It took him a full day to work up the courage to hunt Aidan down. After leaving Mags, he’d hidden himself away in his house, pretending he wasn’t there when Lily eventually came knocking. He knew she was worried about him, but his time for seeking out another’s advice had passed. He’d secluded himself in his house, and forced himself to sit down and think. It resulted in him getting very little sleep, but by the time the sun had risen, he knew what he was going to do.

He wouldn’t have thought it would be difficult to find Aidan, until he’d wandered around the village for an hour, hoping to catch sight of him. He’d had to resort to asking Elder Sky, and then Elder Water, if they knew where Aidan was. Elder Sky had looked at him suspiciously when he’d asked, and feigned not knowing. Elder Water, however, hadn’t bothered to hide her curiosity as she told him that Aidan and his pack had gone out hunting.

Which was how he ended up sitting on the dock, waiting for the boat they used to transport people and goods between the mainland and the island. He’d considered going back to the village and waiting until Aidan showed up, but he knew he wouldn’t get anything done anyway. He was bound and determined to get this over with, so he needed to see where the chips fell before he allowed himself to do anything else.

He’d been dozing lazily when the sound of people from across the water brought him back to consciousness. The boat, loaded up with Aidan’s pack, was making its way slowly back toward the dock. As it approached, the people on board took notice of him, drawing attention to his presence. It wasn’t long before Aidan appeared through the crowd to stand at the front of the boat. For the remainder of the boat’s trip back to the dock, Aidan stood there, watching Kyle as he approached.

Most of the pack disembarked and bounded down the dock with a noise Kyle thought rivaled a pitched battle. He ignored a few glances that were shot his way by the passing men and women. Aidan had barely taken his eyes off Kyle, waiting patiently for his pack to move on before stepping off the boat.

“I need to talk to you,” Kyle said simply, eyes shifting from Aidan to the couple of pack members that lingered.

Aidan’s brow rose slightly. “Is that so?”

Kyle looked pointedly at the remaining pack members. “Alone.”

The two werewolves with Aidan hooted, winking at Aidan as they obeyed the alpha’s silent gesture for them to leave. One of the werewolves, a blond male, built almost as solidly as Aidan, lingered as he passed Kyle. The omega had been scoped out more than enough times in the past to know when he was being ogled. He was ignoring it until a low, deadly growl made him jerk upright, looking around for the source of the noise. The werewolf, however, jumped, continuing down the dock without even so much as a glance behind him.

Kyle turned to Aidan. “Wow, that was probably the scariest thing you’ve done since you got back.”

Aidan scoffed. “He should know better than to try to touch what isn’t his.”

“That mean you’ve told your pack then?” Kyle asked, more curious than annoyed.

“I’ve told no one, and have no current plans to do so. But you stated openly that you wanted to speak to me alone. That should have been enough for him to keep his hands, and eyes to himself. He’s a good fighter, but he has a deficiency of common sense. I reminded him is all,” Aidan said, motioning toward the woods where his pack had just been.

Kyle crossed his arms, willing himself to begin before he chickened out at the last second. “I’m not yours.”

Aidan laughed softly. “You came out here to wait for me to return, just to tell me that? Forgive me, but you’re not convincing me of much.”

“I won’t risk swelling your ego further by telling you how long I was out here, because anything above a few minutes is sure to make you cockier. But that’s not what I meant. The Joining happened and we’re a bonded pair, and I have no choice but to accept that. But I’m not yours. You don’t own me,” Kyle told him, working to keep his voice firm but without showing any anger.

Aidan raised a brow, stepping off the boat and beginning to advance on Kyle. “I think Gaia disagrees with you.”

Kyle held his hand out. “Stop. Don’t come any closer. I’m trying to talk to you, and if you come any closer because you know my instincts will make me more pliable, then I walk away.”

To his surprise, Aidan did stop, cocking his head. “My my, you’ve gone and changed again. What’s brought about the change of personality this time?”

“I just said, I’m here to talk to you, to actually talk. You want to talk? Then you behave yourself, and if you can’t, then you end up being exactly the kind of person you hate that I think you are,” Kyle told him bluntly.

“And what makes you think I care what you think about me?” Aidan asked, looking like he was torn between being amused and irritated.

