Winter's Howl

"What's on your mind?"

Another pause.

"I want to become a werewolf."

For a moment it was like the forest was silent, the statement just hanging in the air.

The alpha male was shocked.

"Are you serious?"

"Absolutely. I've been thinking about this for a long time. As much as Tim and I love each other, we're from two different worlds. I made the choice to leave my old life behind long before we met, but Tim just kind of fell into my lap. He still has his whole future as a lycanthrope ahead of him."

Paine stopped talking when he felt a tug on his line and spent the next minute reeling in a moderately-sized catch.

"I think that this is my destiny, what God made me for. I want to join him in this life. The way he still isn't comfortable around anyone but me and Kayleigh isn't something I can fix by staying with him in my cabin forever."

Samuel looked back over at his fishing line, pondering the idea for a minute or two.

"What does Tim think?"

"I haven't told him yet, but I will soon. I would never do this without him being okay with it. But I do have some questions about the whole thing."

The lycanthrope looked over at Paine again.

"If you ask me, I think it's unwise. Of every wolf I've met, only about a quarter of them are transformed. The rest were made through breeding. Transformation is normally seen as a last resort. Kayleigh and Tim were changed because they were toddlers alone in the wilderness and couldn't survive on their own."

Paine remembered how Tim said he and his sister were found in a crashed car, both parents dead.

"I've only seen a couple examples myself. My old pack found a man mauled by a mountain lion once and changed him so he wouldn't die."

"What does that matter?"

"We heal much faster than humans do. There are wounds life-threatening to humans that lycans can recover from."

"How does the change work?"

"They need to be in wolf or hybrid form, and bite with the intent to transform the human."

"That means Tim could do it to me during a full moon, right?"

Samuel looked at Paine, astonished.

"Why on earth would you want Tim to do it?"

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Is this shocking? He's my mate. I want to be close to him in that way."

The lycan blinked a few times before he figured out why the human would even consider doing such a thing.

"Oh, you must not know. I suppose it makes sense, Tim would have no reason to know it, either."

"What are you talking about?"

"Breeding works a lot like human genetics. What type a wolf is born as is influenced by the types of their parents. Transforming does not work that way at all."

He cast his line out again.

"It's a rule that nobody but the alphas are allowed to transform humans. That's because a lycanthrope can only make a human their type or one less powerful. Betas can't make alphas, and omegas can only transform a human into another omega. If Tim were to transform you on a full moon, you'd immediately turn into a wolf. Then at dawn, you'd turn into a human form wholly different from the one you have now. You would lose almost all of your strength. If you want to keep protecting Tim like you have been, you shouldn't have him be the one to transform you."

Paine sat back a bit. That information made things much, much more complicated.

"You're right, I didn't know that. I'm going to have to talk to him about it. And I hope I don't have to tell you to keep this just between us for now?"

"Of course, this is your business anyway."

The giant human had a lot to think about during the next hour of fishing.

*****

Tim was engrossed in his reading until he noticed an odd sound outside of the tent. He could hear snow crunching and light rustling, like someone was trying to sneak around but not doing a very good job of it.

The young man tried to ignore the noises but after a minute or two his curiosity got the better of him. He walked over to the tent's entrance and took a peek outside. Paine had set up the tent on the edge of the clearing facing outward, so Tim could immediately see the source of the noise.

There was a blond omega boy, one somehow even tinier and weaker in appearance than Tim was, ducking behind a nearby tent. He was scantily clad, but seemed comfortable despite the cold.

If he were an alpha or even a beta Tim would have gone right back inside his tent, but since this was another omega he felt bold enough to speak.

"Um...what are you doing?"

The boy looked at him, his body suddenly tense, then glanced out at the clearing and scurried up to Tim. Without explanation or warning he dashed into the teepee.

Confused, Tim started to ask "Why are you--" but before he could finish the smaller omega shushed him, pulled him back into the tent, and put his hand over Tim's mouth. Then things were quiet for a few seconds.

Tim was utterly perplexed. The blond boy came off as harmless, but he wasn't acting like any omega Tim had ever met before.

