Still, when he took his wolf form to reluctantly leave, he could easily sense Lycan down on the beach. He was sitting alone, knees up and arms draped over them, staring into the morning sun and the glittering water.
He looked no worse for wear from the false heat, other than perhaps a strain around his mouth. A general sense of exhaustion. The loss of some of the weight he had gained since arriving.
Seath was going to miss Lycan. His smile. His earnestness to do well in whatever task he was given. Lycan made the threshold lighter, the Pack House more like home. Normally, Seath felt the entire Pack lands were his home, but now his home seemed rooted to wherever this omega was.
Lycan’s arms dropped from his knees as he saw Seath approach, his eyes wide at the sight of the wolf.
“Seath,” he breathed, knowing who it was on sight. He remembered the wolf from the Holding, but this was his first up-close brush with Seath’s wolf when he was well.
Unable to control his playful side, Seath plopped his head in Lycan’s lap and felt the laugh well up in Lycan from his belly out.
“Such a big wolf,” Lycan said, running his fingers through Seath’s hair. “Handsome wolf.”
Seath’s wolf preened and scented Lycan more than was probably appropriate, but his wolf loved being next to his mate. The touches and affirmations were even better.
Lycan was more relaxed like this too, plunging his long fingers into Seath’s thick fur when he would never do that to Seath’s human hair in that form. They rolled around on the sand, laughing and Seath enjoying the smooth feel of Lycan’s hands.
Have to go, Seath pushed out, knowing Lycan was already told. It was just a chance thing to do, but it felt right, natural.
“I can hear you!” Lycan gasped, when the words registered in his brain.
Pack, Seath replied, pushing his nose against Lycan’s forehead. Lycan was getting stronger, and so was his wolf. The Pack had accepted him if the mind-link was there. It was a start to Pack life, if Lycan wanted it.
Lycan tapped his chest. “I can feel my wolf, right here.”
Seath nuzzled his nose right into Lycan’s chest. He couldn’t wait for Lycan to know him as his mate. To know his wolf.
We will run, Seath said, making promises on the dreams he had firmly in his mind.
“I hope so,” Lycan replied, his arms coming around Seath’s neck. “Thank you, Alpha.”
Seath couldn’t stand it anymore so he playfully wiggled his too big wolf over the smaller man, until Lycan was laughing and pushed into the sand on his back with Seath over him.
Looking down, Seath felt his heart beat strangely. It was hard to leave this omega. Harder than he had thought.
He nudged again at Lycan’s chest. Seath knew he shouldn’t, but with some of the filters off in his wolf form, he didn’t hesitate. Seath leaned up and licked a warm, wide stripe across Lycan’s mating gland at the juncture of neck and shoulder.
He shivered when he tasted his mate there, desire and longing coursing through him so hard he felt himself start to shift back to human form. Seath quickly launched himself off Lycan, barely hanging onto his shift, and took off down the beach toward his first stop.
Seath ran in his wolf form, his usual way of handling Quarter Day obligations. He could get there faster in other ways, but this was a way to check the Pack lands and those cities that came under his protection.
His protective detail ran too, except for a hawk shifter who flew.
He sighed. It was going to be a very long month.
A few weeks into his travels, Seath met with Greene. Surprisingly, Greene took the meeting alone.
“I needed a break from my shadow,” Greene joked as they sat at the outside terrace of a restaurant in one of the Pack’s port cities. The terrace was situated several stories above the street and below them people bustled by, in a hurry to get from one place to another as the sea stretched out on the other side of the street. “When I am on pack land, I am Alpha, not Councilman. No need for a bodyguard here.”
“Do you want to discuss? Or just vent?” Seath said, stretching back in the large chairs that were made to accommodate the frame of a wolf, and an Alpha wolf. The place was quiet, except for them, and Seath was fairly certain that was because the owners had given them the terrace so they would not be disturbed. Having patrons see the Alpha and the Legate lunching there would be enough, and someone would have a picture somewhere on social media.
Greene flashed a smile. “Oh no. I want to hear how it is going with the mysterious wolf.”
Greene had been beyond understanding of what Seath was going through, but Seath still felt it necessary to explain himself.
“Alpha, I need you to know that this isn’t some infatuation. If it was merely a beautiful omega, I wouldn’t—“
Greene’s hand reached out to comfort him immediately.
