Henry awoke at dusk, amazed at how long he had slept. Hues of pink and orange glowed through the French doors of Louis’ balcony. He lay there a moment, blinking the grogginess of sleep from his eyes as his brain slowly rebooted processing what had happened earlier. It was the first time he had given himself up to another man completely. He wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about it, although he did notice his overall desire to remain right where he was, in Louis’ arms. It was by far the most powerful and compelling urge he was feeling. Henry slowly lifted his leg off of Louis’ waist, a dull ache in his hips from their recent lovemaking. Henry had expected Louis to take him hard and fast, but his claiming had come with an unexpected gentleness and tenderness.

But where did that leave him? Was he a member of Louis’ pack now? Was he Louis’ mate? Or had he just been Louis’ lover for the afternoon? Henry wondered which of those things mattered most to him, which thing he most desired to be true. Henry decided that if possible, it wanted all of it. He had never felt like he belonged anywhere more than here, right now, in Louis’ arms.

The problem with the lovemaking was that the aftereffects were still something he needed to attend to. His need for the bathroom was too great, and he slowly shifted on the bed, trying to get up. Louis’ arms tightened around him and Henry whispered, “Bathroom.” Louis released his hold on him. Henry smiled at his sleepy reluctance as he carefully slipped from bed.

In the bathroom, Henry turned on the shower and took care of business while the water warmed up. Then he stepped under the hot spray and breathed a sigh of relief. Showering was his ritual after sex, as the spray helped ease the tension of the post coital anxiety he generally felt. Always fearing that when his lover awoke, he might be rejected. Henry had learned to leave before this rejection could take place, but he also knew that what had happened between him and Louis was different. There was no sneaking away this time.

Henry lathered up the shampoo in his hair and rinsed, placing his palms on the gray tile in front of him and feeling the water cascade down over his shoulders. He was about to reach for the soap when he felt Louis’ broad palm through the fabric of a terrycloth washcloth run down the length of his back. Henry jumped, slipping a little, but Louis’ arm went around his waist, catching him and holding him upright.

“Are you okay?” Louis asked. Henry nodded. “Truly? Talk to me, Henry. What are you thinking?”

“I…I was wondering, well...what’s next?” Henry whispered.

“What do you mean?” Louis worked the cloth over his shoulders and then reached around and ran it down his chest. Henry glanced down as he felt the suds slip down over his hips. He watched as Louis’ hand and the washcloth moved closer and closer to his waist. He placed a hand over Louis’ when the cloth was almost between his legs. “What’s the matter, Henry?”

Henry inhaled deely, removing his hand and allowing Louis to continue his exploration with the washcloth. Henry shivered, not from cold or even fear as he felt Louis carefully dip the washcloth between his legs, but something deeper in his soul trembled as he let Louis take care of him with such tenderness.

“I have never let anyone do what you just did. At least, not since before the surgery. I let them use their mouth and I have returned the favor, but…” Henry couldn’t finish the sentence. It was difficult for him to talk about this, to lay out his fears for Louis, because it wasn’t just about the physical act for him. It went deeper than that.

“Thank you.” Louis’ words made his head jerk up. It wasn’t the response he had been expecting.

“What?” Henry turned his head under the spray blinking back the water that dripped into through his eyelashes and into his eyes.

“Thank you for giving me that part of yourself.” Louis’ face was so sincere, Henry felt tears prick the backs of his eyes. Louis was so gracious. Henry didn’t know how to respond. Louis knelt to wash Henry’s legs and feet, an act with so much symbolism attached to it Henry’s breath caught in his throat. “What just happened between us wasn’t only me accepting you. It was also you accepting me.”

“I…I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

Louis smiled up at him and Henry found his heart beating faster at the look of pure kindness on his face. “I know. At least, I suspected. People forget that alphas need acceptance, too. But to be honest, until this morning, I hadn’t realized how much I needed it from you specifically.”

“Why me?” Henry couldn’t help but ask the question.

“Because you are the first person to make me truly believe that all I have been working toward with my pack… is worth it. Which I know must sound terrible… but some days, I’m just not sure at all. But when I’m with you... I’ve never felt so perfectly sure about things or so content inside, until just a little while ago when I was inside of you.”

