Chapter Text
Eyadon slowly opened his eyes, the scent in his nose immediately satiating his nature.
And then he remembered the last two hours of his life, and he almost exploded.
“Eya,” Mirima said, her tone sleepy but content.
“Miri,” Eyadon murmured in return, nosing up the back of her neck as his hand ran up her hip and side. She was the softest thing alive, and he never imagined being able to fall more in love with her, but he had.
“I want it,” she said, Eyadon freezing and then propping himself up with an elbow as she flipped around in her bedding to face him. “I want you to bond me,” she said for clarity, Eyadon beaming down at her as he held her face. “Tonight.”
It was the full moon cycle right now, and they’d just mated for the first time in their sixteen years, but she’d told him not to bond her if he could manage it because she still wasn’t sure they were ready. And the uncertainty came solely from their age, rather than their feelings for one another. Eyadon knew damn well how she felt about him.
“Are you sure?” he asked, fixing some of her blonde hair so it was all off her face. “You told me not to earlier…”
She nodded, blushing a deep red and then biting her bottom lip in a grin. “I know we’re young, but well…we’re mature now, and I know I want you. What we just did proved to me that I don’t think I can wait anymore. I want that knot of yours any time I want it for the rest of our lives. I want to carry your puppies when we’re ready for that. I want to be yours—undeniably yours. I want us to… be ,” she said, her dainty fingers closing around his wrist and bringing his hand to her lips so she could kiss it.
Eyadon’s face surely melted in adoration as his emotions overwhelmed him, and he connected their lips with the level of passion they’d had earlier in the night, making her gasp as she met the kiss with equal force. “I love you,” he said against her lips, dragging his free hand down her front until he reached the place he’d just recently become acquainted with.
She mewled against his lips as he pressed his fingers into her, spreading her legs further for him and baring her neck on top of everything else.
Eyadon nearly lost his mind, his wolf uncontrollably tempted by the offering of her bonding spot. “Do you mean right now?” he asked for clarity, just barely able to speak with skin form language.
She opened her eyes and blinked once, pressing her lips together and shaking her head. “I want to tell our parents first,” she said, reluctantly pushing Eyadon’s fingers from her with her hand pressed against his inner elbow. He says ‘reluctantly’ because she whined in desperation to get them back as soon as she did, and it made him chuckle, but he knew he had to ignore her desperation for now if she logically wanted him to.
But there was a slight issue in what she wanted. “My parents are a bit more tied up right now than yours are,” he said, cursing his mother’s heat cycle in a way he never had before now. How was he going to have this conversation and still somehow bond Mirima during this full moon cycle? It was hard to wait for his forever.
“They’ll understand,” Miri said, definitely underestimating how possessive his father was, but that was alright. He wasn’t going to put a shadow over her hope.
“So, we both go tell our parents of our plan, and then we come back here, and we bond?” Eyadon asked, just to be sure of the steps involved.
“Yes,” Miri said, her giddy grin ending up rather contagious.
“Race you,” Eyadon said with a quick kiss to her face before he leapt to his feet, kicking his nature in the face so he could manage physically parting from Mirima at all, even for a short time.
Miri jumped up too and then they both dashed out of the tent, sharing special grins with one another as they ran parallel on opposite sides of the path to get to their puphood homes. Neither had lived there now for several years, but nothing felt more right still to this day.
When Mirima disappeared into Zayn and Niall’s tent, Eyadon boldly walked into his own, prepared for any reaction and deciding he wouldn’t budge, no matter what.
He found his parents in their bedding, luckily in a cool-down period, and it looked like his mother was asleep, his father having knotted him some recent time ago and was now scent-marking him.
At least, he was scent-marking him, until Eyadon walked in. Now he was just glaring and growling at him as he hurried to conceal his mother’s bare form with their blankets. His own father obviously wouldn’t see him as an actual threat, in any capacity, but there was just no getting around a mated Alpha’s territorial reactions during a time like this.