Suddenly he heard footsteps approach and pass behind him. One of the betas must have just walked by. When whoever it was got a good distance away the boy removed his hand and whispered.

"Sorry about that, I needed to act quickly."

Tim felt the need to whisper as well when he responded.

"I...guess it's okay, but who are you? What's going on?"

The blond omega smiled and spoke in a quiet voice.

"My name is Shiloh, I just got here today. I wanted to look around, but I'm supposed to be resting in the infirmary and didn't want to get caught outside the tent. You won't tell anyone, right?"

Tim noticed that a few of his fingers were in splints and his torso had several bandages.

The small boy repeated himself. "You won't tell anyone you saw me, right?"

The other omega was a little flustered when he said "I won't, it's fine."

Shiloh beamed.

"Thanks so much! I knew I could trust you!" Without a second thought he sat on Tim's lap and hugged him with his whole body, his skin unusually warm. He looked up at the other omega.

"What's your name?"

"Tim."

"Well Tim, I'm happy we're friends now. Is the coast clear out there?"

Shiloh got off so Tim could stand and look out the window. He couldn't see anyone in the immediate area.

"Nobody's around."

"Alright, I better get going then. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Okay."

Shiloh hugged Tim again before running out of the tent.

The youth tried to get back to his book, but found it hard to focus, still reeling from what just happened. Shiloh certainly seemed nice, but was also the weirdest person Tim had ever met.

Then again, judging another omega was something Tim never, ever wanted to do, so he did what he could to push those thoughts away and returned to his reading.

*****

Paine had a lot on his mind on his hike back to the pack, while he was cleaning two of the fish he caught, and as he ate them for lunch with his husband in their tent. He didn't have a clear idea of what to do going forward, but he knew he couldn't make any decision at all until he told Tim everything. That's why he asked his mate to come with him outside the tent after lunch.

"What's up?" The omega knew something was weighing heavily on his giant.

"Something that I've been thinking about for a long time. Something really important. I want to talk to you about it, and when I do, I don't want there to be any distractions. No alphas or betas around putting you on edge."

Tim could see how serious Paine was and agreed immediately.

The two spent nearly thirty minutes hiking down a trail away from the pack, until neither could see, hear, or smell any trace of it. Paine found a fallen log to sit on and patted his lap. The omega sat on his husband's leg and looked up at him curiously.

"Tim, before you met me, what were your plans for the future?"

That was a question the lycan wasn't expecting even a little. He took a moment to think about it.

"I don't really know. Pretty much my whole life I was just trying to keep myself alive and help Kayleigh. I guess I didn't have much time to think about what to do if something came after."

"I understand that. If I'm being honest, it isn't far from how I was before we met. I moved to that cabin to spend time on my own, away from the society I did such awful things in." Paine was deeply ashamed of his own history, and Tim was the only one he'd told its details to.

"I think a part of me knew that it wasn't realistic to just live alone in a cabin for the rest of my life, but I must have hoped that an opportunity would present itself to me somehow. And it did. I found you."

Tim was a little anxious about where this was going.

"Baby boy, I love you with everything I have, and these past few months living with you have been the best of my life. We got married, and we're still in a bit of a honeymoon phase. But we can't stay that way forever."

The wolf shifted his weight slightly.

"I really love the life the two of us have," he mumbled.

"So do I, but what's our end goal? I told you once that we would start out living in the cabin and then we'll see where it takes us. But maybe we have to make the first step on our own. We're both caught between worlds, but you're a lycanthrope and can't come back to my world with me. I can live in your world with you, though."

He cupped his husband's face.

"I think I should join you as a wolf."

The little omega was dumbfounded. It was a concept he had never even considered.

"You don't have to do this for me, Paine. I never asked for it."

"That's not surprising. I'm pretty sure you see me as this hero that swooped in and fixed all your problems. But I'm not that. I can't be that for you."

Tim looked down, feeling his eyes get misty.

"Please don't look away. Look me in the eye and talk to me."

He raised his head again.

"I really do owe you everything, Paine. You didn't just save me, you helped save my sister, too. Living with you helped me find out who I am in a way I never could before. Why should things be different?"

