But standing with Greene in the clearing of the forest they used for such ceremonies, with his feet in the very dirt of his pack, the scents of both the forest and the sea in his nose, it felt right.
The magic felt right. The things that made him a shifter, the things that made him a man were in harmony. The same familiar feel of the magic that had reached out on his Raising Day, and before that, during the Alpha trials when he proved himself the next Alpha, reached out again. It was comfortable, like a favorite sweater or meal you enjoyed as a child, or book you had read several times throughout your life but always managed to hold a new meaning in its pages, no matter your age when you read them.
The oath rod was a sacred object, kept by Serepta for their pack, and with it he pledged the oath of an Alpha. To provide. To protect. To listen.
Greene released his same pledge; by transforming it now to counsel, to protect, and to guide.
After the oath, when they embraced, Seath could feel the oath. Light as a feather, but heavy as a rock with responsibility. It was a burden he was happy to shoulder.
It didn’t pass his notice how Greene’s assistant and bodyguard stood close, as close as shifters would, and radiated the same concern toward the former Pack-Alpha. Those two were in sync, especially where Greene was concerned.
Seath had seen it for himself at the Seelie Court. There was no doubt the bodyguard Teller would have protected Greene at all costs. Not that Evan was any less fierce. He was built more like Donovan. But Seath knew how fierce Donovan was, and knew in his own way, Evan would be the same.
Especially where Greene was concerned.
It was Evan who took a sharp breath, causing Teller to instantly put himself in-front of Greene and Evan both with a graceful pivot and a sweep of his arm, that alerted Seath to the pull of the threshold. They weren’t in the Pack House, but still lingering in the clearing. Now, due to the full Pack Alpha ceremony, he could feel a second threshold, the threshold of the Pack lands.
And it had just let in the Fae.
The Seelie Queen herself came gliding into the ceremony, walking into the clearing with Mirelle in tow as if they were all simply awaiting her entrance. It was perfectly timed, with her arrival just balanced to after the ceremony but before anyone would leave.
The Pack members in attendance gave little gasps of acknowledgment and understanding as she strode forward. In typical Fae fashion, she managed to fascinate them, and then also cause them to quickly move on. By the time she reached Seath and Greene, the low level voices of other conversations buzzed around the clearing, as if she had magicked them all to almost forgetting her once she made her entrance.
“We have much to discuss, Alphas. Perhaps we can have a moment as the refreshments are being prepared?”
There was such a moment. A time for Seath and Greene to talk casually in the study, prior to the feast Min was preparing. The feasting was not a formal affair, not some event where Seath and Greene would be on display, but more of an endless bounty overseen by Min that would last from this early hour until the full moon tonight. Pack members would wander in and out as the mood struck, with tables strategically placed for people to sit, enjoy the food and the company. Seath and Greene would also be available in their study or milling about as people came to visit and celebrate.
The Pack House was always open, of course, but today an endless stream of people would come to eat at the Alpha’s table and then run with the Alpha under the full moon that night.
So, as people wandered into the Pack House for the events, Seath, Greene, Donovan, Teller, and Evan hosted the Seelie Queen in the formal study of the Alpha.
The house had changed a few things, of course, and now what had been Greene’s study was rearranged to reflect a larger version of what had been Seath’s. Seath put his arm around Donovan, pulling him closer. Donovan had watched on during the Pack Alpha ceremony, never straying too far from Seath’s side. Seath was sure when this business with the Seelie Queen was over, what he would find was that his former study was now transformed into one perfect for the Alpha-Mate.
Instead of sad or nostalgic about the differences, Greene smelled . . .comfortedby the change.
“Now, can we get to business?” The Seelie Queen asked when all of her needs had been attended to. She sat poised at the edge of a large wingback chair, as if it were her throne.
“And what business would that be?” Greene asked, wanting to take the lead in the event this meeting somehow created some sort of rift. Better the Seelie eye fall on him and the Council rather than to Seath and the pack.
Titania set her hands primly in her lap and Mirelle sighed softly.
“The matter of why the Unseelie Prince wanted influence on the NorthWest Pack.”
An unease ran through the room, and Seath wished for a moment that Caine was there just so he could say something like “do we know he does” or otherwise smoothly ask for an explanation of such a statement.
Donovan recounted for the Queen what his memories had revealed.
“Let me explain my concerns.” Titania said. “Morgan chose to be Prince Donovan, and had been for some time. While I am sure there are secrets to learn in Taured, and I am looking into that, he did take the identity of the omega son of a king. One who would never be privy to the deepest secrets of Taured, but who was mated — by fate— to the Legate of an influential Pack. It seems to me that by impersonating Donovan, Morgan was seeking knowledge about you, Seath, and your people.”
Seath felt cold for the first time that day. The eyes of the Unseelie Court on him was not something he would have ever asked for. Greene made a low noise of displeasure, causing both Evan and Teller to move closer to him. Teller reached out and placed a hand on Greene’s shoulder, and Evan tried to hide the smile he had at the gesture.
“Then you add the kidnapping of the real Donovan. This mysterious and so far untraceable Lisette. Not to mention the magic used to spellbind him, I think that Morgan had designs on this pack and we must figure out why.”
“But he didn’t pursue it,” Seath finally found his words. “The betrothal I mean. If he had wanted to know about us, why not lean into the mating bond before the real Donovan ever arrived?”
Titania tilted her head. “It also appears that things might not have gone as planned in Taured. His glamour perhaps was not as good as he wanted?” She shook her head quickly, as if having an argument with herself. “I couldn’t see through it and it was enough to convince his own uncle, so that can’t be it. I have many questions, Seath. But no answers. And I do not come to you, Greene, as Council business, but whatever Morgan is scheming will affect us all, eventually. I would rather head it off here than make Seelie and Unseelie business agenda points on the Council.”
Seath nodded, because she had a point. For once, she sounded rational and keyed into what was happening in this realm. And that was it, the thing that had been nagging at Seath. The Seelie and Unseelie courts operated in different realms, with different priorities than the human plane.