“Sorry—” he tried to say, his father interrupting him.
“Eya, get out of here,” his father snarled quietly, flapping his arm to shoo him off. “You may be my son, but you’re still an Alpha. And your mother’s in heat, and this is our last breeding. What could you possibly have to say right now that —”
“I just mated Miri,” Eyadon said, stalking forward fearlessly until he was standing at the edge of their bedding. He knew his father’s wolf was furious about being looked down to like this, so he knelt to the floor, averse to making this any harder than it needed to be. “And I’m going to bond her tonight.”
His father’s growls finally paused, his eyes blinking several times as he took some inhales of Eyadon’s scent, which was undoubtedly drowning in Mirima’s. He could smell it all over himself, too.
His father then made a deep sigh, lifting his arm from around his mother to run his knuckles across his bottom lip, then idly stroking his facial hair as he thought about his words. “Is she on contraceptives?” he asked first, Eyadon nodding quickly.
“She is.”
His father slowly nodded, his eyes slowly moving back and forth like he was reading his own thoughts on a piece of parchment. “You two are still awfully young,” he said, Eyadon having anticipated that very remark.
“We don’t care,” he said, his father giving him a bemused look. “I know in my soul that this is right. Mirima is my omega—I know it. My whole life, it’s only ever been Mirima.”
“You don’t have to tell me that,” his father said with a half-smile. “I remember things from your life that you can’t. You were attached to her even when you were a newborn.”
Eyadon smiled. He’d heard those stories before, and it was all the proof he’d ever needed to know that he knew what he wanted. What he needed. “Exactly. And I’m not asking your permission, either; I’m telling you that I’m doing this.”
His father’s brows furrowed, and he gave him a bit of an irritated look, but it evened out with an eye roll and transformed into something fonder. “Eya, you and Mirima have both matured. You’re perfectly capable of making your own decisions. My only piece of advice, simply because you are still young, is that you give it a few years living as a bonded couple before you add puppies into the mix. Not because you wouldn’t be perfectly sufficient parents, but just to allow you to live your lives however you see fit until you’re really ready for that commitment.”
“You bred Mother on your first mating,” Eyadon said, his father giving him an unimpressed look.
“You know our story,” his father said, Eyadon begrudgingly nodding. He knew that story like the back of his hand. The whole pack did. “Besides, we were a bit older than you back then. I think I was twenty-two, and your mother was twenty-three. In my opinion, that is the perfect age range for breeding to begin with.”
“Well, like I said, she’s on contraceptives,” Eyadon said, his wolf growling at the very word before he could even attempt to hold it back.
“Your wolf isn’t happy about that, is he?” his father asked with a knowing smirk.
Eyadon sighed. “No, he’s not.”
“Listen,” his father began, reaching out for Eyadon’s hand and holding onto it when he gave it over. “Once you’ve bonded your omega, no one can tell you what you can or can’t do together. Your nature will always want to breed, but if you find you can wait, then do so. Miri’s parents waited for many years after their bonding to finally bring Miri into all our lives, and it turned out to be the perfect timing, because you two got to grow up together side by side,” he said, Eyadon nodding to his words and squeezing his hand. “Therefore, sometimes waiting is the best thing you can do.”
“I understand. Thank you for your advice,” Eyadon said, always appreciating any words of life that his father had to give.
His father nodded, their hands breaking apart naturally as he found his mate’s body again under their blankets. “That being said, if you find you can’t wait, and your nature has to breed her, and she wants to quit her contraceptives, then that’s okay, too. Breeding is a bonded couple’s right, and it’s one of the most salient joys one can ever experience; every wolf in Chehalis and beyond knows this to be true. Just try to hold off at first and see how you both feel, alright?”
“Alright,” Eyadon said, sharply nodding to say he’d completely taken those words to heart.
“Good,” his father said with a nod of his own, his earlier irritation returning behind his eyes now that the topic at hand had reached its conclusion. “Now, Chaska, if you don’t mind, I’d very much like to continue breeding my own mate in peace, please.”
