By the time he reached his cabin, the moon had already risen above the line of the trees. The fullness of the moon made it difficult to make out much of the rest of the sky around it, but it served to light his path well enough. Most of the village was either asleep or out running around somewhere. Some werewolves in the sept took to the full moon by celebrating in the wild, while others preferred to get wild in the comfort of their own homes.

It wouldn’t have been hard to blame the moon for giving into Aidan so easily, but he knew that would be the easy way out. True, the full moon gave more strength to the animal half in every werewolf, but it didn’t make them incapable of making their own decisions. A werewolf’s passions were increased the fuller the moon was, culminating on the three days a month that the moon was completely illuminated. Fighting between werewolves was more frequent then, as was the need to run in the woods, and even to screw like the world was ending. Kyle’s own wolf was quieter than it normally was during the full moon, but since he had just had a moment of passion on the beach with Aidan, he wasn’t too surprised to find it docile.

The path back to his home took him past Lily’s, which was still faintly illuminated behind the curtains. As he drew closer, he could see a figure sitting on the patch of long grass outside the front of the house. It stood up as he got closer, and he sighed when he saw it was Lily. His friend had apparently been lying in wait for him to pass.

“I thought that was you I saw slinking back,” she said by way of greeting.

Kyle snorted. “I’m just walking normally. In the middle of the path. This isn’t really slinking.”

“Maybe, but you got that look like you’ve got a dirty secret,” she said as she moved to walk beside him.

“Are you going to follow me home like a stray now?” he asked her.

Her face was turned up toward the moon as she smiled. “You’re not going to put me off the scent just by making fun of me.”

“I didn’t realize there was a scent at all,” he said.

“Well, I didn’t mean it literally, but now that I’m standing right next to you, there definitely is one. I guess I know what you’ve been up to,” she said idly.

Kyle glanced around nervously. “Can we not…right now? At least wait till we’re at my place before you start getting all nosy.”

“It’s not going to be a secret for long you know,” she told him.

He knew that, just as Aidan was bound to know it. It wasn’t as if he was intentionally trying to keep everyone out of the loop, at least not forever. The Joining might be a big deal for everyone, and entire septs were known to celebrate one when it happened, but it was private to Kyle. Even if he was somehow managing to learn how to be around Aidan without wanting to strangle him, it didn’t mean he was ready to declare their bond to the whole sept. There was still plenty they needed to work on before he would feel comfortable being under the spotlight with everyone making a big deal over it.

“Since I’m following you back like a stray, but I’m at least getting scraps, right?” she asked.

Knowing she meant gossip, he grunted. “Yeah, yeah, you’ll get your scraps. For all the gossiping you already do, I would think you’d have better things to do than follow me around for more.”

She shrugged. “And what do I get to hear from everyone else? I mean, if you talk to everyone else, they’re just as curious as to what you two are up to as I am. The difference is, I have a better idea than they do. I just won’t say anything.”

“Well, it’s nice to see you can keep your promises. But are you seriously telling me Aidan and I are the single most exciting thing happening in this place?” he asked in despair.

“Well, everyone is always wondering if Mags is just going to one day wander off and not come back. There’s talk about intruders in the territory too,” she said as if making a list.

Kyle scoffed. “They’re always talking about intruders. Most of the time it’s just a pack that didn’t realize they’d wandered into someone else’s territory.”

“Yeah, but sometimes it’s other septs trying to keep an eye on us, so everyone is always on alert,” she added.

He shrugged. “I guess, but I’d definitely prefer it if they talked about that more than what me or Aidan are up to.”

“Yeah, but it’s great to hear them talk about it, while I get to sit there and know exactly what’s going on. Being best friends with one of the people who’re the talk of the village has its perks,” she said with a grin.

“I’m so glad I can provide a service that adds such value to your life,” he said with a roll of his eyes.

He wanted to be annoyed with her insistence at having to know everything that was happening between him and Aidan, but he privately found it to be a bit of a relief. Sure, he could talk to Mags about it since the shaman already knew, but that wouldn’t really be much of a conversation. He respected Mags, and even if he didn’t always act like it, he valued her perspective. Having a conversation with her was more of a lesson or a dialogue than it was an actual conversation. Lily might be upbeat and chipper most of the time, but she could be serious when she needed to be, and interactions with her were on an equal footing. She might drive Kyle crazy with her need to be optimistic and always seeing things through rose-tinted glasses, but at least their conversations didn’t feel one-sided or unfair.