Henry swallowed the lump in his throat. An admission of this caliber was so unexpected, like something out of his wildest dreams and fantasies. Henry was cautious, choosing his next words carefully. “Is the contentment you feel simply because I am an omega, or because I am your…” He didn’t know the right word to use…mate? Maybe that was it. Was it too soon to say such a thing?

Louis frowned for a moment, followed by a slight smile. “I think it is a bit of both, to be fair.”

Henry supposed that was an acceptable answer, the words warming him inside. The omega side of him wasn’t something he could remove or turn off. Louis was content with Henry as a whole, and not just parts of him.

“So where does this leave us?”

Louis cocked his head to the side as he knelt on the shower floor thinking for a moment. He rose slowly and draped the washcloth over the small railing built into the shower wall. Henry stepped to the side--the shower was big enough to accommodate them both--and Louis was able to rinse off. Louis was quick about it and Henry sat on the built-in shower bench as he waited for Louis’ answer. When Louis was done he turned the shower head off and grabbed towels, first wrapping Henry in one, and then himself. Henry was beginning to think he wasn’t going to answer him, but then Louis cleared his throat.

“I think, to start, lovers. I am daring to hope that friendship follows from this as well. I know that for so long we have misunderstood one another. I suspect that was at the hands of petty differences and ignorance, but I’m hoping you joining my pack will help alleviate some of the tension of the feud.”

“So, you do want me to join your pack?” Henry bit his lip. He stared up at Louis. Louis’ answer could be all he had been hoping for, but Henry wasn’t a fool. He knew that their developing relationship would cause ripples in the order of things within all the packs of Maine.

“Yes. I do. I need to bring the rest of the household up to speed, and together we’ll tackle any issues that may arise. Until those issues are resolved, however, I’m not sure we should complicate things by putting a label on… us.” Louis rubbed at his jaw. The coarse hairs made a rasping sound under the smooth skin of his palm.

“That’s understandable. So where do you think we should start?” Henry felt his own cheek. It was smooth. Henry couldn’t wait for the medication’s effects to begin kicking in again. He longed to feel more like himself.

“Do we have to lay everything out right now?” Louis’ eyebrows rose. Henry felt a twinge of guilt as he realized he had been making a demand of Louis.

“No, I’m sorry. I just like having a plan.” Louis’ face softened at Henry’s words, and he chuckled.

“Believe me, I completely agree. I go half-mad when I don’t have all the answers to everything. If it will make you feel better though, let me ask you this. Do you still intend to hatch a nefarious escape plan and run for Massachusetts?”

Henry laughed. “No. I think I am quite happy waiting to see how things play out here. Perhaps northern Maine is not so bad after all, eh?”

“No, I think you will come to like it up here. We don’t bite, hard.” Louis’ smile was all teeth, causing Henry to shiver.

“I wouldn’t mind if you did. Those nips of yours felt nice, earlier.”

Louis’ eyes flared, and Henry stilled under the sheen of yellow that entered Louis’ eyes and the broadening of his smile. Henry could sense Louis’ arousal, as well as see it beneath his towel. He wanted nothing more than to drop to his knees and show him how much he appreciated it, but Louis closed his eyes and shook his head as he ruffled Henry’s hair.

“We can’t. We have another hunt tonight. And there is a discussion that must take place with the pack if we are to make it through this night without attack. You distract me. Go and get dressed before I forget I have responsibilities.” Louis playfully swatted Henry on the ass and he yipped at the sting and skittered out the doorway of the bathroom. When Henry looked back, Louis was framed in the doorway with his forearms up watching Henry. He was regulating his breathing, Henry noticed, and Henry knew he had provoked Louis’ natural urge to hunt, even if it was, in his case, the provocative and sexual kind.

Henry bent and picked up his clothes, pulling them back on quickly so as not to provoke Louis further. Eventually Louis stepped into his closet and emerged in simple jeans and a t-shirt.