"I feel like you still have the mindset you had before we met. You're just thinking about making it to the next day. But that's not what makes life worth living. You deserve to live for so much more."

The boy felt a tear come out.

"Isn't that what we're already doing?"

"Maybe it was at first, but we have a whole life together ahead of us. We found each other, so now we can use that love to do things we never could before."

Paine petted the little wolf's hair.

"I won't force this on you, but I want you to know that this is an option I think would do both of us a lot of good. Now that you know I want you to really think about it. Take as long as you need, okay? But I don't want you to ignore it. Can you promise me that?"

Tim smiled wanly. "I can."

The human gave the lycan a deep, passionate kiss.

"Thank you. Do you want to go back now?"

The young man leaned more into his husband.

"I think I want to stay here alone with you for a few more minutes."

And that's what the two did. They sat together, not saying a single word.

*****

Ike was having a hard time falling asleep.

He was lying on his bed, in his wolf form as usual, and Shiloh was fast asleep on the other side of the medic's tent. And for some reason Ike couldn't possibly understand, the omega wasn't wearing a stitch of clothing or even using the blanket.

His body was fully displayed. He was on his side facing the other way, so his back and little ass were presented to Ike. He kept wanting to look over at the boy's beautiful skin, dainty little feet, and soft curves.

Shiloh had an affect on Ike no other omega, or any lycan in general, had before. It made the beta too scatterbrained to think properly. The feeling was so disorienting he found he'd been making an effort to avoid the kid over the course of the day, to the point of taking on extra responsibilities.

Was it possible Shiloh was Ike's mate?

It was hard to tell. From what mated lycans had told him before, if two mates meet and imprint, they'd know what was happening. If it was uncertain that made them being mates seem unlikely. But on the other hand, the two hadn't interacted very much. Ike was out of the tent most of the day and whenever he came back Shiloh was asleep. Things might just not have had enough time to fully develop.

Ike forced himself to turn away. This was something he'd have to confront at some point, but ignoring it for the time being seemed like the better option.

Eventually, the wolf was able to sleep.

*****

In a temporary encampment several miles away, a powerful lycanthrope named Pilar was in her tent, looking over a map of the area. The Romulus pack's location was drawn out in detail.

The invasion had been in the making for a while, and the wolf was sure that this plan was foolproof.

She heard a voice outside the tent.

"Captain?"

"What is it?"

A tall alpha male entered the tent, but he seemed to tense up a little when he approached Pilar. The gigantic, dominant, beautiful but still horrifying she-wolf could make even the alphas tremble with her presence alone.

"Our spies just returned with today's report. Shiloh is still with the Romulus pack."

She nodded and said "You're excused," but her tone of voice made it sound more like "get out of my sight." The alpha left immediately.

Her steely-gray eyes went back to the map. Once things were put into motion, getting Shiloh back would be easy, as would disposing of any wolf that knew of his existence. Pilar knew some of the pack members would stay behind and try to fight, but that would be the last mistake they'll ever make.

By dawn, there would be no survivors.

*****

Tim and Paine were eating breakfast in their tent when they were visited by Kayleigh.

"Hey, you two. How have things been?"

"Pretty good," Paine said. "Both of us have learned a lot." Tim nodded in agreement.

"That's great. I came over because I was about to do my daily rounds and wondered if you wanted to join me. I didn't see either of you at all yesterday."

The two husbands looked at each other and in a brief moment were able to communicate what they wanted to do. The giant spoke.

"I did a lot yesterday and kind of just want to rest right now. Do you want to go with her, baby?" He turned to the omega.

"I'd love to!"

The beta woman nodded.

"That's fine by me. Meet me at my tent in a few minutes?"

"Sure."

As Kayleigh left and Tim got properly dressed Paine sat back on the giant sleeping bag the two shared.

"It's good you're allowing yourself to be a little more brave."

"Thanks. I'll be back later, okay?"

"Have fun."

Not long after Tim was with his sister. While she did her routine checks around the pack he talked with her.

"How does it feel to be one of the pack's leaders?"

Kayleigh rolled her eyes. "Samuel took that role. I'm not sure why everyone sees me as one, too."

"You've always been strong-willed. It's not surprising."