He wasn’t at all surprised when she pounced as soon as he closed the door to his house behind him. “So, what were you two up to tonight?”

Rolling his eyes, he looked at the liquor cabinet before moving to the drawer full of tea jars. “Since you already said I smelled, I’m going to guess I know what I smell like. Which means you already have a good idea what I was up to earlier.”

She hummed a tune he vaguely recognized as she happily plopped down on his small couch. “Yes sir. I mean, I don’t think it’s weird that you smell like him, since you’ve been around him a lot lately. But you really smelled like him when you came strolling up to me earlier. So, how is he in bed?”

Sighing, he plucked a jar of tea leaves from the drawer. “We haven’t slept together.”

“You certainly smelled like you’d been up to something,” she said with a grin in her voice.

“We didn’t have sex. We did…other stuff,” he admitted.

“So I’m guessing that means you’ve gotten over your hang ups about being with him?” she asked.

As he busied himself with starting the small fire to boil the water, he thought hard about that. There was no simple answer he could give her. As much as he knew she was hoping he would swoon against the nearby counter and talk about how amazing Aidan was, he just couldn’t. He couldn’t turn around and say he despised the alpha anymore either, since the past few days had altered his perception of the man more than he thought they could.

When he turned around, Lily was staring at him with a disturbed expression. “That’s…not a good face you’ve got going there.”

He shrugged. “I don’t really know how to answer you, and that’s the truth.”

“Is it that bad?” she asked.

He shook his head. “It’s not. Not in the way you might be thinking. He’s not treating me badly, or anything like that. We have this whole agreement going on and he’s been good about sticking to it, which I know is just so he can try to wait me out, but sometimes I wonder if it’s not working too.”

She leaned onto the table with a thoughtful expression. “What’s this agreement of yours?”

“Basically, we spend time together. Get to know one another, maybe try to learn how to deal with each other in a way that doesn’t involve borderline hatred all the time. He’s not supposed to use the…uh, physical aspects of what’s going on between us to his advantage, and he’s gotta respect it when I tell him to back off,” he explained.

Lily snorted. “You’ve always gotta be the one in charge, don’t you?”

He frowned at her. “Since when does an omega get a say on whether they’re in charge or not?”

“You’ve always been like this. You’ve always been the sort of omega who toed the line between omega and alpha. I think it’s why you like having me as a best friend, and why you don’t have many other friends,” she said with a slight shrug.

That brought him up. “You think I’m friends with you because I…want to be an alpha?”

“I don’t think you actually want to be an alpha, but I think some part of you wants to act like one sometimes. You never put yourself into positions where you can be bossed around by an alpha. Even making yourself Mags’ apprentice puts you in a safer position than I’m in. No one in the village really wants to mess with you since you’re the only one who can figure out where Mags is half the time, and you’re the one constantly picking her brain for the information we might all need once she finally passes. You make yourself as unattractive a member of a pack as possible. I mean, what alpha wants to have to constantly use their will to make an omega behave?” she asked with a snort.

Kyle had no delusions about how difficult a person he could be sometimes. Lily and Mags both made no secret of the fact that his bad attitude and willingness to occasionally cause trouble made him unlikable at times. He hadn’t known Lily thought he wanted to act like an alpha, and he didn’t like that she thought he only wanted her as a friend because he…what, could boss her around?

“You make me sound like a bully,” he grumbled, turning to watch the water heat up.

“You certainly aren’t afraid to throw your weight around. I mean, c’mon Kyle, who could have gotten away with yelling at Aidan in front of the whole sept but you? You might be an omega, but you’re the omega who has Mags’ ear, and you know no one is going to willingly take you on with how difficult you are,” Lily said.

He turned to her. “You really think I’m…that bad?”

She blinked at him, looking surprised. “Bad? I don’t think you’re bad at all.”

He stared at her. “You just made me sound like a bully with a bad attitude.”

