Interstellar
20

Leon and Titan stood silently beside each other until the patrol exericse was well underway, both watching the last traces of the pack disappearing into the forest surrounding their small utopia. The weight of being alone was a heavy burden for both men to bear. From an outside perspective, their silence would have seemed praticed and comfortable. Titan struggled to settle his nerves, not daring to speak first. He was not so stubborn to think that his father wouldn’t banish him over this if Titan misspoke and frayed the Alpha’s patience. He thought back to his mother’s venomous remark, the sting still fresh, and whether he and Nova chose to stay or not, he wanted to assert himself as a worthwhile member of the pack regardless.

Leon began to walk toward the tree line, “Follow me.”

Titan walked in his father’s shadow as they headed into the northern woods. The walk was slow and tedious without shifting, likely some hidden lesson that Titan had yet to discern. The forest floor was littered with thick tree roots and tangled brush, and navigating it on two legs proved much more laborious than on four. They continued on in silence until Titan stopped expecting his father’s wrath to turn on him once far enough away from the village. They were too deep into the woods now to be heard by anyone.

A small ritual site was still partially constructed near the riverbank. The ground had been cleared, unlit torches arched in a semi-circle around it, but all other evidence of Leon’s hard work the night before had been taken down. A lump caught in Titan’s throat as he recognized where they were, and again had to suppress fear of his father. An image flashed through his mind, the ritual site turned into a small sparring arena, the ground sticky with blood and littered with tufts of black fur. It was gone in an instant, but the left a lingering dread that quickened the pounding in his chest.

“Still your heart, pup. Fear is another distraction. I’ve brought you here just as your father.” Leon turned to face his son before gazing longingly at the ritual site before him. “You have called me obsessed, and I understand your reasoning. I have prayed countless nights to Earth Mother for guidance on my insatiable heart. I pray again last night, right here,” Leon stood in the middle of the small clearing, eyes turned to the sky, “I stood here waiting for your mother and for Nova, my heart full for the first time in years. I praised Goddess for the blessing she was about to bestow upon me and, as I searched for her in the night sky, I felt my soul shatter. Minutes later I felt your mother screaming,” he tapped a hand over his heart, “and the next thing I knew she was at my side. I couldn’t understand what she was saying. Each time she tried to speak, her words came out in sobs or dry heaves. She could not wait for her voice to return, and she brought me home, brought me to see you. Your mother is so protective, she kept an arm across my chest as if it would have stopped me. But I chose to stop myself, pup. I stood and I saw you wrapped around her, and then I chose to leave before dragging your ass out of the house and leaving your parts scattered across the field.” Leon breathed deeply, slowly exhaling until he found his calm. He turned to face his son once more, the young man’s expression hard despite the glazing in his eyes, “Only Earth Mother has the answers, and maybe someday she will share them with me. But know this, pup, the moment you claimed that woman, you took something of mine.”

Titan rarely doubted his father, and this moment was no exception. He felt the power of his father’s truth in his words, and that truth crushed him.

“I can’t explain-”

“You don’t have to. I recognize what I saw and the change I felt in her this morning. By all rights, she was yours from the start, and if I were any man other than your Alpha, you would not have hesitated. Am I right?” Titan nodded his head. “My boy, you have so much yet to learn. Every man must determine what is worth fighting for in his life. I fought my Alpha at your age, and I lost miserably. But I was proud for having done it. You should have fought for her, pup. I am ashamed that you didn’t.”

Titan pressed his fingers to his temples, wishing he could summon one of his usual mouthy retorts. When nothing came, he choked out a genuine question instead. “What would you have done, dad? If I’d told you.”

“It depends. If you told me immediately, I would have sent her to your room instead of the guest suite. If you’d told me after the end of that first week, I would have kicked your ass.”

“And what are you doing now?”

“Contemplating.” Leon turned away from his son again, his gaze returning to the sky.

Leon and Titan didn’t return to the village until the sun was hanging low in the sky. There had been no further conversation between them, but the cool fall breeze and songbirds filled the silence. The walk back to their home had been comfortable enough until they approached the house. Titan remained walking in his father’s shadow as they passed through the front door, their paths only splitting at the base of the loft stairs, where he eagerly ran back to his bedroom. He burst through the door, the beautiful site of his mate in his bed briefly setting everything right in his world.

“Nova,” he said her name like it was his first breath after drowning. Her only response was to flutter those gorgeous sunlit eyes open, pull back the blankets, and open her arms. He lowered himself on top of her, longing to feel the sparks of her touch, and wrapped his arms under her shoulders. He buried his face in her neck and crooned into her touch as she lazily dragged her hands through his hair.

Nova watched the young man in her arms melt into her touch, feeling the rapid beating of his heart until it slowed to match her own. They had so much they needed to talk about, so much to learn about each other, but none of it was more important than sinking into the nurturing warmth of this newly ignited mate bond.