Kyle eased his posture a little, realizing Aidan was going to let him talk without trying to manipulate him. “I’ve been thinking about that, and other things. I thought it was really weird the way you asked if you’d hurt me the other day. It didn’t sound concerned, but all the wind went right out of your sails when you thought you’d hurt me. And I’m thinking, if you were bothered by that, bothered by it enough that your whole cocky alpha shtick dropped, then you probably do give a shit what I think about you.”

Aidan’s face tightened. “You’re making a lot of presumptions for someone who acted like they wanted nothing to do with me in the first place.”

Something had changed, and Kyle could feel the balance of power shifting in his direction now. “And for someone who was waiting eagerly for me to come to them, you’re not acting very happy.”

The alpha was searching his face and body with an intensity that made Kyle smile, even as it turned him on. “You’re different. How do you go from your bratty behavior the other day to…this? You’re acting…”

“What? Like I’m in control of myself, like I actually have my head on straight?” Kyle asked, trying not to laugh at the frustration on Aidan’s face.

“Like an alpha,” Aidan said with growing irritation.

That gave Kyle pause. “Excuse me?”

“You’re confident, cocky even. You’re refusing to submit, and you aren’t backing down. You’re not being emotional, sarcastic, or have the slightest attitude. You’re just…stating how things are going to be, without even a trace of hesitation on your part,” Aidan said, wonder beginning to creep into his voice.

Kyle wasn’t quite sure how he felt about coming across as an alpha, so he chose to continue. “Because I’m not submitting, not in the way you keep thinking I will. Last I checked, the Joining didn’t make me some meek toy for you to play with whenever you wanted. If that was the case, Gaia would have been content with the harems of omegas you alphas are so fond of keeping. We’re a bonded pair now, two people who are supposed to be sharing the same soul, or something close to that depending on the version of the lore you’re reading. The fact is, there’s nothing in there about me being subservient to you.”

“You’re an omega,” Aidan told him bluntly.

Kyle grinned. “And now I’m coming across as an alpha. As a matter of fact, I’m even immune to the will of any and all alphas now, even you. I’ve actually got a theory, that the Joining evens the playing field a bit more between you and me. You can’t simply order me around, and we can both barely control ourselves around the other when we’re close. You’re probably better at it because you’ve had a lot more practice controlling your wolf half in stressful situations than I have, but I’ve seen how badly you want it too.”

Aidan took a step closer. “This is no longer amusing.”

Kyle refused to back away, only holding up a finger in warning. “I will walk away.”

Aidan stopped again, nostrils flaring. “So that’s it then. You’re giving in and accepting it.”

“I’m accepting that we’re a bonded pair, but until you start accepting that I’m not a toy, that I’m not some piece of property you can simply claim, you still don’t get what you want. When you start treating me like your bonded mate, then you can say you’ve won, and that you’ve got me,” Kyle told him, knowing he was doing a poor job of hiding his smugness.

He was changing the rules of the game, and he could see Aidan was trying to work it through in his mind. Kyle hadn’t been sure how Aidan would take this sudden revision, and he still wasn’t sure how it would turn out. Aidan looked torn, being both intrigued by this change, and angry at being thwarted. Kyle wasn’t fighting him, which is what Aidan would have enjoyed, he was approaching him as if they were on the same footing. Kyle was treating Aidan like an equal, and in turn, silently demanding that Aidan treat him as one.

Aidan’s frown deepened. “This means you’ll behave as if you were my mate?”

“If you mean I’m going to prance around and tell everyone the Joining happened between us and swoon over you, then no,” Kyle told him without hesitation.

“You have a…peculiar way of seeing this,” Aidan said.

Kyle shrugged. “Like I said, there’s nothing in the legends about how I’m supposed to act, or how you’re supposed to act. Alpha and omega get bonded, there are changes between them, and they’re stuck with one another for the rest of their lives. That’s the short and sweet of it, no rules or codes of conduct.”

Aidan cocked a brow, attempting to look less disgruntled than he was. “And how does that alter the nature of the alpha and omega relationship? Your bond with me does nothing to alter your status, anymore than it does to alter my own.”

Kyle smirked. “Sure it does. Already has, remember? Personally, I think the Joining changed everything between you and I, and between me and everyone else. You can’t force me to do anything. Even the elders can’t force me to do anything now that I’m bonded to you. Now it’s solely between us; now that is the law.”