Once they were ready to go, Henry followed Louis from the room and they descended the stairs to the dining room where another meal was in full swing. Louis paused outside the door, and Henry took a deep breath, letting the calm, cool tones of the décor sooth his nerves. He could understand why these particular colors were chosen for the walls in a house full of werewolves.

Henry looked down when Louis linked his fingers with his and then turned the knob of the door to the dining room. Henry breathed, feeling the warmth of Louis’ palm pressed to his own, and it was exactly what he needed to face the pack.

The dining room fell silent as they stepped through the door together. Giraud was wrestling a spoon away from Gabrielle, and Colette’s hand froze in the act of separating them. Giraud managed to pry his sister’s finger’s apart and took the spoon, hiding it behind his plate opposite her, next to the spoon he already had.

Everyone in the dining room was staring at them, and all of them glanced down to their interwoven fingers. Phillip’s eyes widened and then he shrugged, returning to his pudding in front of him. Colette slowly unfroze herself and retrieved the stolen spoon from Giraud and gave it back to Gabrielle. Matthew looked at them for a moment, as if he was calculating something in his mind, but then he nodded and turned his attention back to portioning out helpings for Gabrielle and Giraud with mathematical precision. With each display of unique acceptance, Henry grew a little more confident.

Daumier looked briefly surprised, but then he hid behind his familiar mask of impenetrable passivity. He was going to be the hardest person to earn trust from, but Henry thought it could be done, given enough time.

The only two who reacted negatively were Lizette and Pierre.

“What the fu--”

“Lizette!” Louis’ voice was sharp as he looked at Giraud and Gabrielle meaningfully.

“Are you serious?” She stood, and Pierre stood with her. “He’s only been here a day!”

“Yes, I know.” Louis’ voice was even but his tone held a note of warning.

“Daumier told us you had something to tell us about him.” She pointed accusatorily at Henry. Louis looked at Daumier, but he remained guarded. Henry felt sorry he was coming between their friendship, but all he could really focus on was the weight of everyone’s scrutiny as Lizette pointed at him. Pierre continued to smirk, seemingly enjoying the tense display.

“Yes, I have some things to tell you. First, as you can see, Henry is my lover.” Louis glanced quickly at Gabrielle and Giraud, but they were too preoccupied with their own pudding. Everyone else’s attention was rapt. “Second, Henry is not Henry Dupis of Quebec, as I told you yesterday. He is Henry Amiraut, of the Coastal Maine Werewolves.”

For a moment, there was no reaction from anyone as the truth sank in. An instant later, the entire room erupted in a cacophony of noise. Lizette and Pierre were the loudest of all. Phillip dropped a clump of pudding onto his shirt and he stared at it a moment before scooping it up and licking his finger. Matthew looked surprised but said nothing. Colette didn’t react much, as she had been around to give Henry first aid when he had been brought into the house. Daumier folded his arms over his chest and waited, and Henry’s heart sank. He was hoping that after discussing things earlier, Daumier might have softened a little to his situation, but that didn’t appear to be the case.

“There is more,” Louis said after a while, cutting off a particularly nasty insult that Pierre was spitting at him. The look Louis gave Pierre shut him up.

“What else could there possibly be? You have brought the enemy into our home!” Lizette cried. She looked at Henry, nearly trembling in fear. Henry had expected anger, but the intensity of her fear was unexpected.

“Henry was being hunted by his own pack when we found him. We brought him here to help him, because that is what we do, and we have recently learned that there is a price on his head. The Coastal Maine Wolves have asked for him to be returned to them for execution.”

“Then give them…” Pierre started but he didn’t finish the sentence. Louis had moved around the table and was in Pierre’s face in the blink of an eye.

“I understand there are going to be hesitations about his presence here, and everyone is perfectly entitled to their concerns and opinions. I am open to hearing all of your thoughts, as always. However, I will not be surrendering anyone whom I believe to be innocent. I hope you will seriously reconsider what you are about to suggest, Pierre.” Pierre looked away, but the loathing Henry had been receiving from Lizette was now cast his way from under Pierre’s lashes as well. Henry knew that look. He had seen it in wolves who had challenged each other. There was nothing there but pure hatred based on wolf instinct, and Henry knew he wasn’t going to cut through that, no matter how hard he tried.

