Chapter 9:
A ball of fur streaked toward me, knocking me flat on my back. She wriggled around, lapping at my cheeks. As if she hadn't seen me in forever. I rolled my eyes but scratched by her ears anyway.
An exasperated man ran up, shaking his head. "Isadore!"
The wolf whimpered for a moment, but quickly resumed her show of affection.
"She just got here! Her bags haven't even gotten to her room yet!" A glance toward the turian. "I'm Darius. Their older brother."
They shook hands.
"Garrus."
My brother cut me a look, one that promised punishment. Uh oh. What had I done wrong? I'd just gotten here!
"And why am I just meeting your mate now?" He demanded. "You should've come home sooner."
"You know why-" I paused to giggle at the fur tickling my face. "I'm in school, Dare. I can't just up and leave whenever I want."
More exasperation, before finally. "Isadore!" His voice deepened, the power radiating from him.
She howled, body starting to shake with the effort to disobey his command.
"Now."
She crawled off me, and I sat up, wrapping my arms around her neck. "Dare, you're hurting her."
"If she didn't fight me so much, it wouldn't hurt." He rolled his eyes but relented. His alpha aura receded.
What just happened?
I smiled up at him. Sorry, sorry. Alpha wolves have an aura that's very powerful. If they use it, it's very hard to disobey. Isadore likes to push her boundaries, but it ends up hurting her in the long run. She still tries, though.
Who is-
His question was cut off, when the wolf shifted into a young woman. He immediately looked away. She, on the other hand, threw her arms around me in return and hugged me tightly.
"I missed you! So much!" She whined. "You left me with him! He's insufferable!"
I shook my head. "I know, I know. Don't worry. The big bad wolf can't hurt you while I'm here." I stuck my tongue out at our brother.
Who heaved a great sigh. "Put some clothes on, Isa. We have company."
"And if he catches a glimpse of you," I whispered, knowing the others could still hear. "I will have you punished. And it will be worse than anything our dear brother has put you through."
Her eyes widened into saucers, and she rushed to a nearby tree, grabbing a change of clothes from the box behind it.
It's safe. I let him know.
He warily turned, his eyes finding me first. I gave him a thumbs up.
"Sorry about that." I said sheepishly. "Wolves don't care about nudity, for the most part. Since we're naked when we shift back from wolf form and all."
He stepped closer to me, helping me to my feet. I smiled at him again, leaning against his body.
The two in front of us regarded us with interest. Sure, they'd been informed by Richard, but seeing it in person? Again, it was a wholly other thing.
Before the silence could stretch too long, I grabbed Garrus's hand and bid them goodbye, heading toward the packhouse. The place was huge, with five floors.
"Our parents stay on the top floor. We stay on the fourth. Betas and Gammas stay on the third. Guests stay on the second. And the rest is for public use." I explained, pointing at each floor. "The kitchens are huge. I love spending time in there, when I'm here. The people who work in there are really kind. Not like they aren't elsewhere, but it's my favorite, because it's also coupled with the scents of fresh foods and pastries."
"What, no throne room?" He joked.
I laughed, shaking my head. "No, no. Nothing as opulent as that. That's a waste of resources. We have a few conference rooms, where we host meetings between the pack leaders and hold audiences with our parents." I tapped my chin. "Now, I'm not sure if you're expected to, as well, but when we see our parents- and when people see us- they bare their necks in submission. A form of respect, for us. Making direct eye contact with an alpha- or the king- can be seen as a form of challenge."
"I'll be careful." He promised.
Mom?
Meda? Are you here already?
Yeah. Something came up, so we had to leave early.
There was silence on her end for a moment or two.
What happened?
I filled her in on the latest development, sure that between Bailey and Richard, she knew everything else at this point.
Oh, my baby. I'm so sorry you're dealing with this...
It's not your fault. I assured her. Actually, I had a question.
I explained what I'd just told Garrus, asking about what he should expect.
Well, when we do dealings with aliens, we don't enforce our customs on them, because that's not fair. They don't know. Even if they do, they shouldn't be expected to cater to us, just because they are on our land. However. That being said, they do need to show respect. That is all we ask.
Thanks, mom. You're the best. Don't tell dad I said that.
Her laugh tinkled through the connection, before we cut it.
I told him what she'd said, watching him nod as he took that in.
