James' POV
As I walk through the halls of the Warrior Academy, I can't help but look at my watch for the hundredth time since I stepped into the building twenty minutes ago. Today, just like every day for the past week, has been filled with loads of paperwork, decision making and meetings.
Alex is walking with me towards the next person I need to talk to, asking the last few questions he can squeeze in.
"You want the Winter Moon leaders in the front row in the left with friends and our very apparent lack of family on the right for the first three rows. After the the pack can fill in, right?" He confirms and I nod allowing him to move on. "Separate moments or a shared one?"
"Shared. Let Amelia Autumn help you do it. It'll show a unified front between us and the Elder Council. They need that reassurance." I'm able to answer after thinking for a moment. Alex nods writing some notes down before rapid firing more detail questions about the ceremony until the clock strikes five o'clock and Head Warrior Jeffery's last class of the day is over. I arrive in his hallway as the doors open and kids spill out, Alex taking it as his cue to take the information I gave him where needed as I transition into another task.
'I can't wait until things slow down enough to the point that we are two steps away from running around like a headless chicken.' Sloan mutters in mild annoyance.
I know after everything that's happened these past few weeks compounded into all we've gone through our entire lives has left not only him, but I as well waiting for the chance to truly be in a space of peace and happiness. We deserve to enjoy it more than we are, and we will. After these next few days, it'll be smooth sailing from here.
The promise keeps my spirits high as Jeffery leaves the classroom, coming over once we sees me waiting across the hall.
"Good afternoon, Alpha. You ready to head to the beach?" He asks me, clearly already prepared to head out, and I nod, always gateful when someone puts in the effort to be prepared, though it doesn't stop me from ticking down the seconds of the day wishing for once they would go by just a little bit faster.
"Yeah, let's go." I tell him and the two of us make our way out of the school and through the village, making our way south towards White Fang Beach.
We walk, discussing the patrols and rotations of the new units we have posted throughout the pack, including the beach. Lately being a Warrior has been about having a badge of honor to show that you're capable of taking care of your family and defending the pack of you need to. But slowly we're starting to get back to our roots, a sense of duty causing more and more young wolves to join the Academy, students taking things more seriously and getting better grades then they have in decades.
I find myself not scared or anxious of what's to come, merely expectant.
Curious.
Intrigued.
"You know almost ten Omegas have enrolled in the Academy in the last month alone? Between Luna Cody and Charlotte, they're inspiring a lot of kids and people out there. They're showing them that you can be strong and protect your pack and your people even if you're not the strongest. Even if you aren't the toughest. As long as you have grit and the will to push past your limits, we can push through anything." Jeffery muses out loud.
I can't help the joy and excitement that fills me from hearing the news, a part of me wanting to run to Cody straight away and tell him that he's done for others what no one was brave enough to do for him.
"That's amazing. Not only is it empowering for Omegas, but it only gives us a key advantage. Charlotte's camouflage is perfect for recon and spy work. And Cody's mana vision is great for defense, traps and getting a sense of someone. Imagine having a whole unit of Omegas or just two on every team. It would help balance out the playing field." I admit and Jeffery nods.
There's this uplifting almost hopeful feeling in the air that I hope lasts forever.
We finally break through the tree line and are met with a massive beach, pale beige sand, so light it almost appears white to the eyes spread as far as the eye can see, a large expanding ocean taking up half of the horizon even with another two miles before we hit the water.
We don't need to go all the way to the beach though, instead we find one of many sand dunes raised to almost mid height of the sky scraping tees. On top of that about eight of them evenly spread along the beaches are look out towers that have a flare, mama enhanced binoculars and walkie-talkies. They finally finished getting built a few days ago and this is my second time here to get another report. This time instead of asking the Warrior to come down, I decide to go up, wanting to view the distant Ameden coast with better eyes. From here, all it is is a sandy barren hellscape.
I make my way up the latter and find Johnathan with the binoculars to his eyes starting out over the breathing ocean.
It takes a second for me to remember that I asked Alex and my Commanders to oversee a project or issue to help out, Charlotte's hands full already as she welcomes two of the Omega recruits to her spy unit.
I guess this is what Johnathan chose though it doesn't surprise or upset me.
"Hey, boss." Johnathan greets me without so much as turning an inch, and I shake my head to myself, the wolf a pain in the ass but one of the best most loyal Warriors we have. He removes the binoculars away from his eyes before giving them to me, pointing out over the water as I try to follow his gaze with the bulky tool. "You see there? right there along their Northern border there's a Military Academy, right next to those mines. You see that fence? That's it."
I follow his directions with my eyes and find where he means. I can see a gate that sections off an entire part of the.... dessert?.... beach? the whatever you call it coast, a distant large grey building a little further back.
"Yeah I see it." I tell him, almost seeing the huge mineshaft forged into one of the few natural mining hills. There's all types of metals and stones that have been enhanced and changed due to the natural mana in the earth, and the Daemons are the ones that harvest the minerals and metals and send them to Vilin to be treated, casted, and shaped into weapons, medicines, tools and other things that can go for thousands of dollars.
"Well a few days ago there was barely any movement there. Maybe five people milling around, never seeing more than three in a group. But just today, I've see at least ten people gathered on that beach at once. Like they were discussing something. Planning or making a deal about something. I've been keeping an eye on it but since then it's been quiet. I don't know Alpha, my instincts are telling me to keep an eye on it." Johnathan admits and I agree with him.