“Fine,” Pierre muttered, and only after a long moment did Louis back off. He slowly made his way back to Henry’s side, for which Henry was grateful. He had felt exposed when Louis had moved away from him.

“Why are the Coastal Maine Wolves after him?” Lizette’s voice was calmer, realizing she and Pierre were outnumbered. If the others objected to Henry’s presence, he didn’t think they would voice those opinions with Louis and himself standing right there.

Henry looked at Louis, and he raised an eyebrow, lifting a hand up to give him the floor. This particular secret wasn’t his to tell, but Henry’s alone.

Henry took a deep breath. “They found me out. I am a transman, and when they learned this, well…” He trailed off and tried to keep his tears from falling. Losing those he had considered friends still hurt. It had been less than two weeks since the betrayal, and the pain was still fresh.

The room was completely silent at Henry’s confession. Daumier seemed to relax a little, like he was relieved, or as if hadn’t thought that Henry would tell everyone the whole truth. It gave Henry the hope and courage he needed to go on.

“I, ah, I know my presence here is a risk, and I am sorry I have brought danger upon you. It was not my intention. I know that might be hard to believe because of the longstanding animosity between our packs. I would like to clarify that the skirmish that started the feud was not fought at my behest or with my permission. I never commanded those wolves to attack, and for their actions, I am sorry.”

“Yeah, but you did nothing to step in when the feud continued,” Lizette accused. Before Henry could say anything, Louis jumped in.

“You’re right, Lizette. But if you remember, neither did I.” She opened her mouth to argue, thought twice, and remained silent. “I suppose since we are disclosing all truths here, you should know that Henry is an omega. It is how he was able to maintain peace within the southern pack for so long.”

There was a moment of silence as each of the adults processed what he was saying.

“What’s an omega?” Gabrielle asked. Everyone chuckled except Pierre and Lizette, but it helped ease some of the tension in the room all the same. Louis pulled out Henry’s seat and gestured for him to sit down. Louis sat next to him and turned to face Gabrielle.

“An omega is a peacekeeper. Neither dominant nor submissive, they help bring balance and harmony to a pack.” Louis helped himself to a steak that was set out on a platter, and Henry took one for himself.

“So, why is everyone mad?” Gabrielle’s big blue eyes looked around at all the adults. Almost everyone looked thoughtful at the question.

“Ah, because there is more to Henry’s presence here in the house than just him being an omega.” Louis was good with the children, Henry mused. Henry wondered if Louis had ever entertained the idea of having any of his own.

“Oh, okay.” Gabrielle went back to attempting to stab peas with her fork, since Giraud had liberated her of her spoon again. She got her retribution when one of the peas flew off her plate and smacked Giraud in the cheek. He squawked, and Henry had to suppress a smile. Everyone returned to eating. Phillip seemed satisfied with his dessert, so he turned to the main course. Henry handed him the bowl of mashed potatoes and Phillip thanked him kindly, which was surely a good sign.

The rest of the dinner passed in relative silence as they ate. Henry wondered if the food he was eating was too rich, because when he cut into the middle of his steak, he found the medium rare pink in the middle slightly nauseating. He figured it was because he had been stuffing himself with food since they had taken him in, and after that mornings intense lovemaking with Louis, he needed to slow down. Henry would be sure to get a good night’s sleep after the hunt tonight, and he wouldn't hunt to kill and eat his prey, but just for the pure joy and sport of it.

When they were done eating, Louis turned to him. “Are you alright? You didn’t eat much.”

“Yes, just a lot going on lately. I’ll be fine.” Henry smiled and squeezed Louis’ arm to assure him. Louis gazed down at his hand a long moment and then smiled, and it was the first time Henry recognized the calming effect he had on Louis. Louis surely affected everyone around him and was under absolute control of every situation, but Henry knew how lonely and hard the life of an alpha could be. He was looking forward to learning the ins and outs of his omega abilities, and helping Louis to be the best pack alpha he could be.