“Maybe I could find some alternative means of making you behave properly,” Aidan growled threateningly.

Kyle had expected that, his smirk disappearing. “Do it. Lay down the law by overpowering me physically. Once you’ve got the physical advantage over me, you can terrorize me mentally and emotionally. I’m sure you can think of ways to cow me, break my will, put me in my place, whatever phrase you want to use. Beat me, insult me, mock me and embarrass me, whatever it takes to make me do exactly what you think I should do.”

He could have continued, but he could see from the hard look on Aidan’s face that he didn’t have to. All frustration and amusement had disappeared from the alpha’s expression. It was replaced with a stony, expressionless mask. Kyle’s words had struck a nerve deep inside Aidan, one the omega knew it was a gamble to strike out at.

“Is that how you see me?” Aidan asked, tone so forcefully neutral that it barely resembled his voice at all.

Kyle would have let the breath he was holding go with relief, if he hadn’t been afraid it would ruin the moment. Aidan’s response hadn’t been anger or even dismissal, which were the exact reactions Kyle had feared. It was dangerous, trying to play on Aidan’s past when Kyle wasn’t even supposed to know that about the alpha. His tactic could have just as easily backfired, sending what little progress he’d made crashing to the ground in an inferno of utter failure. He took Aidan’s question, as seemingly matter of fact as it was, as a good sign.

He had to choose his words carefully. “We both know there’s no point in me pretending like I’ve suddenly started liking, or even trusting you. But we both also know there’s no point in me acting like maybe Gaia might not be onto something here. What I’m saying is, you’ve had years to change my opinion, and until recently, didn’t even try to change it. Now you’re giving me the feeling that you want me to see you differently. Sure, maybe it’s only because of the Joining, but maybe you want it all the same. So, I’m giving you the chance to change my mind.”

“So, yes, you do think of me that way,” Aidan continued, voice brittle.

“You know this bond is supposed to make us two halves of one whole, but you still want to force your will on me. You already tried once. You can’t tell me I’m not justified for thinking you might try some other tactics to make me behave myself,” Kyle told him honestly.

“I’ve told you, brute force tactics don’t always win the battle,” Aidan said, his mouth twisting at one corner.

Kyle sighed in exasperation. “This isn’t a battle, Aidan.”

Aidan eyed him, the ghost of his amusement returning. “You’re certainly doing an admirable job of making it feel like one.”

“What do you want me to say here, Aidan?” Kyle asked, hoping it came across as a genuine question.

Aidan considered that for a moment before answering. “Do you fight everyone and everything like this? Or am I simply experiencing a unique display of willfulness on your part because you loathe me?”

Kyle hadn’t expected that. “I…well, I guess I’ve always been like this. Being an omega doesn’t mean I have to roll over and take everything that comes my way, especially because I’ve been packless for years now. Everything I’ve got has either been something I fought for, or clung to with everything I have. Just because you say I should throw it all at your feet, roll on my back and do whatever you say, doesn’t make it so. You don’t get to come into my life and take what little there is to take. It’s my life Aidan, and you don’t get to own that.”

To his complete astonishment, Aidan grinned at that, without the slightest trace of mockery or condescension. The alpha turned his face away, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Kyle had expected the man to make another attempt to make him fall into place, or at least give him hell for being so stubborn. He wasn’t willing to make the assumption too quickly, but he would swear he saw something resembling respect on Aidan’s face before he turned it away.

“You really are quite different, aren’t you?” Aidan finally asked, voice soft.

“I told you that already. Does this all sound good to you?” Kyle asked, trying to get right to the point.

Aidan looked at him. “You haven’t exactly made any terms for me to agree or disagree with.”

Kyle crossed his arms across his chest. “It’s simple. We spend time around one another. We do almost everything a newly bonded pair is supposed to do.”

“Almost everything?” Aidan asked with an air of expectation.

“Yep, you don’t get to use the physical stuff to try and get your own way. Prove to me you can be trusted. Get to know me and let me get to know you,” Kyle told him.

“Am I allowed to think about it, or will that work against me?” Aidan asked in a deceptively polite tone.

Kyle scoffed. “You need time to think about whether or not you’re willing to work with me, so we can get some trust and respect between us?”

Aidan grinned. “So yes, it would definitely work against me to ask for time to think about it. So, I’m not allowed to touch you?”

