4. Chapter 4
four
The sun was setting and the moon was lightly visible in the sky. A circle of candles extended by tall holders lined the back yard. A thick white blanket was laid out on the grass. He stood to the side of the porch beside Lily as they waited for others to gather.
“You know, the initiation ritual and the claiming ritual aren’t that different,” she said casually.
Cyrus cringed. “Don’t say that,” he mumbled, “it’s different.
The bonding ritual has a red blanket, six candles, not twelve, and…
there’s nothing sexual in the initiation.
” His voice was insistent. There were several other differences, but there were similarities as well. He neglected mentioning those.
His eyes met Gabe who had stepped into the middle of the circle.
They were both shirtless, without shoes, and wearing only jeans.
He hesitated for a second, then walked over and stepped into the circle as well.
Various herbs and trinkets that belonged to the pack were laid out as well.
While it wasn’t necessary, some felt it strengthened the bond.
“Are you two ready?” Tati asked. She stood across from them.
Others had gathered along the outside of the circle in the dimness as the sun sunk further down.
He looked to her and her familiar tan face.
Her brown eyes were just the same as her sister Cassandra who had done the ritual before she had taken over.
Cyrus took a deep breath and nodded.
“As I can be,” Gabe replied.
He stepped toward him and Gabe followed his lead.
“And so we begin,” Tati said. The yard grew quiet but for the crackling of tiny flames and rustling of tree branches.
“Both of you lower to your knees,” she told them.
Gabe moved first, and Cyrus followed. He kneeled on his knees with about a foot of space between them. Tati brought to them a bowl of ashes and a small knife.
“Gabe you will make a small cut along Cyrus’s dominant palm, Cyrus you will do the same for Gabe.”
Cyrus put his left hand out, and made not a move or sound as Gabe cut into his palm.
Gabe however looked wary as he reached his own right hand to him. He slowly cut into his thinner hand, and felt as he flinched, heard as his breath caught in his throat.
“Let your blood drip into the bowl over Liam’s ashes.” Tati held the bowl between them.
He put his hand out near Gabe’s and let the blood drip slowly down. As his hand healed it dripped less and less, until it was scabbed over and no longer bleeding.
Tati mixed the blood and ashes before holding the bowl to them again.
“Take some of the mixture with both hands and place it on the others chest and shoulders,” she told them. “Gabe first.”
Gabe dipped his hands into the bowl and reached the short distance between them.
He felt his shoulders tense as Gabe ran his fingers along them, and down, smearing the blood on his pecs.
Cyrus’s pulse was quick, heart strong within his chest. He’d done the ritual several times before so what was being rubbed on him wasn’t what was causing his tension.
Rather it was the hands that caressed the mixture onto his naked skin.
He swallowed hard and was grateful when Gabe was finished, but knew it only meant it was his turn to touch him.
He dipped his hands into the bowl and reached for Gabe, looking directly into his eyes despite every inch of his body telling him to stop or dare to burst into flame.
He touched the smooth skin of his neck and shoulders.
Gabe was much slender than him, but Cyrus could feel the muscles underneath his skin as he smeared the blood and ashes.
Gabe’s eyes were dark but wide at the same time.
An equal measure of perhaps fluster and distaste crossed his pale features.
Cyrus hung his hands at his sides when he was done and kept his eyes on him.
He could feel the tug of energy between them.
It was oh so familiar each time a new Alpha was initiated but he was never fully prepared until it was happening.
“Move closer,” Tati insisted. “Feel the bond growing and trust each other.”
He clenched his jaw. Trust. He knew he would have to trust him at some point, but he couldn’t now.
Not fully. Still, he moved closer to Gabe until their chests were almost touching.
The tension and silence around them was deafening and he could almost hear Gabe’s heart beating strong in his chest. Feel it against his own skin that nearly touched him.
There was something so familiar in Gabe’s scent. It drew him even closer. He tilted his head and brushed the side of his face against Gabe’s. His own pulse was heavy. The wolf inside begged for him to let go. To submit to the Alpha. He hated and loved it all the same.
Cyrus felt him nuzzle his face against him, and he closed his eyes.
His jeans grew tighter, and he ignored the blood rushing below his waist. He couldn’t fight the intense emotions that came with the ritual.
He was bound to Gabe, as were the others, but he would always be the closest to him. Whether or not he wanted to be.
“It is done,” Tati spoke, breaking the thick silence.
Cyrus backed up slowly. His fangs were extended and he could see his glowing orange eyes reflected in Gabe’s. The group began to howl, and he joined them. Their howls ringing into the night and met by others in the distance.
He tilted his head down and his gaze fell on Gabe once more.