"How will I know what's respectful?" He asked. It was so cute, and heartwarming, that he was thinking so hard about it.
I rested a hand on his chest. "Just don't openly speak out against an alpha, and you're golden, really. They don't like any form of challenge." A roll of my eyes. "Males are very... caveman-like, in that regard." A snort. "You might actually see females actively behaving in submissive ways to get what they want. That behavior can make a male feel like they need to give or do whatever it is the female wants. It's hilarious to watch."
I let him digest that, before pulling him through the doors. People buzzed about, getting ready for the morning. One woman noticed me, before gasping and baring her neck to me. The others followed suit. I held up a hand, assuring them they could relax and go about their day. The activity soon picked back up, and I stood aside, watching. It was nice to be back home.
"Do you want food first? Or to see our room?" I asked, leaving it up to him.
"You have dextro food here?" Surprised.
"Did you think I was going to make you starve the whole time we're here?" Bemused.
"I, ah, hadn't thought about food, honestly."
"Are you hungry? We didn't eat dinner."
"I am, yeah."
"That's settled, then."
I led him toward the kitchen, calling out. "Sarah!" Singsong. "We've got a turian here."
"On it, Miss!" The older wolf shouted back, and the pace in the room picked up.
"They'll make you something."
Going to sit at the nearest table, I patted the spot next to me. Instead, he sat across, chuckling at my mock hurt expression.
The staff came out a few minutes later, two trays of food in hand. Setting them down in front of us, they disappeared back into the kitchen.
The other wolves that had come in and were sitting around the room waited, their food in front of them already.
I took my first bite, and everyone followed suit.
No one can eat until you do?
I sighed in exasperation. It's something that we've tried to put a stop to, but the people just keep doing it. If there's a member of the royal family in the dining area, they wait for us to take our first bite, before they dig in. It can be annoying, but it's also endearing, in its own way.
A sign of respect. His voice was a murmur.
Yeah.
...
After breakfast, I gave him a tour of the building, showing him everything. The public spaces, the guest rooms, the Beta and Gamma rooms. After getting permission from mom, I showed him their floor, including their second office. Where only the most sensitive things were discussed. That left my siblings' rooms and ours.
Theirs were on their way to ours, so I popped in briefly to say good morning to them while they were doing their own thing before work. Juno was there, too- Darius's mate. She's a lovely woman who will make a great queen one day- kind, caring, loving, though she could be stern when it mattered. The very definition of what we envisioned our leaders to be.
"And here we are." I swung the door open, revealing my suite.
Our suite.
"It's much less extravagant than your siblings." He observed.
"They're material goils." I joked. "I'm not home as much as, so I don't decorate like they do. I mostly just bring back trinkets. I'm much more of a comfort creature- I want fluff and soft. Pillows and blankets. You'll see, when we get to our bedroom."
I showed him around the suite, pointing out the little kitchenette, the spare bedroom, the office, the large bathroom that was accessible for the rest of the space. Our room had its own bathroom and a walk-in closet. The bed was a California King, because I really like being in a sea of soft. As evidenced by the state of it- dozens of pillows, tens of blankets. It was covered.
Andromeda. Mom's voice was urgent.
What's wrong? I was instantly on alert, and Garrus noticed the change in me.
How long have you been mated?
Not long, why?
There was a long pause, and I pictured her talking to dad. Which was probably what was happening.
Heat.
My eyes widened. I'd completely forgotten about that. I would need to be careful for the next week or so, judging from when we'd marked each other.
"What's wrong?" He asked quietly.
I looked away, a little wary. "There's a thing that werewolves go through, after they've marked and mated." I explained slowly. "Heat. It's to encourage wolves to reproduce. The female gets very warm, to the point of fever, and it can be incredibly painful. The longer she goes without sex, the worse the pain. With males, they enter rut. They just want to breed a female. With heat, any male within a certain radius can scent it and pick up on it. That's one of the dangers, but usually, since the female is marked, it's a nonissue."
He came around so I had to look at him, guiding my chin up to hold my gaze. "What I'm hearing is..." A quiet chuckle left him. "I get to enjoy you begging for me for a few days."
"About a week or two, yeah." I nodded as much as I could, with him holding my chin.
"I'd be an idiot to get upset over that." A light kiss.
I melted in his grasp, smiling up at him.