Chapter Text
Geno snaps at the Stadium series in Chicago. It's the first time Sid and Toews have meet as opponents and the young captain wants to prove himself. Sid sees it in his eyes at the first face off and feels it as he hits the ice hard, his breath whooshing from his lungs. In a blink of an eye Geno is there and Toews is joining him on the ice. The Blackhawk is stunned for only a moment before he tries to get up, but Geno bares his teeth in a frightening growl and pushes him back down.
And that's when Sid feels it, the chilling push of Geno exerting his power. It is strong and heavy with the weight of Geno's obvious anger. He knows Toews is feeling it too because the captain grows instantly still. It is common knowledge to weres and humans alike that quick movements around an angry wolf can be disastrous. While weres are part human, they are also part animal and just as with a wolf, running away can mark one as prey or signal challenge. Either is not good when control is threadbare and Geno's is about ready to break.
Sid is a bit confused to say the least. Up until this moment he had thought that Geno was a beta, a strong one but a beta nonetheless. There was some concern when the penguins had first signed him that there might be a power struggle between Sid and him, but Geno fit right in as his second and they had gone on without a fight.
But the dominance Geno is throwing off is anything but that of a beta. His eyes are locked with Toews with all the intent of a challenge in his fiery gaze. Eye contact amongst wolves is no casual affair. When there is eye contact made there are two options available, either stare back or avert your eyes. It can mean the difference between a peaceful engagement and bloodshed. When meeting the eyes of a more dominate wolf or an alpha it is the natural instinct to look down. Sid waits with his breath held painfully in his chest for Geno's instincts to kick in, for him to drop his gaze. Toews is the alpha of the Blackhawk wolves, and that aside from dominance should be enough to bring Geno to heel.
Sid feels a sharp stab in his gut when Toews is the one to look down. The captain’s face is red and sweaty, and his face is scrunched up in pain. Sid wonders at what it must have took to lower his gaze, to concede. It defies all werewolf logic that Geno wins the draw without a fight.
Sid doesn't have much time to dwell on the issue because Geno is crouching down, coiling up for a strike and the referees are hanging back, because they are humans and not stupid enough to try and interfere with were fights.
“Geno” Sid says as he slowly pulls his skates underneath of him. “Geno, what are you doing, we like Toews” Geno makes no indication that he hears Sid, his gaze unwavering from Toews, pinning him to the ice. But Sid continues talking to him in his low captain voice, hoping he is both commanding and reassuring, as he rises and inches closer to Geno. Sid is still his alpha. He can feel the invisible link that connects him to Geno the same as always, strong and steady in his mind and a bit brighter than the rest of the pack. Geno would never hurt him, would never hurt his alpha, so Sid makes a dash for it and places his body between Toews and Geno.
Their eyes connect and Sid shivers at what he sees. Geno's eyes are no longer human, instead the eerie yellow of Geno's wolf stares back. Sid knows he must tread carefully to bring Geno back.
“Geno” this time it is not his captain voice, it is his alpha voice, low and laced with power. Geno shivers once all over and his eyes squeeze shut, but his body is still tense like a bow string ready to fire.
“He hit Sid dirty, he hurt you” the words are said between rough breaths and gritted teeth, but Sid thinks it is progress that his wolf is pushed back far enough that he can even speak.
“I'm fine, he didn't hurt me. I can take a check” Sid reassures, moving in closer.
He takes off his gloves and lets them fall carelessly to the ice. Sid slides his hands on either side of Geno's neck, his fingers gliding over sweat slicked skin up into damp hair. Geno moves into the touch, his body swaying forward and a small, broken moan whispers through his lips almost too low for even Sid's sensitive ear to pick up. Sid tips his head forward and their helmets touch where skin should be, but Sid doesn't dare let go to remove the offending gear. Everything feels so desperate, so urgent, as if the slightest misstep could tip them into the unknown. Sid knows this is just a case of getting one of his wolves back under control, but there is a growing itch in the back of his mind telling him that this is something more, that something big is about to happen.
Sid lets himself trickle into Geno so he can feel that he is unharmed. Sid feels open and bare unable to hide anything in this sort of transaction. It is not something done very often between alphas and pack member, mostly only in mated pairs because it is so personal, but Sid feels oddly at peace letting himself meld with Geno. It's not like when he shares thoughts or emotion over the pack bond, it's so much deeper like Sid is letting Geno into his mind.
They stay like that for a minute or an hour, Sid can't tell, until Geno starts opening his own mind up. It's like two waterfalls meeting on the down pour, their emotions merging somewhere in the middle. Sid feels Geno's anger, his fight for control, the urge to drop his fangs and growl deep, his need to protect. Sid feels all these thing until he is unsure if they stem from Geno's mind or his own. If he is feeling this way then so should Geno. Sid concentrates on his feeling of calm and control and projects it forward. Bit by bit Geno uncoils until Sid knows he is safe to let go but he doesn't. He can't make himself disengage, doesn't want this state of being so full to go away.
Even though werewolves are known to humans much of the inner workings of the pack are kept tightly behind closed doors. Sid has never done anything so wolf-like in public, nonetheless in a stadium full of people and millions of others on TV. It feels wrong having so many people witness something just meant for two.
“Sid, he hit you, my wolf- I not like cause your--” Geno doesn't say it, but he doesn't need too. Sid can sense it through the connection linking them intimately together. Geno's unsaid word shoots through him like an electric current, sizzling across his skin leaving goose bumps in its wake. Mine.
“Open your eyes Geno” Sid finally whispers, breaking the silence between them. He doesn't know why he ask this, only knows that he needs to look into Geno's eyes and see what is in those depths.
Geno lets out a strangled moan and shakes his head. “Sid, no – can't” the words are thick and heavy with strain.
“Please Geno, look at me” he pleads, surprised at the desperation in his voice.
Geno pulls him flush against his body, his arms circling Sid in a vise-like embrace, before opening his eyes. All Sid sees is a flash of chocolate before his vision goes white and a fire explodes in his chest. Sid shouts out at the suddenness of the sharp sensation and hears Geno's answering yelp. He's clutching Geno's jersey, the fabric balled up in his white knuckle fists. He's trembling when the fire fizzles, kept upright in Geno's strong arms. Something is left behind, something Sid has never encountered before. It reminds him of how a pack bond feels yet instead of stemming from his head, this sits low in his breast, warm and thrumming.
He follows the new bond until reaches the other end. It takes him all of a moment to find Geno, at the other end. And suddenly Sid knows what this new bond is, a mate bond. Normally it doesn't happen so spontaneously. In most cases the wolf has to catch up with its human counterpart. It can take years in some pairings for the wolf to except a mate its human has chosen. Then there are those freak occurrences where two strangers bond at haphazard eye contact, their wolves deciding on the spot to create a bond.
Geno pulls back and looks down at Sid, biting his lips as he fights to find the words. “Sid, we mate now”
Sid's not sure if it's a question or a statement. He sheepishly rubs the back of his neck “Yeah, Geno, we are.”