Awakening
SMichael huffed as he stared into the mirror, scrunching his face in discontent. There had always been something off, something displeasing about his face. Every young unmated female claimed he was desirable, but when he looked in the mirror he never quite liked what he saw.
He groaned, splashing some water from the sink into his auburn, shoulder length loose curls and tugging them back into a low ponytail. His long hair was a sense of comfort despite his father's insistence that it was impractical during sparring. He had begun growing it out over the summer, that odd, small voice in his chest quieted for once.
Turning away from the mirror he sauntered out of the bathroom and quietly shut the door behind him. His mother, Luna of Lunar Creek, was leaning in the doorframe of his bedroom.
"Are you ready for tonight?" She asked with a soft smile as he rifled through drawers, pulling out a pair of jeans and a plaid button down, and shrugging into a black tank top.
"Sort of. A little nervous." He answered over his shoulder as he continued dressing.
His mother made a sympathetic noise. "I remember my first time. I had studied, done the stretches. Did everything to prepare. It still was not something I could ever have been ready for. But it gets easier. And meeting my Wolf... and then later, your father..." She smiled, lost in fond memories.
Michael gave her a hug and headed down the stairs. There was a ball of emotion in his stomach. Excitement, anticipation, and something else. An unnamed emotion. An urge. That same small voice.
This is wrong.
He gritted his teeth at the voice. Nothing's wrong. Once the ceremony is over everything is fine. Nothing was wrong. He was exactly where, and what he needed to be. He was at the top of his training circle. His parents were fantastic leaders of the pack and adored him. He was destined to be Alpha some day.
So why did he feel so fucking inferior?
He was jarred from his inner turmoil by the sound of laughter and scuffling outside. Shaking off the sense of unease he jogged out the front door, deciding to leave his anxiety for tonight under the full moon. Kyla, a tall lean dark skinned woman, with hair tossed into neatly woven braids and soft brown eyes, was sparring with Roegan, a newer trainee who showed decent skill despite his omega status. Michael emerged from the Alpha House just in time to see Kyla flip Roegan onto his back and toss him into the dirt, both of them laughing.
"My future Beta still kicking ass, I see." Michael chuckled as he moved towards them.
"You bet your tail I am, pup." She grinned, wrapping him in a hug. She was older than him by about a year, and had already gotten used to the change. She didn't waste a single opportunity to hold their ages over him.
When she pulled back from the hug, there was a glint in her eye, something different.
"Not a pup anymore," he joked back. "Tonight's my ceremony." Her touch was magnetic. A sweet, musky scent on the wind drew the hairs on the back of his neck, goosebumps over the places where her skin touched his.
Mine. The small voice purred. Michael blinked. There was an itch under his skin, one he couldn't name, couldn't reach, couldn't...
"Don't I know it." Her voice made him jump, and despite the forced smile on her face he knew she had felt it too. "I've been able to smell your wolf awakening for days." She pretended to wave away a foul odor.
"Is that normal? For us to be able to smell each other?" He asked, grateful for the change in conversation.
She shrugged. "We're close, always have been. Plus you sort of unofficially named me as your Beta. Maybe there's some sort of Bond?"
He didn't believe her. But the truth of what it could be, what they both felt, was too much to think about. He had a girlfriend. He was sure when they both shifted they would mate. Kyra was an incredible Beta, and he trusted her with everything in him, but she wasn't his Luna. She couldn't be.