Realization of what she could have meant broke over her. “Oh! Oh, no that’s not what I meant at all! I just meant that…look, you’ve been through a lot more than I knew before Aidan came along. I think you spent so much time being helpless in the face of everything life threw at you that you just kinda…took control in the only way you knew how. You surrounded yourself with people who would respect that, and you hunkered down around the few things you had left. It’s not a bad thing, at least not in my opinion. Sure, I bet the elders think you should be quieter, bow more often, and maybe just listen, but I guess I respect the fact that you won’t do that. You know what you are, and what your limits are, but you only accept them on your terms. It might make you a pain in the ass sometimes, but it doesn’t mean it’s not worth respect.”

He was glad the water started boiling at that moment, allowing him to turn away. She couldn’t see the flush that was burning his face as he poured the water onto the tea leaves to allow them to steep. Lily wasn’t sparse with her praise, but he had never quite heard a speech like that from her before. She’d always said she admired the way he spoke his mind, but he never suspected she had respect for him simply because he didn’t go with the flow.

“I bet there’d be more than a few people in this village who would’ve given you a dirty look for that little speech,” he told her, still busying himself with the tea.

She scoffed. “Why? Because I said you being an omega who doesn’t act like we think an omega should is a good thing? Mags says the natural world thrives because of its variation, not because everything is the same. Why should werewolves be any different?”

He hadn’t quite thought of himself as a positive thing for the continuation of their species. Most werewolves considered anything that veered away from the norm as an affront. Lily hadn’t been kidding when she’d said the rest of the sept accepted his behavior, albeit grudgingly, simply because he was the apprentice of their shaman. The old woman was a storehouse of lore, medicinal knowledge, and spiritual guidance for the sept. She made no secret of the fact that Kyle was an apt student and had been learning quite a lot over the years.

He grunted. “You think Mags bragging to everyone about how much I’ve been doing with her was her way of helping me get away with shit?”

Lily laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised. You really think if she thought you acting like a shit was a bad thing, she’d even bother to teach you anything? I might not know her like you do, but I know what a crafty woman can be like. My grandma was like that too. I bet she would have liked you a lot.”

“Don’t think I ever met her,” Kyle said with a shrug as he poured the tea into two separate mugs.

“She was a bit like Mags, but a lot like you too. Your pack didn’t have much to do with mine and she passed. Well, she was one of the casualties,” Lily said quietly as she took the mug he offered her.

War wasn’t an uncommon event in a species prone to high passions and quick tempers like werewolves were. A neighboring sept, the same one Aidan’s pack had been skirmishing with, had decided they needed to do more than fight battles on the edge of their territory. No one on the island had expected the sudden onslaught, particularly because the enemy had waited until one of those occasional moments when Mags was seemingly absent from the island. Warriors had used boats to sneak across the lake unseen, and poured onto the island in great numbers. Over half the village died in the battle that followed, as the sept attempted to fight back as best they could.

Kyle had only been sixteen, two years shy of his coming of age, and he’d been with the other children when the attack came. On the day of the attack, Elder Sky had taken them to the mainland to teach them about some of the surrounding land. That coincidence was the only reason the next generation of the sept was spared the deaths many of their pack members suffered. Kyle’s pack, his family, had been destroyed in the battle, fighting to the end to try and repel the invaders that threatened their home.

Lily bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I’m here talking about my grandmother and you lost a lot more than that. I’m not too good at thinking before I speak sometimes.”

Kyle shook his head. “Just because I lost more doesn’t mean you didn’t lose anything. You’re allowed to be sad or mad about what happened too, you know.”

She eyed him speculatively. “I think maybe you’ve been learning more from Mags than you think you have.”

His cup paused in mid air as he hesitated. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It just sounds like something she would say. It just goes to show that sometimes you do listen to us, and you’re a lot nicer than you let on,” she told him with a grin.

He rolled his eyes. “I take it back. You’re a horrible person for mourning your grandmother.”

They both laughed at that. She knew he was kidding, and he knew she hadn’t been. This was turning out to be one of the heaviest conversations they’d had in all the years of their friendship. They’d never before spoken of the war that took so much from the village, and it was the first time they’d had to talk about one of their relationships.