“Right,” Eyadon said, scrambling to his feet and stepping away from the bedding. “And congratulations on your final breeding; I can’t wait to meet them,” he added for the sake of respect, turning on his heel and making for the exit.
“Eya,” his father said, right before he would pass through the exit.
“Yeah?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at him.
His father’s lips formed into a genuinely loving smile, and it disarmed Eyadon entirely, returning the love in his own gaze even if he didn’t yet know what his father would say. “I’m so proud of you.”
Eyadon’s heart fluttered, and his skin numbed just a bit. Most Alphas wouldn’t cause that kind of effect on other Alphas, even fathers to their sons, but his father being a Pack Alpha meant that his praise specifically lulled everyone’s natures, no matter what. “Thank you, Father,” he said, meaning that wholeheartedly.
His father made a hum of acknowledgement. “Go claim your mate,” he said, turning his attention back to their matriarch and licking over his bond mark to continue scent-marking him.
Eyadon needed no more words of encouragement, stepping right out of his old home and into his future.
---
Two years after his bonding to his omega, they’d decided to breed, after all. It had been a long two years of restraint, and when they finally realized that they wanted nothing more, she had quit her contraceptives, and by her next heat, she was with pups.
There were two of them. And Eyadon had never been happier in his life.
Right now, he was currently holding them within his mate’s body as he sat behind her, daydreaming about the day that he finally holds them in his arms. His omega was four months into her breeding, with only two more to go, but they felt like two equally sized eternities away.
“No way,” Norma suddenly said, her arm around her own mate while she took strong inhales of the air.
“It’s about time,” Kasen said with a giggle, leaning further against Norma’s chest.
“Am I just dumb?” Chessa asked, trying to breathe the air but not seeming to notice anything.
“No, your little button nose is just too small to smell anything,” Thora said, tousling Chessa’s hair in that playful way he always did.
“Oh, whatever,” Chessa said, crossing her arms and clearly hiding a smile. “Better be careful, or my mother will hunt you down.”
Thora snorted. “Jackson would have to find me first.”
Eyadon ignored them, frequently struggling to detect scent outside his bred omega lately, but when Therin and his brother Larren walked around the corner hand in hand, he knew what the fuss was about. Those two had just bred as well.
“Finally!” Kasen cried, scrambling out of Norma’s embrace to go hug his best friend.
Therin impressively let it happen, smiling at the pair of them as they wept together and then leading Larren closer to their hang-out spot so they could sit down.
“We just couldn’t deny ourselves any longer, seeing how happy you two were,” Larren said, grinning as he looked at him and Miri.
“Now it’s up to Norma to complete the pact,” Eyadon said, sparing his sister and Kasen a special glance.
“Honestly, I’ve reached my limit of patience as well,” Norma said, Kasen gasping with two hands over his mouth as he turned around and met his mate’s eyes.
“Really?” he whimpered, outright crying when Norma nodded.
“Happy days,” Thora sighed, looking a little too long at Chessa for Eya not to notice.
Those two hadn’t bonded yet, but there was almost no question that they would. He wasn’t sure what exactly they were waiting for, but that resistance certainly wouldn’t last forever.
“Do you know how many?” Tenna asked, bred with her own pup right now.
Eyadon understood why it would be assumed that Larren would have more than one. Everyone in Eyadon’s bloodline had litters. Whether they were the ones doing the breeding or being bred themselves, it just seemed to be a fact of life. There was no doubt in Eyadon’s mind that when Norma bred Kasen, there was going to be another litter to look after as more members of his ever-growing family.
“Three,” Larren said, Eyadon growling happily upon hearing the news.
It was the same number as their own mother’s first breeding that led to him and his closest siblings.
“Congratulations, Larren,” he said, reaching over and holding Larren’s face since he was closest.
“Thank you,” Larren said, grinning through his tears as Therin nibbled peacefully on his bond mark.