They'd already passed the eating area where many of the alphas were having breakfast when Kayleigh spoke.

"How have things been with you? Do you and Paine have something planned, or are you just staying in the cabin for now?"

"The two of us have been talking about it, and I'd actually love to know your opinion about something." For the sake of transparency, Paine confessed yesterday that he'd discussed his wish to become a wolf with Samuel as well as what he'd learned. The omega knew his husband would never object to him talking to his sister about it as well.

"What is it?"

"Paine told me he'd been considering becoming a lycan. That way both of us could join this pack for good."

That revelation was enough to make Kayleigh stop walking for a moment.

"Wow. That's a huge step."

"I know. I'm still not really sure how I feel about it. What do you think?"

The beta had to mull it over for a few minutes before she replied.

"One thing I know is that Paine would be an asset to Romulus. As an alpha, he'd be the mightiest of the whole pack. He might be stronger than any of us already. And you were always a helpful omega. If you two made the decision Romulus would welcome you both with open arms."

Tim nodded. "That's what I thought you might say. But if we were to go through with it, we need to find an alpha willing to transform him."

Since marrying Samuel and taking on more responsibility, Kayleigh had learned a lot more about their species' customs, including transforming humans. Due to Paine's nature, if he were to be changed by an alpha, odds were high that he'd become one himself.

"I'm sure Samuel would be happy to do it. Morgan too, probably. I'll ask them."

The thought of Tim and Paine joining Romulus made her remember something.

"You briefed Paine on all the emergency procedures, right?"

The omega nodded. Things can happen fast in the world of lycanthropes, and because of that it was mandatory that everyone in the pack, even those visiting, knew what was to be done in case of a crisis.

"Has Shiloh been briefed, too?" He had told Tim he got to the pack around the time he and Paine had.

Kayleigh looked over at her brother, now suspicious.

"How do you know about him?"

The omega had a moment of panic when he recalled he already promised Shiloh not to tell anyone he'd seen him out and about the day before. He tried to think of something to say to her.

"I was walking by the medical tent yesterday and saw Shiloh inside. The two of us introduced ourselves to each other."

Kayleigh knew Tim was a terrible liar. But she also knew him well enough to be sure he wouldn't lie to anyone, least of all his own sister, without a good reason. Because of that she decided to let whatever was really going on slide and not press things further.

"Well, Shiloh hasn't been briefed. Samuel and I haven't even pinned down what we'll do about him in general. But, considering how close he apparently is with you," she said pointedly, "I'm sure you wouldn't mind filling him in."

"Sure, I'd be happy to do that." Tim wanted to move on from this topic as quickly as possible.

"Good. I'll tell Ike you'll come over after lunch."

The rest of Kayleigh's rounds were business as usual. When it was done, the brother and sister hugged before going back to what they had planned for the day.

*****

Ike took a deep breath and did what he could to compose himself before he entered the medical tent with Shiloh's lunch. To his slight dismay, the omega was awake.

"Hi, sir."

"Hey. How have you been feeling?"

"Really great, actually."

The medic looked at his patient's wounds and found nothing but good things. The cuts on his side were nearly gone and all but one of his fingers had mended themselves.

"Wow, you're healing even faster than I thought."

After removing a few bandages and splints he looked at Shiloh again. At the moment he wasn't wearing anything but his loincloth. It was distracting, to say the least.

"I think it's time I got you some real clothes. I'll see if the omegas can spare some."

For the first time, Shiloh seemed to get a little nervous.

"Um, to be honest...I kind of like this deerskin you gave me." He picked it up from the foot of his bed and held it in his arms. He wouldn't look the beta in the eye.

"It...smells like you."

Those words and the way Shiloh said them were almost enough to make Ike orgasm on the spot. He had to leave before he lost control completely.

"Well, uh, I guess I won't have to, then. Anyway, another omega in the pack will be here in a few minutes to tell you the things you'll need to know while you're in Romulus. I have to go now, I'll see you later." He wanted to say that normally but nonetheless knew he was speaking quickly and sounded a little frantic. Ike had turned around and was about to leave when he heard Shiloh's voice behind him.