“So, did you really wait around for me to show up just so you could gossip with me?” he asked her after they finally stopped laughing enough to catch their breath.

“I already had a bit of fun today, so I didn’t need to go running through the woods to howl at the moon,” she said, feigning nonchalance.

He eyed her. “Fun, huh? Is that what we’re calling getting laid now?”

“Well, one of us has to. The way you looked when I asked if you’d been having fun with Aidan, you’d have thought I was asking if you had to chop off your leg instead,” she said with a smirk.

Kyle groaned. “It’s just…complicated.”

She shook her head. “It’s not any more complicated than you’re making it. I mean really, you set up some sort of agreement with him, the guy who’s supposed to be your bonded mate. If that doesn’t scream overcomplicating things, I don’t know what does.”

He frowned. “What would you have done? It’s not like he and I don’t have a history that needed to be addressed. The guy was a dick to me our whole childhood, and I wasn’t going to go charging into his arms, begging him to whisk me away into the sunset. I might be stuck with him for the rest of my life, but that doesn’t mean I have to be an idiot about it. I wanted to get to know him better and see if that helped. And I couldn’t do that when he was constantly using every physical trick he could to try and keep me from thinking straight.”

Lily nodded slowly. “I guess I can see your point. Does kinda complicate things that you two already weren’t on the best terms from the start.”

“Yeah and he wasn’t exactly shy about using the fact that his scent or even his touch makes me stop thinking clearly. So I put a stop to it,” he grumbled.

She chuckled. “See? That’s what I mean. You always have to find some way you can have some degree of control.”

“I think I’m pretty justified in that,” he told her, growing annoyed.

“Oh, don’t get that look. You know I’m right. It doesn’t make it a bad thing and honestly, if he hasn’t tried to put his foot down over it, I’m guessing he doesn’t think it’s a bad thing either,” Lily said.

Kyle snorted. “The guy is just waiting for me to give in and do things his way. He said it himself.”

Lily laughed. “Oh Kyle. Is that what you’re basing his behavior on? What he said?”

Kyle stared. “What else am I supposed to base it on?”

That only made her laugh harder. “Not his words! He’s an alpha, and a male! When it comes to anything that might step on their ego in the slightest, you can’t believe a word they say! Of course he said he was just waiting for you to slip up, give in, or whatever it is he’s got in mind.”

That gave him pause. “So…he’s not trying to wait me out. That’s your theory?”

She shook her head. “Honestly, I’m starting to think denseness and pride are male things rather than just alpha things. Look, you don’t listen to the words; you pay attention to what he does. You ask me, he’s doing a lot more than he said he was going to do. I mean, for Gaia’s sake Kyle, everyone’s noticed that not only are you two hanging around one another, but you’re different around one another. You seem less grumpy, and he’s been less of a dick. His own pack is wondering what the hell you’re doing to him when they aren’t looking.”

“How do you know what they’re talking about?” he asked her suspiciously.

Lily rolled her eyes. “Don’t change the subject. You always do that when you’re trying to avoid a conversation, so quit it.”

“Okay, fine. I’m supposed to look at what he’s doing instead of saying. I guess I’ll start tomorrow,” he sighed, knowing he wasn’t going to win this battle anyway.

“Good, and you know what? Try letting go a bit too,” she added casually.

“My rules are the only thing keeping me from giving into him completely whenever he feels like he wants to play with my body’s reactions!” he protested.

“And you really think that if he wanted to do that, he wouldn’t have done it already? Would your agreement really be enough to stop him if he wanted to manipulate you?” she asked with a raised brow.

“Well, he agreed, so,” he said.

She pointed at him. “Exactly, and he’s kept to that agreement. I’d say that’s a good sign he plans on behaving himself. So try relaxing a little.”

He thought about pointing out that he had been relaxing considerably, especially considering it had only been a few days. That would end up with her giving him that disbelieving look of hers and grilling him about exactly what he had been doing to relax. Both he and Aidan had been getting to know one another in the past few days, but only enough to learn they could actually exist around one another. If he wanted to truly see what potential lay between them, they would have to go deeper than that.

“I don’t think I like you anymore,” he told her, hating the idea of trying to open up and also getting Aidan to do the same.

“You love me and you know it,” she told him with a wicked laugh.