He felt closer to him. It made his stomach tight and his skin itchy.
He wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.
He stood to his feet with his head fuzzy and body hot.
He tried to push through and get back to his more rational self.
It was difficult as the bond was in one of its purest forms. He tore his gaze from Gabe despite the ache it caused him.
He looked at the others around them. Tati was placing the mixture on the foreheads and cheeks of those who desired it. Others were holding each other close. Cyrus watched as Michelle stepped closer to Gabe, but looked away before his eyes were drawn back to him.
“May I touch your shoulder?” she asked him.
“Oh, uh, yes,” Gabe replied.
His uncertain and foggy response helped bring Cyrus back some clarity.
He huffed out a breath. “I need to get to work,” he said quietly as his eyes met Tati’s. She nodded, though her eyes told him she was disappointed to see him go.
He ignored the other eyes on him and made his way through the grouping on the porch.
It was cooler and quiet inside. He needed that. He made a b-line for the shower, hoping it and work could get his mind off the events of that evening. Being a security guard was a fairly boring job for him, but he could use a little less drama.
It was dark as he climbed out of his car and headed inside. Just like all the other guards he was dressed in all black. No tie, just a golden name tag and a taser on his hip. His curls were as neat as they could be, but would probably be even messier by the end of his shift.
He took the elevator up. Standing there alone he had way too much time to think.
Liam had been part of the pack, his family, for so long.
He grew up with him. He hadn’t expected that Liam would be as toxic of an Alpha as he had been.
Liam had been cocky and cruel. He drove wolves out of their district with strict rules as to how to live their lives; dictating how many children they could have, discouraging inter-species marriages between Weres and humans, same sex marriages, and made it difficult for those he did not like to find Were friendly work in the area.
Cyrus shook his head as he thought about it.
He wasn’t sure what Gabe would be like as Alpha, and with how poorly the last had done, he was concerned.
He tried to brush the feeling off but it wasn’t easy.
At one point in his life, he’d been worried he would amount to nothing.
Now he’d been second to three Alpha’s, but was that all he would be?
“If I’m not Alpha, what am I?” Was what Gabe had said. Perhaps he could understand that more than he wanted to admit.
“Evening Cyrus,” Tobias said as Cyrus stepped up to the front desk.
“Evening,” he replied. He signed the sheet to clock in.
“You’re needed outside Mrs. Portia’s room this evening after you do your rounds,” Tobias told him.
He simply nodded and headed on his way. As he said, boring, but easy to keep himself in check when he was guarding other supernatural beings.
The company he worked for was wolf based, but whenever other Weres or friendly people needed places to stay while the state or the best place to shift, they knew the Belmont was the safest place. Especially for the more privileged.
Mrs. Portia was not in their pack, but they had a running treaty with most other districts so long as they didn’t go against their rules.
“Hey Cyrus.” Xavier waved as he got out of the elevator on the 10th floor. “I heard about the new Alpha…and Liam.”
He sighed. “A mess.”
“I wouldn’t know, I was home with Kristen. She’s feeling pretty run down.”
Cyrus eyed him, trying to remember if he’d told him this before. “Hope she gets well soon,” he replied, and then continued walking.
He made his rounds and cleared it with the main room before heading for Mrs. Portia’s room. He knocked firmly on the door. There was a shuffling of feet and a quick, “Coming!” before the door unlocked thrice and came halfway open.
“Mrs. Portia. I’m Cyrus Reed. I’ll be your guard for the night. I’m here if you need anything,” he explained.
“Oh thank you. Why don’t you come in for some tea? I won’t be going to bed for a while,” she insisted.
He shook his head in a polite rejection. “I can’t leave my post ma’am. You enjoy your tea,” he told her.
She sighed before bidding him goodnight and closing the door.
Cyrus had a feeling she may have been flirting with him; it wasn’t uncommon. She appeared perhaps twenty years older than his thirty-five years. Attractive, but he was on the job. Perhaps in his twenties he would have agreed.
He leaned against the wall beside the door with his hands in his pockets. He couldn’t shake the feeling of familiarity to Gabe, protection of him, frustration with his reckless decision to take on Liam. He needed to get his mind on something else. Someone else perhaps. Not Portia, that was certain.
He pulled out his phone and looked through his contacts.
No one was catching his attention; every name became a face in his memory.
Only a handful of people also came along with the memory of them moaning his name between sweat dampened sheets.
The majority of them had most certainly hooked up with others by now. It had been so long…
“Fuck,” Cyrus growled low in his chest as his cock struggled against the confines of his pants. He shifted on his feet and took a slow breath.
“I’ll deal with you later.” He shoved his phone away and focused as much as he could on keeping watch well into the night and early morning.