A/N: Second!
***
Toptap knocked somewhat nervously on Mew's office door. His heart was skipping against his ribs like a stone over a lake. He had never feared Mew before and he couldn't believe that he was now, but he had never asked to be changed into a werewolf before. He knew that there were very few risks on his part, but he also knew that he was signing up to join Mew's war with his parents. He didn't completely understand the war, but he knew that Joss was involved and that meant that he had to be. His relationship with Joss hadn't been expected, but he doubted that anything could be planned with Joss. He was a force of nature and it felt as though he was just being carried along for the ride, though he was quite happy to go with him.
It had only increased when they had been at the coast. Joss and he had been pretty much left to their own devices and it had felt as though they were a happy little family. People had complimented him on his husband and son. It had delighted him, and he had been the point where he had decided that he wanted it to be real. He knew that there were ways of claiming Teh as his sworn child in werewolf eyes and with Joss as his mate he was sure that it would be something wonderful.
"Come in, Toptap." Mew called from the depths of the office and slowly Toptap recovered himself and opened the door and walked inside not surprised to see Gulf sat on the alpha werewolf's desk his lips swollen and glossy as though he had been thoroughly kissed. It wasn't surprising as the pair seemed to be completely inseparable.
"I'm sorry for intruding." He breathed hanging his head, but Mew shook his head quickly smiling as Gulf scrambled down from the desk with twin spots of color in his cheek. Toptap offered the young second a smile before settling back into a stiff position with his hands held down beside his legs.
"If you were, I wouldn't have let you in." Mew hummed reassuringly his eyes kinder than they had ever been before Gulf had come into their lives. The second had been good for their alpha even if he didn't know it yet. "Did you want to speak alone?"
"No. It's fine. I suppose. Gulf is my second, our Luna now right?" Toptap spluttered nervously his own cheeks filling with color as he desperately tried to remember all the things that he had been taught. He had never really attended schools. his mother had been too 'sick' to deal with things and his father had spent so much time beating on him to care about his schooling, but he had tried to learn by himself since arriving here not wanting to be ever put in a position where he wouldn't be able to answer a question that his brother asked.
"He is indeed. You want me to wake up your werewolf blood." Mew asked and wordlessly Toptap nodded not questioning how he knew. Mew had a habit of knowing things that he shouldn't. He always had though He supposed that he had been more than a little obvious lately.
"Yes. If it's possible." He breathed slowly and to his great relief Mew nodded and smiled reassuringly as he sat down at his desk pulling Gulf onto his lap.
"It will be. If your werewolf blood is strong enough. The waking will be painless but if it is successful then I must warn you that. Your transformations would not be. Every single bone in your body would break into a thousand pieces and be reshaped before setting again, you would feel each one of those breaks." Mew told him in a gentle voice and Toptap honestly felt sick at the words, but he still found himself nodding in agreement. "The older you are the more painful it is. Teh. Teh would hardly feel the transformation if we woke him now."
"I can't speak for my brother. I would have to ask him. But for myself. I wish for you to try. Please."
**
Gulf sighed a little as Toptap left the office. He knew that it was coming, it was completely predictable, but he was worried. Toptap seemed so eager so frantic to be a werewolf and he knew that it was because he wanted to be all that he could be for Joss, but he didn't truly know about the dangers. He glanced at Mew who had fallen silent and thoughtful and lightly he pressed a kiss to his alpha's temple and then moved out of the office determined to catch up with Toptap and present his case. He wasn't completely sure if he wanted to talk him out of it or not, but he wanted to tell him the truth that there would be more pain than he could ever imagine.
"Toptap?" Joss' voice reached his ear and Gulf skidded to a stop not wanting to interrupt the pair "Where did you go?"
"I went to see Alpha Mew. To ask him if he could wake my blood." Toptap answered and Joss gave a strange hum, it was sort of happy panicked noise and Gulf supposed that his friend had thought it through more than Toptap had.
"Toptap. I know we talked about it, but I had no idea that you had made up your mind." Joss breathed and Gulf shifted around the wall looking at the pair that had retreated into one of the many side rooms that were attached to the house. Joss was looking more sensible and grown up than Gulf had ever seen him. His hands were on his hips and his eyes were almost closed. His lower plump lip was being lightly chewed on by his white teeth. "There are so many risks involved."