Kyle thought about that, editing his original stance mentally before speaking. “We can touch. We spend time with one another, do stuff together, talk, whatever the hell we need to do. But if we’re getting in too deep and I tell you to back off, you back off. You got me? You respect it, or you obviously don’t respect me.”

Aidan frowned. “And if I’m just as helpless in the face of it as you are?”

“You’ve not had any problem controlling yourself before,” Kyle told him bluntly.

Aidan looked faintly uncomfortable. “That was before. Things have…changed.”

“What the hell changed in the past seventy-two hours?” Kyle demanded.

Aidan stared. “You did.”

“Me? You mean this conversation?” Kyle asked, taken aback.

Aidan’s jaw tightened. “Things have changed. That’s all you need to know for now.”

“That sounds like something I really need to hear,” Kyle said with a huff.

“You say you can’t trust me, and so you tell me things must move at a slower pace. You can’t say that, then turn around and demand to know all my secrets. If you want your little plan to work, it must be mutual, otherwise you’re just being the same tyrant you’re trying to accuse me of being,” Aidan told him.

Kyle went to protest, then stopped with a sigh. “Okay. A good first step would be admitting when you’re right, like you are now. So, you’re right. I should at least respect that you don’t wanna tell me something because you don’t trust me with that kinda thing yet. If what you’re saying is true, and I’m going out on a limb here to say you are probably telling the truth, then we’ll deal with it. But if you can resist it, like you’ve been doing before, then you need to deal.”

Aidan considered that. “And if it’s obvious that one or both of our instincts took over?”

“Like I said, we’ll deal with that. But if we have the control to oppose it, we should. I don’t know you Aidan, and you don’t know me, and it’s not like we like each other very much. Screwing around instead of trying to change that is just…cheap,” Kyle admitted with a shrug.

Aidan nodded. “Then you have yourself a deal.”

Kyle blinked, surprised. “Just like that?”

“As you already pointed out, we’re going to be with one another for the rest of our lives. If that means playing your game long enough for you to give up and see things my way, then so be it,” Aidan said with a shrug.

Irritation flared up and Kyle had to work to shove it down and out of sight. He suspected it had been said partly to get a reaction out of him, but knew it was still something Aidan believed as well. Kyle wanted to snap and tell Aidan exactly what he could do with his little plan, but tempered his reaction to a roll of his eyes. The alpha was willing to play along, which was more than Kyle had had since this whole mess started. If Mags was right, then Kyle needed to only stick to his plan and let the rest of the pieces fall into place.

“How…kind of you, to play along,” Kyle finally said with a soft snort.

Aidan gestured around them. “So when do we begin?”

Kyle sighed. “Tomorrow, if we can. It’s been one hell of a day, and I’d like to sleep, or at least stare at my ceiling in peace.”

“Do you have to work with Shaman Magdiel tomorrow?” Aidan asked.

Kyle didn’t miss that Aidan had referred to her by her full and proper name. “I’m sure if she knew you were going to be around, she’d either give me the day off or find a way to include you.”

Aidan looked interested. “I would prefer the latter, I’ve yet to see what a shaman or shaman’s apprentice does day to day.”

Kyle laughed. “You’ll be bored to tears, it’s never anything very interesting.”

“What would you prefer: listening to the elders all day or what you do?” Aidan asked.

“Alright, you have a good point there,” Kyle grimaced.

“Good. Then I’ll be at your house after I’ve finished my morning routine,” Aidan said simply.

There wasn’t anything more to say, so Kyle nodded and turned to walk away. He knew he’d made a great deal of progress with their conversation and that he should feel proud. However, that sense of pride didn’t change the knot of worry in his gut. He’d thrown himself into the very same mess he’d sworn up and down he would fight to avoid. Involving himself with Aidan was risking putting himself in a vulnerable position, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it. To put it off would have only made it worse, and maybe, just maybe, this way, he could get something good out of it.

Beyond the line of trees, he risked turning around to see if Aidan was still standing there. He was, and what Kyle saw when he spied on the man sent his heart racing with a surge of an unknown, but powerful emotion. The cockiness in the alpha’s face was gone, as was the thoughtful expression that still somehow held the strength of confidence behind it. Aidan looked as worried and tense as Kyle felt, as if he were having the exact same thoughts Kyle was having.