“Really, we’re so happy for you,” Norma said, Larren nodding as he looked over at her as well.
“I can’t wait to meet them,” Miri said, those being her first words at this news.
Miri was a very shy omega, even with her closest friends, and Eyadon never stopped telling her how endearing that was. With Eyadon alone, she was a bouncing ball of restless energy, but in front of larger crowds, she was soft-spoken and consistently bashful. It wasn’t for a lack of confidence, either, and certainly no one ever gave her an external reason to hold herself back, but she just preferred to watch interactions rather than engage hardcore with them.
“Thank you,” Larren said, leaning over and holding Miri’s hand as they touched foreheads and smiled together.
Those two were also the best of friends, and their opposite energies complemented one another quite nicely.
Conversation erupted into a multitude of things, and Eyadon watched and listened happily, maintaining his massaging and caressing on his mate’s body as he did so just to bask in her. She was everything under the sun, and to feel her every single day and know that she was his would never grow old. It hadn’t yet, even for one second, and they’d been bonded for a while now.
It hadn’t grown old for his parents either, and they’d been bonded for far longer.
What joys were had when one was a wolf.
As he looked out upon all of his friends, many of whom were bonded and had puppies on the way, he suddenly realized that this was his time. The next generation of wolves were coming into their own and establishing themselves in their own adult lives, most everyone out of their parents’ tents by now, and he couldn’t think of any other step he’d need to witness in order to take over the pack. He’d been ready to take the pack for most of his life, after an unfortunate circumstance that had caused his wolf to grow up prematurely rebellious to its current rule, but he’d never actually been ready for it.
Now he was.
“I’m gonna take the pack,” he announced to voice his thoughts, his closest wolves looking over at him with a myriad of different facial expressions. But all were in favor. “Very soon,” he added, to let everyone know that this wasn’t just a blanket statement. He was going to actively do it at his earliest convenience.
“You have my full support,” Norma said, Larren nodding along as well in the arms of Therin.
“As you do mine,” Therin said.
Everyone present expressed their mirrored agreements, and Eyadon was left with the most fierce determination he’d ever felt to do this very thing. He was going to guide these wolves through the rest of most of their lives, and someday, a long time into his own Chaska’s life, he was going to relinquish his reign naturally.
“When will you do it?” Norma asked, Eyadon thinking it over. The full moon was in two weeks, and he wanted to do it before then; he wanted the next moon to be felt under his watch and leadership.
“Within a week,” he said, Miri growling with no absence of pride to experience her Alpha’s ambition toward total supremacy of the pack.
“And when are you going to tell our parents?” Norma asked.
“Right now,” Miri said, twisting around to look up at him.
“Right now?” he echoed with a smirk, Miri nodding surely with the cutest look of unshakeable confidence on her face.
“Yes, now. Go tell them and then go to Ianalfto’s. In fact, I’ll meet you there,” she said, standing to her feet with his help and holding her bred midsection with both hands. “We’ll be waiting.”
“Alright,” he laughed, kissing his mate’s lips and then touching their foreheads together. “I want some of you to walk with her,” he said, Therin and Norman standing up with their mates to volunteer themselves for the short journey.
“Good luck,” Therin said, clapping him on the back.
“See you soon,” Norma said.
The others waved him off, and he waved back, sparing another special look of love with his omega before turning around and stalking off toward home. Eight of his fifteen siblings still lived at home, but whether they were there or not, he was going to make this announcement in front of anyone present.
He got a lot of smiles and barks of greeting from Chehalis as he walked through it, and he responded to each and every one, impatient now for the day that they would be barking to him as their Pack Alpha, which carried a slightly different tone than a normal greeting. He craved hearing it in his ears. He craved watching their bows and nods to him, and to no other.
Finally, he was on the pathway of home, and it didn’t take him long to step through the flaps of his old tent, walking in to see his parents in their bedding sitting against the center trunk as his mother nursed his last single puppy, an omega girl named Rana, who was roughly two years old now but had been born a lot smaller in stature than most puppies and had needed a lot of nurturing to make her strong and healthy.