"Alpha Mew said that there aren't any risks. At least not for the waking. I know that it will hurt when I transform. I can imagine that. But I can cope with it." Toptap said with a certainty that Gulf wanted to scoff. The pain was unlike anything that even he could describe though he had to admit that the more he was transforming the less it was hurting him.
"Toptap, I know you're brave." Joss breathed coming to rest his hands on his lover's shoulders his lips twisted into a smile "Probably the bravest person that I know. But the pain. It can be unbearable. Some woken werewolves go mad with the pain. I need you to think about it carefully."
"I have. I've thought it through, and I've decided that it's worth whatever risk there is. I want to be your mate. With Teh as our child. If that's what you want as well.?" Toptap sounded uncertain now and Gulf saw that he appeared to be trembling with nervous and of course Joss was quick to reassure him by gently moving forward and pressing his lips to his in a slow comforting kiss before he pulled away stroking his cheek with his thumb.
"Of course, I want that but. You don't have to be woken for me to be that with you Toptap, I'd already decided that I was going to be yours."
"And I've decided that I want to be woken..." Toptap replied, "And I know that I'll be okay because you'll look after me."
Gulf smiled at the human's complete and utter belief in his friend, it was the same as his feelings with Mew and he knew that he had to have that same level of trust, and Gulf decided that he probably should stop eavesdropping. Toptap had made up his mind and nothing anyone said was going to change it. Creeping away on his tiptoes he was shocked when he turned and saw his lover standing behind him his eyes completely unreadable. Gulf moved forward and kissed him his arms circling around his neck as he murmured.
"I want. To accept it. To change without pain. To be my omega. Help me?"
"Of course."
Mew watched his lover as he shifted. He could hear the bones cracking and grinding against each other as he changed from human to his cute little wolf form and then back again. His face was pinched, and his eyes filled with shadows of pain as he gasped reaching out to him and Mew smiled reassuringly as he took the hand and held it against his chest over his heart.
"Focus on my heart...See how calm and steady it is? Focus on that and only that." He hummed wishing that there was another way that they could do this but there wasn't. The only way to get rid of the pain was to change and keep changing until the bones got used to the change. It wouldn't help Gulf accept his Omega, but it would make it a whole lot less painful when he changed "You can hear it, right?"
"Ye-yes." Gulf breathed and Mew smiled moving forward and kissing his forehead once before moving back and whispering.
"Another slower change this time, and while you're changing, I want you to focus on the pulse of my heart beat. Understand.?"
"Y-es." Gulf's eyes closed tight and then shifted into his wolf. It was quicker this time, but it sounded just as painful causing Mew to wonder if there was something else, something much deeper wrong with his Gulf. It wasn't normal for an omega to have this many problem or this much pain. Even ones that didn't change regularly. He'd only had a glimpse of the doctors in the hospital and what they had done to him but with all that Gulf had said about his parents he was starting to wonder if maybe they had been trying to find a way to stop him from changing into a werewolf. The Egyptian jackal started up at him his golden eyes shining from down the long fox like muzzle.
"Can you hear me?" He asked through their mental connection and the wolf gave a nod his mouth opening as if by itself his tongue lolling out of his mouth in a pant.
"Yes. I can hear you. Can you hear me?"
"Yes. Have I told you lately that I love this connection between us.?" He chuckled kneeling down and lightly stroking the side of his face with his fingertips chuckling again when Gulf gave his fingers a tentative lick his tail wagging slowly from side to side "How does it feel? Are your joints still hurting?"
"Yes. The joints in my hips and shoulders the most." Gulf answered and Mew moved his hands down the fluffy body until he was touching both the shoulders. There didn't seem to anything strange about them, but he wasn't an expert. "Shall I change back?"
"If you want." Mew smiled keeping his hands on his lover as he transformed, and he flinched himself as he felt all the bones clicking and grinding under his fingertips. It felt nothing like when he changed, and he wished that he could see an x-ray of Gulf's change, but he suspected that his young mate would panic if he said that he wanted him to go to a hospital. The only way that he could find out without upsetting Gulf would be to find the doctors involved and find out exactly what they had done to him.
"Are you angry Alpha?" Gulf breathed slowly obviously picking up on the emotions that were swirling around inside of him. He tried to give another smile, but he knew that it came across as strained and probably pained.
"Just at your parents for making it so difficult for you." He lied before kissing the top of his head again "Another change and that's it for the day, okay?"
"Okay."
*** to be continued ***