THIRD PERSON POV
The world was quiet. The wind docile in its sweep of the land, the trees still and unswaying, and the birds silent in their songs, as if all of nature were bowing their heads to the sight before them.
And what a sight it was.
Jaxon crouched at a gravestone, one hidden at the very back of the Pack Cemetery. Its marble form was overcome with moss and other signs of time, the name etched into its face obscured by years of neglect, but Jax preferred it that way. It was better that he was forgotten.
Behind Jax a large figure loomed closeby, but consciously put in an effort to leave just enough space for his mate to not feel coddled. Corey's expression was steely - as it always was - but his tightly crossed arms clearly indicated his emotions to anyone who knew him well enough to extrapolate.
The Alpha was holding himself back, gritting his sharp jaw as he fought against the overwhelmingly irrational urge to dig up Jax's abuser and inject life back into him, just to pull him back apart, limb-by-limb.
"What up, asshole." Jax finally spoke after a long moment of silence. The Beta's voice was strong, and decisive, a stark contrast to the person that he was only a few months ago.
Because now, there was nothing to be afraid of.
Witnessing the return of his mate's signature, sarcastic snark was like a breath of the freshest air to Corey. He adored his mate's wild and unruly personality, how it fit like an unlikely puzzle piece to his own, much more subdued one.
"I brought you a flower," Jax continued, twirling the stem of a lone daisy between his thumb and forefinger, "... Because I know you hate em'."
The left corner of Corey's lip twitched upward the slightest bit at his mate's words, suppressing a proud chuckle at his mate's somewhat charming attempt at spite. Jax's eyes shifted upward for a moment, chewing gently on his bottom lip as he thought of just how he should proceed. It took a few moments of contemplation to be sure, but the quiet company of his mate provided the last little bit of confidence he needed to push forward.
"... I've got a mate now. His name is Corey, and he's an Alpha, and he treats me like... like I matter," Jax took a deep breath, slightly crushing the delicate stem of the daisy between his fingers as he stared at its twirling petals.
"... You know, I've learned more in these years since you've been gone than any of your lessons could have ever taught me in an entire lifetime. Family... it isn't who you're born to. It's not even who you're willing to die for. No, family... family is who you are willing to live for." Jax dropped his arm, peering over his shoulder to beckon his mate closer.
Corey wasted no time in stepping over, crouching down behind Jax and wrapping his arms around the shoulders of the smaller man. His mate leaned into the comforting touch, unable to resist the compulsion to nuzzle the top of his head against the bottom of his chin.
"...And here... with Corey... I want to live." Jax finished with a smile, tilting his head to catch a glimpse of his Alpha, who was already staring back down at his beloved gift.
In his mate's neverending, liquid brown eyes, he saw everything.
Tyrus; with his goofy smile and stupid questions.
Berlin, with his short shorts and dual baby carriers.
Osias; with his signature scowl and mischievous manner.
Danny; with his black neck pillow and never ending libido.
Rayson; with his quiet air, fierce dedication, and equally never ending libido.
... And even... dare he say...
Daffodil; with his mutant features and penchant for sounding like a mad-lib gone wrong.
And more, and more, and more. Jax saw it all.
"...I did it." Jax sniffled, a content smile pulling his cheeks into round, flushed apples at their apex, "I found love, and.. and a family. And it's real, this time."
The Beta spoke more to himself than anything, as if trying to convince his disbelieving mind of the reality of his words. Meanwhile Corey scented his ever so resilient mate, pressing his cheek to his shampoo-smelling curls with a reposeful regard as he sensed his need for reassurance.
The Alpha wished that he could somehow absolve Jax of all doubt, even if it meant transferring all of them onto his own shoulders. Even if it meant burning the world down.
Alas, he knew that he could not, so he opted for the next best thing - his words.
"You are loved, gift. So, very loved. Not just by me, but by many." Corey whispered directly into his mate's ear, words meant only for him, "...And I'm sorry. I'm sorry that someone that you loved made you think that it is hard to love you."
Jax didn't know how to respond - how to express his profound gratitude for his mate who always knew exactly what to say to make him feel better. So, instead, he settled for a kiss.
Their lips brushed, then pressed, and then they were lost in each other. Jax's warm breaths mingling with that of his own were nothing short of a symphony to Corey. The addictive sensation made the Alpha wish for wholly irrational things, like the ability to breathe his mate in and keep him stored in the pits of his lungs for all of eternity.
Similarly, Jax wondered if the force of the nonexistent wind was somehow relocated into his veins, blood pumping at a rate that should not have been possible as he twisted his tongue against Corey's. The Omega in him reared, submitting without so much as a second thought when Corey's tongue searched, in a conquest for dominance of the cavern that their lips created between them.
