a kiss on the forehead in response.

“I think you’re ready to go through the Luna ceremony,” told me Shea, which snapped Kaden and I out of our bubble.

I frowned.

“What does this tell you?” Kaden asked me noticing my reaction.

“That something is missing,” I said, not knowing what it was.

Shae clapped her hands together in excitement, which stopped all the conversations going on in the room and focus everyone’s attention on her.

“Of course something is missing,” she said. “There is no better way to back a Luna ceremony than with a marriage.”

Kaden and I turned into stoic statues, or eyes fixed on her.

I had mentioned to Kaden that I knew we would marry someday, so this was no surprise to either of us, but I supposed neither of us had considered it in such a sort amount of time.

I tried to think if this was what was missing, but I had no idea.

“Well, it’ll be about time someone rail him in, officially,” said Nathan smugly as he put both of his elbows on the back rest on either side of him.

Kaden gave him a look, but it didn’t seem to be as effective as it usually was.

A couple of guys snickered, but it died down as quickly as they saw Kaden’s face.

“It’s the best way to tackle this. It’s the best way to support your position and make sure no one question your status,” Shae told me.

“Is it?”

“Sure,” she said.

“It’s the most solid approach to take,” said Jayson. “I mean, given your position, no one could question you if both happens in rapid succession.”

“Common Kade,” said Shae. “It’s not like you’re not already head over heal for her. You wouldn’t be considering making her Luna if it was not serious.”

“You don’t have to push for it to happen now,” said Sebastian.

“Like you’re one to talk, you asked me to marry you two days after we met.”

One of the guys laughed and choked on his beer.

Sebastian returned to drinking his beer. Jonathan sipped on his whiskey, looking at the whole scene with mirth.

“You don’t have to rush anything, sweetie,” said Celia. “But it would indeed make a lot of things easier.”

Shae slapped her thigh. “Don’t you have visions about your future? Like if you get married and have children.”

I nodded.

“Which?”

“Both,” I said.

“Here,” she said at her son.

“I know that already,” he told her.

“Then what’s the problem?”

“There’s no problem, I just haven’t taken this into account.” He rubbed his face with his free hand. “It’s not like I have a ton of time on my hands lately to plan a wedding.”

“Who said you’d have to do that yourself. I could have one ready for you in a month, and you would not even have to do anything about it but to show up on time.”

* * * * *

“You don’t have to agree to anything if you don’t want to,” Kaden told me as we prepared for bed.

“Why?” I asked. “Is it because you don’t want to?”

“What? No, it’s just… I guess things keep getting faster than I’m prepared for.”

“They are.” I wrapped my arms around his waist.

“But I guess you’re already familiar with our marriage.”

“Some.”

He put his arms around me and kissed my forehead.

“It’s not like I was not expecting this to eventually happen.” He looked at me. “I just want to be sure you’re saying yes because you want to and not because my mother is bullying you to it, or because of your visions.”

“Do you?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “I didn’t plan to ask, at the moment,” he said truthfully. “But I don’t imagine anyone else with me.” He put his shin on top of my head. “And I can’t say that since you’ve talked about pups that this hasn’t been in my mind.”

“I’m not sure if I would go as fast for children, though,” I said.

He chuckled. “I’d prefer to get those wars out of the way first.”

“Me too.”

He looked back at me. “Well, I guess I better find you a proper ring or my mother is gonna rip my head off.”

“She would,” I said with certainty.

“Right, let’s not talk about my mother right now, and focus on better things.”

“Like what?”

“Like getting you properly naked,” he said. He grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up.

I squealed in surprised and he dropped me on the bed.

He took his shirt off, moved atop me, and began taking every pieces off faster than I could keep up with. Which made me giggle.

I tried to put my hands on him, but he didn’t let me, he flipped me on my front and pinned my hands under one of his. So I did the only thing left for me to do and pressed my hips against him.

Things devolved from there.

The sun was rising as we finally settle for sleep.

I had my head against his chest and I let my finger draw every line of his muscles.

He had his eyes closed and mine were too, when I noticed something.

“Kade?” I raised my head.

He stirred. “Mmmh?” he asked

I put my hand against his heart, closed my eyes and tilted my head in concentration.

“I think you’re healed,” I said.

“Great,” he said sleepily as he circled his arms around me and dragged me back down.

We fell asleep not long after in our mutual embrace.

* * * * *

We woke up just before noon.

Luckily, no urgent calls interrupted our sleep so that we could get enough to tackle the day.

We didn’t linger in bed long.

I moved to the bathroom to get a shower and Kaden went to the bedroom door to get dressed in his bedroom.

I heard a crack and turned around to see the bedroom door’s hinged half-torn from the wood. The upper one was the only one still holding on.

“What happened,” I asked as I came to check.

“I have no idea,” he said checking at the state of the hinges. “There’s no rust. The doorframe’s wood is in good condition.”

The hold of the upper hinge looked precarious at best. He gave a light tug on the door and it came right off. He took it from each side and placed it against the wall.

“I’ll call someone to have it repaired,” he said still looking confused at it.

There was now a gaping hole in place of a door and I realised how naked I was.

I didn’t expect to be seen, but we were not completely alone in this house either. I grabbed one of the sheets and wrapped it around me. At least Kaden had his pants on.

“Maybe you should just move to my room anyways,” he told me.

I looked up at him.

“There’s more closet space, at least,” he said jutting his chin at my boxes of clothes on the floor.

“Is there?”

“I moved out of the packhouse when I was seventeen. My mother was not keen on the idea, but saying that I knew I had a mate was the best argument I had. She insisted in getting the house ready for you, though. It was her condition for letting me leave early. She had a whole bedroom turned into a closet and dressing room. It’s been collecting dust since.”

“Oh,” I said.

“What do you say?” he bent to kiss me.

“Sure,” I said.

“I’ll tell Mrs. Raynolds to move your stuff,” he said, and he left to get dressed.

I looked at the bare doorframe.

This felt odd, but a building headache took my mind off it and I decided to move to the bathroom. Showers always helped.