The only other siblings here were the five-year-old litter of two, because they weren’t in school yet. He’d forgotten all about it currently being the hours of school time.
Would he actually be able to interrupt Ianalfto for this announcement, or would they have to wait?
His parents looked up upon him entering, and he cleared his throat as he walked up to their bedding, taking a knee as he met his father’s inquisitive gaze.
“You look rather determined today,” his father said, a hint of a knowing glance in his eyes.
He may very well have already guessed what he was here for, but Eyadon was going to announce it anyway. “I’m taking the pack from you.”
His mother’s eyes bulged, and he craned his neck to try to look up at his mate behind him, but his father kept his eyes on him alone, his hand stroking the side of his mother’s neck to show his simultaneous regard for him. “Are you,” he mused, his words ordered like they were a question, but his tone refuting that.
“These wolves belong to me, and you know it. They’re mine, and they’ve been mine for most of my life,” he said, implying some rough topics that had been known to cause contention in his family, but they were never more relevant to bring up than right now, when he was actually ready to assume his role.
His father’s wolf growled in a threatening manner at the offensive challenge, and his mother reached out to stroke his thigh, eager to calm him down so this didn’t turn into a brawl. It wasn’t often that his father’s wolf fought his own, but every once in a while, their natures managed to break through their more logical minds and go at one another with ripping jaws and tearing claws until they finally realized what they were doing. Then they would break apart and apologize profusely.
He didn’t want right now to be one of those times, either, but he would fight if it came to that.
Luckily, his father got a handle on himself, lightly punching himself in the chest a few times to really settle things, and then he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he re-centered every fiber of his being.
When he opened his eyes, he was ready to speak. “You don’t have to fight me for the pack, Eya, and you don’t have to take it,” he said, his voice strained from his persistent frustration, but gentle at the same time. “I will give it to you.”
Eyadon honestly hadn’t expected it to be that easy. At the very least, he’d expected to be made to give a grand speech about how and why he felt he was ready to rule at age nineteen. His own father may have been sixteen when he took over, but that was bathed in extenuating circumstances, precipitated by the death of his grandfather. With his own father still living, this young of an age was even more unheard of.
He cleared his throat and asked his next question with a layer of doubt. “So, I don’t have to pass a test of some kind?”
His father snorted, leaning into his mother until their heads bonked and then glancing down at their newest addition to the family as she nursed, stroking her cheek with a knuckle. “At this point, my wolf is likely the most spiritually satisfied and yet unendingly self-loathing creature in all of Chehalis,” he said, his mother whining in solidarity beside him. “Nearly two decades have gone by, and for all the help and love I’ve received from your mother and others, I’ve never been able to fully suppress my pain over that day. In more recent years, I’ve begun to suspect that feeling unqualified to rule due to your maturation has played a larger part in me not being able to get over things to this day. I haven’t felt entirely worthy to lead this pack for a long time now; both from the feelings of inadequacy after all the bloodshed I’ve encountered in my reign, and the relentless desperation of your nature to supplant me. Simply put, you want it more than I do at this point, and it is your birthright to have it. I know I need to step down; I was just waiting for you to come to me. It had to be your idea.”
“I had no idea you were having all those thoughts,” Eyadon said, feeling a fair amount of vicarious pain for the struggles his father had faced from age sixteen to now. It wasn’t fair, and basically none of it had been his fault, but he understood why his father’s nature would never see it that way.
He could only pray that none of those same horrors would ever befall his pack while he was in charge of it.