When they finally separated, Corey's gut stirred with a swarm of butterflies at the sight of his mate, the smaller man nothing but melted putty in his thick arms as he grinned up at him. Jax's freckled cheeks were flushed, lips swollen and glistening, and his shiny, black curls had somehow become a mess on top of his head as they stuck out in different directions.
Corey decided at once that there could never be a cuter sight in the entire universe as he leaned back down to bestow a soft, butterfly kiss to his mate's nose.
"I'm ready to head back now, I think." Jax mumbled, a shaky smile pulling at his lips as he glanced up at his mate through his lashes. Corey's brow furrowed so minutely that most would miss it.
"Do you wish to visit your mother as well?" The Alpha inquired, straightening his long legs and taking his mate with him in his ascent. Jax shook his head, breathing out with a force that made a rogue curl jump up and land back onto his forehead.
"My mom..." Jax trailed off, smiling at the ground as if remembering, "no matter how much she disagreed with that abuser's actions, she passed shortly afterward. They were fated mates." The Beta's eyes shimmered as he continued, "She always loved the ocean, so I had her cremated and laid to rest among the waves. I don't need to visit her, she is part of nature now. She is everywhere."
Corey nodded resolutely, slightly taken aback by his mate's poetic choice of words as the couple began walking back toward the Pack House.
Their gait was leisurely, the grass tall against their shins, and they bumped together as they walked. The teasing, intermittent pressure quickly became much too much for Corey to resist, and the Alpha soon found himself moving involuntarily, slipping his hand down the length of Jax's arm until he reached his slender fingers and tangling them together in a tight knot that was not soon to be undone.
'Dashiell, would you like a moment with our mate?' Corey questioned, quickly recognizing that the sudden action was initiated by his increasingly restless inner Alpha.
'Yes. God/dess, yes.' Was Dash's response, the wolf replying less than a millisecond later after comprehending Corey's question.
Over the past few months, the Alpha had undoubtedly developed cabin fever, cooped up and viewing the world from the back of Corey's skull. Typically, his relationship with his human counterpart was significantly more fifty-fifty, but he knew that this temporary shift in dominance was necessary to make their mate more comfortable throughout his healing process.
So, no matter how much the Alpha itched to be with his own wolf counterpart, he knew that he would have to be patient.
Therefore, times like these - when he could be completely uninhibited and free of the constraints of his human's brain - were most precious.
Meanwhile, Jax was having an extremely similar conversation with his own wolf.
"Hey, I was wond-"
The couple laughed, sentences cut short as they acknowledged both their overlapping attempts to speak and the fact that they also somehow chose the exact same words to use. The mixup made Jax and Corey's hearts flutter a little more than was probably healthy.
"You just wanna be me so bad, huh?" Jax joked, bumping his shoulder against Corey's firm arm. Corey gazed down at his mate with a tender kind of fondness in his overwhelmingly sterile expression, although his brain was thinking something else entirely as his eyes slid down and back up his mate's slim form.
'I want to be inside you so bad' the Alpha thought, his lower stomach tingling at the enticing sight, but he forced his horny thoughts away in favor of something more... gentlemanly. Now wasn't the time for him to be thinking with his dick.
"You go first, gift."
Jax grinned back up at his mate as they quickly approached the back porch of the Pack House, resisting the urge to bite his lip.
"It's Luka. He wants out. Like, now." He finally explained, and Corey swelled with delight as he realized how they were much more in sync than he ever could have imagined.
"Tell Luka that he has impeccable timing," the Alpha began as he stepped up onto the first stair leading to the gigantic porch which was adorned with a fire pit, various chairs, and a large swing, "...because I am convinced that Dashiell is going to give me the forever silent treatment if I do not do the same."
'Dashiell wants to see me too!' Luka practically squealed, jumping around in the back of Jax's cerebellum.
Jax typically would have rolled his eyes at his wolf, scolding him for being so needy. However, since learning of his true second gender, Jax decided that his wolf deserved a little more credit from now on. It was already difficult to fight all of his own newly identified Omegan urges when they arose at inopportune times, so he couldn't imagine how much harder it was for his inner wolf, who was significantly more driven by instinct than his human counterpart.
'Of course he does, Lu. Just judging by that one interaction you both had that one time, that Alpha is a nothing less than an absolute fucking simp for you.' Jax encouraged. If Dashiell was anything like Corey, he was sure he would have a hell of a time wrestling back control from Luka later, but that was a problem for when that time came.
