Seath was part governor and part CEO. Politician, business man, and leader. He had help, of course, leaders at the local level that saw to the immediate needs of their citizens.
There those who did not like Seath’s ways or how much agency Greene gave him, and those that didn’t care as long as the prosperity of the Pack continued.
It was inevitable as they saw Greene less and less that Pack members would drop Alpha, the capital A kind, to refer to Seath more and more frequently. But, Alphas didn’t just turn over Packs, and Greene was still in his prime. Seath wouldn’t truly be Alpha until Greene passed away. Some packs changed leadership violently, but Min could never see that for Seath.
Some believed Seath to be too old-fashioned, others saw him as too progressive. But, everyone had been to the Raising Day and it was impossible to deny that the magic had said Seath was destined to lead. Other Alphas would have taken the Pack in a different direction, or even have been as successful, but the old magic knew which Alpha would take the pack in the way it needed to go, and that had been Seath and the magic had been clear.
That same magic spoke to Min in the kitchens, the Alpha nature of caring about others showing up in making sure her Pack was fed and fed well. Pack members could always come into the kitchen and find food. Breakfast and lunch were served buffet-style every day for whomever wanted to come to the Pack House, and of course the residents of the Pack House. Special, all-pack feasts were also hosted on important days and holidays. The entire country was invited, but most didn’t make the trip to the Pack House, but celebrated in smaller, similar feasts held all over and provided by the Pack. No pack member should go hungry, as her pantry door and hearth were always open.
It was a never ending cycle of planning and cooking and cleaning, all to do so again, and she thrived on the acts of love and service the kitchen embodied each day.
Lycan seemed to get that. Omegas in a home changed the dynamics, as they influenced emotions. The house practically sang in contentment since the day Lycan arrived, and Min could feel it down to the stones on the hearth.
Speaking of, where was he?
Min flopped the dough for dinner rolls on the well-worn wooden table one more time.
She had sent him and Jason to the large storeroom that served as the pantry. No need for locks or such things, the Threshold magic would either keep out someone with intentions to steal, or not allow someone who had stolen to leave.
But Lycan had been gone too long and as she reached out to the hearth magic, it met her, the home practically pushing her toward the pantry with urgency.
Lycan didn’t feel scared, exactly, but he didn’t like how Jason was crowding his space. How Jason had been doing all morning. Nothing he could put his finger on, but just the young Alpha, always there, always a bit too close.
“So, how long does it take,” Jason asked, standing in front of Lycan. Lycan’s back was to the pantry wall, shelves on either side, hands full of Min’s requests, and Jason between him and the door.
“Does what take?”
“For you to go into heat? I hear you just need an Alpha around and boom,” his hands mimicked something exploding, “fireworks.”
Lycan ground his teeth. It was true, in a way. After his first heat, they kept coming. Not every month, as would be normal. Little heats in a cycle that would spin out a large heat every other year. But no, these were random flare-ups that lasted days or hours, like a light heat he would have every month, only they came with a much greater frequency. Almost constant, it seemed. It was easy to guess that others would talk about how odd he was, and Jason confirmed it.
His instinct was to simply say “yes, Alpha,” or it’s equivalent. To be demure and engaging before he could leave the Alpha to his own business.
Except now he couldn’t. His little agreements to Jason all morning weren’t enough, and now he was mentioningthisand they were in the small closet-like room of the pantry, and between Lycan and the door was Jason.
Jason put a hand on his chest, pushing Lycan back against the shelving. He was not near the stature of Seath, but he was much bigger than Lycan.
“I think I’ll wait.” Jason crossed his arms with a lazy smirk. “Clearly, all you need is someone to get you through it properly. No one else must have known what they were doing or it would have ended.”
Lycan felt cold. The threat was clear from this Alpha, a common enough refrain for any omega of any species. They were made to go into heat, and the heat should be owned by an Alpha. If only he had a “strong” enough Alpha to get through it then the heat would end as it should. The implication was clear. Lycan just hadn’t been with someone man enough to end his heats.
He didn’t know why the strange heats were coming, but it had nothing to do with what Jason was saying. Few people believed that outdated shit anymore, anyway.
“Let me pass, Jason,” Lycan said with more clarity than he actually felt about the situation, “Min will be needing what she sent us for.”
“I don’t think I will.”
Jason moved then, using the small space and his bigger height and weight to try and pin Lycan against the far wall. Cans clattered to the ground as Lycan tried to steady himself.
Lycan moved without thinking, his mind unattached as his arm shot out and he twisted and moved like he was remembering a dance. He blocked a blow, grabbed Jason, and had him on the ground, pinned, before his mind came back online.
“Lycan!” Seath’s voice preceded him by perhaps a second as he burst into the room and Lycan was scooped off of Jason by strong, protective arms. Seath didn’t even let Lycan’s feet touch the floor as he checked him over, looking for harm.
With his new senses, Lycan could smell the worry coming off the bigger man. He put a hand to Seath’s face, cupping it gently, seeing that his teeth had elongated in anger. “I’m fine Alpha, I promise.” There was no fear there, not of Seath. Not even in this state of fury.
Seath nodded, appearing to realize for the first time he was holding Lycan, and carefully set the omega down, but kept one strong arm around him.
“Looks like Little Wolf took care of things just fine, Alpha,” Caine said, his focus cold and exclusively saved for Jason. “This one might need to explain a few things.”