“Of course he has,” his mother said, putting Rana down when she was done nursing and holding his hand over his teat to aid in the leaking. “Your father has always been an incredible Pack Alpha, and no one can ever dispute that. Your father’s life is littered with trauma, as is mine, but we did the best we could, and horrible things happened all the same. I will never let his wolf convince me that he has never deserved his reign, even after I got taken away. But I understand how his attention has shifted from himself to you over the years, and I know that your nature’s influence holds a lot of sway over his. It has communicated to him that you will surpass him with flying colors, and we both believe in you with everything we are, so you undeniably deserve the rule right now more than he does. Does that make sense?” he asked, Eyadon nodding to confirm.
“It does, and I promise I’ll guide these wolves perfectly,” he said, putting a fist over his heart to stress his sincerity.
His father nodded, his expression a little forlorn, but accepting. His mother never stopped his comforting caresses to his father’s skin, and it definitely seemed to help, as any mate’s touches would. “I’m so proud of you, my Chaska,” he said with a sad smile. “More than I could ever say. And I’m so sorry to push your nature into something like this so soon, but I know it’s one of your most important and sought-after ambitions. I know it will only bring you peace now.”
Eyadon crumbled at the despair emanating from his father’s core and he walked forward, sitting down in front of his parents with his tiny sibling between them as he took one of their hands in each of his. “I love you both so much,” he said, tearing up a bit from all the emotions bouncing between them.
“We love you too, Eya,” his mother said, leaning down to kiss the hand that was holding his. “Since first we saw you, we knew you were destined for greatness. You will be the best Pack Alpha that Chehalis has ever seen, and we know that in our souls.”
His father added onto that. “Whenever you want to do this, Eya, I will be there on the field.”
“The earliest we can make it,” Eyadon said, his parents both grinning. “Tomorrow, if possible.”
His father nodded, kissing his hand before letting it go. “I’ll call a meeting tonight; be at the council hall by sundown.”
Eyadon nodded and carefully threw his arms around them both, watching out for his little sister between them. They hugged him back with equal passion and growls were shared all around, and when they parted, he felt better than he had in years.
It was time.
---
The ceremony had been set for two days after the council meeting that night, and he’d spent hours upon hours with Ianalfto all day in preparation for it, the celebration raging on in the field down the hill from the spirit house.
His father had been present for most of the spiritual preparations in here, but then it had been time for him to wait in the field, and Eyadon had stuck behind to enter the necessary meditations to spiritually consult with the Gods and become more one with his nature than he’d ever been.
He’d been briefed on every little aspect of being a leader and had been given a long list of the abilities he would soon have to be able to make use of to help his pack flourish, and after another hour or so, he was deemed ready, and Ianalfto walked him down to the ceremony below.
The drums were loud, the howls unified, and he was greeted with love and devotion already, each wolf he passed barking to him or reaching out to touch him and express their loyalty. He assumed his father had accepted the love and appreciation from these wolves for the last time as their Pack Alpha in the time he’d remained at the spirit house, and now that he was here, it was all for him instead. He couldn’t imagine how emotionally complex this day must be for his father, but when he met his eyes in the center of the circle, he knew that his father was happy, and that’s what mattered most.
Also in the center of the circle was his mother, all of his siblings, his grandwolves, Mirima, and Zayn and Niall, joined with Mirima’s siblings as well. It was clear that these were the first wolves he would bond to himself after his father before seeing to the rest of the pack.
He reached the center of the circle with Ianalfto and spared as quick kiss to his mate’s lips, holding their puppies over her stomach for a moment of grounding and then faced his father, the pair of them standing two feet apart as Ianalfto stood up on the small stage that would raise his voice above all others.
The pack quieted when they felt it was time.
“Chehalis!” Ianalfto began, Eyadon and his father both listening to their Elder, but their eyes would look nowhere else other than into one another’s, their gazes glued and most of their attention devoted to their own connection. “This is the last ceremony I will ever give in my life, which is now close to its end, and I believe I understand now why I have lived this long. I have watched over this bloodline with everything I have, and I’ve been waiting to see the pack off with my death to the best leader in my imagination, and that leader is Eyadon. I will soon die with full confidence that Chehalis will sparkle and gleam in my absence, and I want to thank each and every one of you for everything you’ve given to this pack as well. We have all supported one another for years with our lives and heavy, heavy sacrifice, and now it’s time to relax. To reap the benefits of our efforts as Chehalis is given to the most capable Pack Alpha it has seen to date.”