"Okay, do that and keep me posted. If they start to increase their Academy classes and intake we could only assume it's for the same reason."
"To go to war." Is all he says as I hand him back his binoculars.
"Keep me posted but don't draw attention to yourselves. If we fuck this up, they could put up a magic barrier that would stop us from being able to see what they were doing. They could be getting a whole armada ready to come here and we would never know. I'd be careful." I warn him and he nods, for once not treating everything like it's some joke.
I climb down from my perch and take my time going up and down the line of contact, making sure they blend in with their surroundings and that they're far enough apart that even if someone did attack at least one of them would have time to sound off a warning.
After an hour of checking the time, it finally reaches five thirty and I take my leave from the beach, saying goodbye to the Head Warrior who decides to stick around. Knowing Cody is training with Charlotte, I find myself smiling with excitement over the idea of showing Cody what I've been working on. I quickly make my way towards Zee's house after stopping by the packhouse to quickly change and shower.
Twenty minutes later I'm standing outside with our blanket in hand as Zee comes out, her laptop and the folder of all the plans in her bag.
We talk excitedly back and forth as she leads me towards the lot I chose for the surprise. After running me through it all and letting me look at what's already been done, I'm relieved to find out that all my hard work and late nights and chipping away extra minutes when I could was worth it in the end.
I take the plans back from Zee after she explains that copies have been made, my advisor and closest friend going back to her own home as I mind link to Cody that I would love for him to meet me in our clearing.
With the folder in hand, I make my way across the small distance, the reality of it all sinking in by the time Cody appears from the Academy, bright eyes and wind blown hair. His smile is light and curious as he steps towards me, putting his arms around my neck as I slide my own around his waist. "Hey, baby." I great him with a nervous smile.
"Hey yourself. What's up?" He asks curiously, and I don't say anything, my nerves eating away at my confidence, so instead, I just lead him through the trees heading more south than east, and after a quick three minute stroll through the woods, we come across the shell of our own custom home being built. The frame is in place, and the interior walls are slowly going up, the rooms coming to life before my eyes.
I lay out the blanket in what will soon be the front yard beckoning Cody to join me.
He does, curling into my side sweetly as I pull the folder Zee gave back to me into my lap, taking a deep breath as I finally share this secret project with Cody, hoping my vulnerability pays off.
"The home that I grew up in was made for my parents, and while some wolves take their family homes once they're Mated, I have no good memories of that place that make me want to build my own relationship and family there. And I know yours was taken from you way too soon. While crashing at the Pack House can feel like a fun sleep over sometimes, I want more than that. Not only that but that building now holds so many mixed emotions and events that I don't want to link with our home. I want to be able to wake up next to you and walk around in our underwear or stark naked before making each other breakfast and making a big mess that we don't have to clean until after we've cleaned our plates and gotten our fill of each other. I want a place that we can go and escape to for peace and tranquillity that is away from everyone else. A place just for us. A place where maybe soon the two of us can start trying to make a family our own?" The last line comes out like a question, but I'm nervous pouring my heart out to the person I love, but thankfully Cody just grabs my face in his hands tenderly, tracing forward to place a soft kiss on my lips.
"I would love to move into a home with you." He tells me and I excitedly show him the plans, still keeping a few surprises to myself as I explain what some of the rooms will be.
His eyes are lit up and my heart is full as we sit there with the sun setting to the west hitting our home perfectly so that it's filled with light no matter what time of day it is. I think about it being done, is finally Alpha and Luna, one day soon finding out we're pregnant. I know we've only been together offically for a few weeks and I want to have some time with just him for a while. But every time I watch him at the Nursery and Home, the way he holds those babies and the way he just comes alive when they talk to him and he gets to help them out. He loves it. And it loves him. Being around children raising him. And it's making me realize more and more that no only do I want that with him but I want the chance to prove how a childhood should be had.
Selfish? Maybe.
Getting worried when he doesn't say anything about the idea, I think of bringing it up again but before I can, Cody finally says, "A family is the only thing I've wanted for the past six years. But since I'm half human, I'm not sure if I'll actually be able to carry." He admits with a thick voice and watery eyes that break my heart.
I lift up his shamed hanging head giving him a reassuring smile. "We don't know that for sure. We'll try whenever you're ready. And if we can't, we can always adopt. As long as I get to have a family with you, that's all that matters." He tells me and his crying turns into full blown sobs as he throws himself at me, hugging my neck tightly.
"Yes, oh gods, yes. I love you. I want to start on our life together, especially the family part." He admits quietly and so vaguely remember him admitting during one and him and Sloan's games that he's dreamed of being a father and finally recreating his own little family since he was around fifteen.
I'm not surprised that we're both getting smacked with baby fever after just Mating, but it's nice to know that the desire comes from deeper than that.
We sit there for a few hours, dreaming up the possibilities of our futures and where our road will lead up. While I'm not sure entirely of the destination, what I can say is that even if I don't get there, starting down this journey is enough to ride my love over for a thousand moons and more.
I will protect our future and our family, no matter what, for whatever reason.
This is my vow to myself. To Cody and to any children we may have.
I will keep you safe and loved.
No matter what.
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my adhd which i have named Stan is being extremely unhelpful so I had to cut myself off at three chapters today which meaaans tomorrow I am going to try to cram in five chapters and an epilogue!!!! Are you guys ready for the end?!
Thoughts?
Comments?
QOTD: Whats your most controversial fanfic ship?