In the meantime, they would just enjoy this.
The transition was completely unspoken yet also fully acknowledged as the couple turned toward one another, gazes becoming unfocused for a fraction of a second before their irises turned to pools of liquid metal and clasped hands tightened to a point that would typically be considered painful.
But this could never be painful. In fact, it was the complete opposite.
... Because right now, Luka and Dashiell felt as if they were experiencing nothing other than the pinnacle of absolute bliss.
A comfortable silence hung between them as they stood, neither one able to rip their gazes apart from the other for almost five minutes straight.
Seeing through Corey's eyes was one thing, but being in the driver's seat was another experience entirely. Dashiell always knew that his mate was gorgeous, that nothing in the world could possibly compare to the way his heart pumped out more blood at the sight of the crinkle of Luka's nose or the way a freckle landed so perfectly underneath the curve of his eye. But seeing him like this for the first time in weeks - maybe even months - quite literally punched the air from his very lungs.
While the Alpha struggled to regain control of his breathing, Luka was struggling to gain control of his own bodily reactions. His thighs clenched together as he willed his body to stop producing slick, the slipperiness between his legs saying everything that there was to say about his attraction to his Alpha.
Their adoration for one another was a cosmic balance, and at that moment they were completely and utterly aligned amongst the stars.
"Alpha." Luka finally breathed, itching to reach up on his toes to rub his face against the larger wolf's neck in order to be doused in his scent.
The word finally snapped Dashiell out of his waking coma, the wolf blinking his all-seeing eyes as he consciously slowed down his breathing in an attempt to placate the burn beneath his ribs.
"My Beta. My Omega," Dashiell cooed back, reaching out with his free hand to hook his hand around his mate's waist, "Come with me."
Luka instantly nodded, happy to follow his mate wherever it was he wanted to go. He didn't even look down to make sure that there were no obstructions in his way as he moved with Dashiell, eyes still fixated on one place. He knew that his Dash would never, ever let him fall.
Dashiell sat when the back of his shins made contact with the giant bed-swing that hung on the back porch, hands coming up to grab at his mate's waist to coax him down into his lap. Luka was putty as he lowered himself down to straddle his Alpha's thick, firm thighs, wrapping his arms around his neck for stabilization and letting out a breathy sigh as he settled down.
This position was not helping his slick situation in the slightest, but there was no way in hell he was going to pull away from his mate's hold. Even if he was informed that he was going to somehow start a second Great Flood with the way he was slicking up, it would take a hydraulic press and a lot of luck to even make him consider the notion.
Dashiell squeezed Luka's waist as he leaned back against the back pillows on the swing, one foot pushing against the ground to put them into motion. The sun would set soon, and the dreamsicle colors lighting up the sky were almost a worthy backdrop to the beauty that he held in his lap so tenderly.
"You have been hurting..." Dashiell began, the need to apologize for his prolonged absence overcoming him, "...and that is unacceptable. I apologize, my love. I won't ever leave you for that long ever again." He promised, a hand coming up to cup the back of Luka's neck and pull their faces closer together.
Luka smiled, fisting his hands in the soft fabric of his Alpha's black t-shirt.
"There is nothing to apologize for," Luka reassured him, shaking his head as he touched their foreheads together, "Jax just needed time. Thank you for giving it to us."
Dashiell sighed, arms wrapping completely around Luka's waist enough to grab his own elbows on either side as he pressed the smaller man into his chest. He had waited so long, and he couldn't - wouldn't - wait any longer.
"Please let me kiss you." he whispered, voice breaking at the end as his eyes trained on the two soft, pink mounds that were his Luka's lips, "I'll do anything."
The Alpha was prepared to get on his knees and beg, to sell his soul to the devil, to drive off a cliff if it meant that he could sate his craving - his voracious hunger - for the pressure of his mate's lips against his own.
But thankfully he had to do none of these things, as Luka was on him in less than half a blink.
Their lips fit together as they were made to, the consummation of their emotions toward one another flickering like a forest fire through their bond, and Luka and Dashiell were alight. Their bodies were close, but never close enough; the irrational desire to find a way to climb into each other's skin flickering through both of their minds as they lost themselves in joy bordering on mania.
And so they were, left adrift in one another as the sun melted behind the horizon, and crickets sang, and fireflies came out to sign their approval. And along with the sun, the blanket of the night also whisked away all doubts of what Dashiell and Corey had to do.
The time for their new horizon was quickly approaching, and the Alphas could sense it in the very twists and turns of their DNA.
Soon, but not yet.
Soon, but not yet.
_
Boy do I love me some Luka and Dash 🥹
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