Eyadon could hear his mother blubbering, and tears were falling from his father’s eyes as well, but Eyadon kept his emotions inside for now, fully knowing that he would sob into Ianalfto’s chest later.
“Today marks the day of transference of our most precious wolf; it will be a day of profound emotion and overwhelming spiritual shifting, and you must prepare yourselves for the weight of these changes. As fulfilling as they will be, they will exhaust you, and no one more so than our new Pack Alpha. Offer your strength and support as we take this new step together toward our futures.”
Growls and yips chorused throughout the crowd, and Eyadon was deeply affected by how much support was already being thrown at him. He felt like he could do anything in the world right now.
Ianalfto gestured to Eyadon and Harry to begin their process, one which they’d been briefed on earlier and knew to expect, and the pack turned their collective attention to them, but they still hadn’t looked anywhere else but into one another’s eyes.
It was time.
The drums started back up and howls exploded as the pack prepared themselves for the salient shift in leadership, and Eyadon began growling at his father in an unrelenting challenge, commanding him to forfeit his spiritual hold and to submit to his supremacy.
His father’s wolf fought it just for a second, the animal in him still territorial above all things, but his logical acceptance of this won out eventually, and after the loudest, most undeniable roar from Eyadon’s wolf yet, his father started to cave, slowly breaking their eye contact and bowing his head in surrender. Then he was kneeling, lowering himself to the ground until he was on his knees and Eyadon was towering over him. Within another moment, he raised his arm, presenting his wrist to him and submitting to be marked by a new leader.
The second Eyadon grabbed his father’s wrist in his hand, Ianalfto spoke again, his voice booming and clearly heard over the drums and the celebration around them. “Chehalis!” he shouted. “Open your hearts and your minds! The time for completion is upon us!”
Eyadon turned his face up to the sky and amassed an immense density of spiritual energy in his soul, feeling it intrinsically the moment he was ready and then surging down and slamming his canines into his father’s wrist, entirely supplanting him as the Pack Alpha in a breath of time and solidifying his permanent ownership over him.
The pack was louder than he’d ever heard them now, and as he kept his canines embedded, his father slowly looked up at him, wishing to see him and experience him with new eyes. In them, Eyadon saw pride, relief, and love, and more peace than either knew what to do with. But they felt it all the same.
When he’d finalized every scrap of the change from the bite, he took his teeth out and yanked his father into his chest, joining him on his knees as the pair of them cried into one another’s necks to let out their intense and uniquely shared emotion over this. No one would have felt this transition like they had, and it would always be impossible to explain.
“I’m so proud of you, Chaska,” his father whispered, heard clearly over the hollering of the pack since he was speaking right into his ear. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, Father,” Eyadon said, backing up and wiping at some of his father’s tears before looking at his mother, silently asking him to take his father’s place before him.
His mother nodded and handed his youngest off to his mate, and then he joined Eyadon on the ground, sitting with crossed legs in front of him since Eyadon had adopted that position. Now that the previous Pack Alpha had submitted to him, the rest of the ceremony would be treated as a regular pack bonding ceremony, each wolf of Chehalis rejoining the new pack of Eyadon.
Connecting his mother had been just as surreal an experience as he might have assumed, and his mother’s loud emotional wails had nearly made him laugh right in the middle of bonding him. He was positively inconsolable, but in the best of ways.
“I love you, my puppy,” he’d said when it was finished, crying all over him as he’d said it.
He’d embraced both of his parents then, the two of them being the first members of a Chehalis now under his own unchallengeable reign, and the final piece of advice he’d gotten from his teary-eyed and grinning father about how this day would now proceed had made all three of them laugh harder than ever.
“Your jaw is about to ache like no living creature should ever have to feel.”