Boundaries

Chapter 9

"What are you doing?" Orion asks, watching his Beta with a perplexed expression.

Kieran is stood in front of the large mirror that hangs in the sparse Ironhill pack house. He's wearing a shirt with a collar and has combed his hair, which Orion finds odd in itself, but he is also wriggling about like he's having a seizure.

"Practicing." Kieran says, his hands never faltering as he continues to wave in front of the mirror.

"Practicing what?" Orion asks, baffled.

It looks to him like some sort of strange, ritualistic dance.

"Sign language." Kieran says, giving up as he finally turns to face his best friend.

Orion's expression scrunches for a moment.

"Why?"

"Because Bluewood's Beta is deaf." Kieran says shortly. Orion feels himself shrugging.

"So? He can read lips, right?" Orion says, although he suddenly can't quite meet Kieran's gaze. His own words taste sour in his mouth.

"He deserves the same chance to communicate as everyone else, doesn't he? He didn't ask for this, to be born this way. It's selfish to expect him to adapt just so that he can do something as basic as communicate. Step up." Kieran says bluntly.

Orion raises an eyebrow, his temper bristling at the tone of his Beta. Alpha's shouldn't be spoken to like that. His father would have...

Orion takes a deep breath, attempting to settle himself. Kieran is his best friend first and foremost, his Beta second. And more importantly, Orion is not his father. He can't be. He couldn't live with himself if his reflection were to show the man that came before him.

"Watch it." He mutters.

Kieran rolls his eyes, turning away.

Orion sighs heavily. He wishes that his Beta wasn't right.

"Teach me?" He asks, an attempt to appease his second in command.

Kieran glances over his shoulder, finding his Alpha looking genuinely apologetic, and smiles.

"Sure. It'll be good to have someone to practice with." Kieran says, his mood completely changed.

A knock interrupts them and Kieran's expression lights up impossibly, his feet carrying him towards the door immediately. Orion finds himself doing the same thing, his eyes narrowing somewhat at his Beta's eagerness.

His own interest in whoever is at the door is renewed when he smells the silky, enticing scent of his soulmate, Orion's heart now thrumming in his chest.

Kieran has already opened the door, signing hello as he says it.

Orion's eyes find Dylan's immediately, and automatically the heavy weight that had been sitting on his shoulders lifts. He feels refreshed, revived. Dylan appears stiff and stressed, his under eyes dark and shadowy.

Orion bites his lip, knowing the pain of the withdrawal from your mate only too well. The stiffness, the inability to sleep, the constant, dragging ache that seems to hold you down until you feel unable to breathe. He winces at the physical evidence of Dylan experiencing all this too.

Their Betas are already signing, and Orion's chest swells a little with pride when he sees Sam's bright smile at Kieran's efforts. He makes a mental note to try a little harder to accommodate the Bluewood Beta in the future.

Kieran leads them into the kitchen, a pep in his step as his smile never lessens.

Orion watches as Kieran signs something. Sam scoffs almost immediately, but his cheeks are pink and warm. Kieran continues, a wry smile on his face when Sam smacks his hand, a loud thwack resonating through the room. Kieran laughs openly at this, pinching Sam's cheek. The Ironhill Beta looks so carefree, his expression youthful and relaxed for the first time in years.