When it was time to load up the vehicles, Louis switched up the riding companions for the evening. “Daumier, you will take Phillip, Lizette, Henry and Matthew. Tonight, I will run with Colette, the kids, and Pierre.” Everyone looked at each other awkwardly, but no one dared to argue. They climbed into the cars, and Henry found himself pressed between Matthew, who was staring straight ahead at the car in front of him, and Lizette, who was looking sullenly out the window. Phillip rode in the front with Daumier.

The entire ride, Henry felt like the walls were pressing in on him as they rode in silence. Henry knew Louis was only trying to diffuse the tension with these different arrangements, and as awkward as it was, Henry felt obligated to take the chance to try to get to know everyone.

“So, Matthew, how do you find Bangor in the summer?” Henry asked. Lizette snorted, and Matthew took his glasses off and fiddled with them.

“There are too many tourists.” He glanced at Henry, who took that as a sign to shut up. He was, after all, a kind of tourist to them. An outsider who had encroached on their territory.

“So, I suspect the southern wolves will be attempting to seize your properties and financials for the well-being of the pack.” Phillip turned in his seat and glanced back at Henry, who brightened and clung to the lifeline for dear life. Although the topic was not the happiest, he could have hugged Phillip.

“Yes, I suspect so. I was able to access a couple of my secret accounts, thanks to Louis.”

“I see. Has Louis proposed what is to be done about the rest of it?” The older man was sweating under the early evening heat, and Daumier reached forward and turned on the air conditioning, listening intently. Henry was glad he did. He found the blast of cool air to be refreshing. He had been having hot flashes since he got in the car. He assumed it was from the nerves.

“No. I assume they are lost.”

“Hmm, I will have to speak with Louis regarding just how much he wants to involve himself in this situation with the southern packs, but I think that you have a right to your property. It is a matter of legality, is it not?”

Henry was surprised at the generosity of Philip’s offer to speak to Louis on his behalf. He didn’t hold out hope that anything would come of it, as he knew the dirty politics of the Coastal Maine Wolves well, after all.

“Thank you. That is very kind of you.”

“It’s my job, Henry. My function within the pack. And if Louis is standing beside you and supporting you, then so shall I. He has been the rock and strength I needed ever since my wife was taken from me. I figure it is the least I can do. I work for justice and truth, standing vigilant against exploitation. You definitely have a case.”

Henry smiled, and Phillip turned his attention back to the road in front of them. Henry felt marginally better. It helped that the A.C. was on, and that he had Phillip’s support. He figured even if just one ally had come from their car ride, it was a step in the right direction.

When they slowed to a stop along the now familiar dirt road, Henry was more than ready to get out of the vehicle. Daumier had been glancing back at him every few minutes, causing him unease, and Henry had broken out in a sweat halfway there, A.C. be damned. The air had been stifling, but here along the river there was a slight breeze. Henry stripped from his clothing again between the vehicles, this time placing his clothes in a neatly folded pile on top of the SUV closest to him.

When he rounded the car after his shift, he was met by Louis in wolf form. He walked up to Henry, first sniffing behind his ear, then rubbing up against Henry with his body. His presence made some of Henry’s anxiety melt away.

Henry was reassured in Louis’ plan, and so he followed Daumier when he set off at a run along the bank of the river. He found himself matching pace with Phillip, while Matthew and Lizette flanked Daumier on the left and the right. They were faster, but Henry didn’t mind running with the older man. They stopped and rested a few times, and Daumier would circle back to check on them. He never approached Henry, but he would nuzzle Phillip who would yip encouragingly at him, signaling that all was well and to go on ahead.

About halfway through the run, Henry thought Phillip might not be able to keep up with the rest of them any longer. Phillip had shown him a kindness earlier, and Henry decided he could hunt something down for Phillip while the old wolf reserved his energy. He tried to convey this to Phillip, who seemed to understand the gist of what he was barking about, and when the older wolf sat on the bank of the river and wagged his tail, Henry took off at a run, chasing a rabbit he had startled out of the tall grass. He was just closing in on it, pushing his way through a large field that encompassed a good mile and a half of the Penobscot river bank, when he pushed through a particularly nasty bush of thorns, and came face to face with Pierre.