Skylar wanted them to eat first, then they would talk some more and do the ceremony later. Xael sat next to her Mate with Chris and Eli next to him. She could tell that Adam was still upset, but it was just the nature of things. After the men had eaten, Xael and her Grams cleaned up the kitchen. There were no leftovers since all the guys really enjoyed the food. Finished in the kitchen, Ms. Emma went to her room to do some beadwork. Xael pulled Skylar aside while the guys were just chatting.
"Hey Unc, I need to talk to Adam for a bit, is there enough time to do that before you guys start the ceremony?"
"Sure Pup, we won't start for another hour or so. Something wrong?"
"I'm not sure. Adam saw me and Grams making medicated bandages, when I told them what they were for it upset him."
"I see, yeah, you two go talk for a bit Pup."
"Thanks." Xael went to find Adam, Eli said he was out by the fire pit. Xael walked to the back deck and sure enough, he was sitting there alone. She walked up to him and stood next to him, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head against her stomach.
"I need to talk to you Adam, alone." He looked at her to see a warm smile and sparkling grey eyes staring at him. He nodded and followed her into the house. As the men chatted and laughed the young couple quietly went to their room, Xael gently shut the door.
"Sit on the bed." He sat against the headboard as she sat next to him facing him, her pups were fast asleep at the foot of the bed as usual.
"I'm sorry if this upsets you hon, but I need to make sure you understand that if anything happens when we mate, and I end up hurt, I won't blame you Adam. I need you to understand that."
"Xael, what makes you so sure that I'm going to hurt you?"
"Adam...I know. A True Alpha in rut is not something for an Omega to take lightly. Your wolf is going to want me to submit during mating. Normal Omegas will without issue, I won't. Do you understand?"
"Then what exactly are you babe? If you are not a normal Omega and you present as an Alpha, then what are you?"
"I'm not going to tell you that right now in a house full of people. When we're alone, I'll tell you, I promise."
Adam gave her a hug, nuzzling into her neck. "I wish I could smell you."
"I know." She nuzzled him back. Adam pulled away from her.
"So how badly will I hurt you?"
"I don't know, I hope the most you'll do is try to hold me in place while you mark me. Worst case scenario, you take things too far and my wolf will consider you a threat."
"What will it do when that happens?"
Xael rested her head on his shoulder. "I'll attack you."
He jerked her away and looked at her. There were tears in her eyes.
"Xael..."
"..." She had no words, just a pained stare. She sniffled away the tears.
"So is that why we're taking things slow and going at it the traditional way?"
"Yeah, my wolf is beginning to trust you so I don't think you'll hurt me too badly. It'll be more accepting of you as it's Mate if there's trust beforehand."
Shado let out a long sigh. "Come here." He wrapped her in another tight hug nuzzling her neck again. Her scent escaped just a little causing him to growl. She lightly hit him on the shoulder. He needed to look into her beautiful grey eyes. He was being very gentle with her. His hands came up to caress her face.
"I love you Xael."
"I love you too Adam. That's why I want to do this the right way."
"Me too. So what do I need to do?" He pulled back and gave her another kiss.
She got up and showed him the bag of bandages. The medicated ones were to go on any deep wounds his claws would cause, the unmedicated bandages go over them as they had a protective film on the outside and get taped in place. She would have the tape and scissors in the bag and it would be in the back pack with the medicine bundles. Xael also let him know that if she passed out, which was a possibility, to just hold her and nuzzle her. She would eventually come to, afterwards she would need him to fill the tub halfway with hot water, add a medicine bundle and place her in it.
Shado wanted to know why she would pass out. She let him know that mating would exhaust her, the rest of her energy would be spent controlling her wolf. After mating was done, she would need him next to her to help her heal. Tomorrow while they were out at lodge she would fix some herbal broth that she could drink afterwards. It would be frozen so all he would have to do is heat it up. Xael would need all her energy to heal, not digest food and the broth was easily digestible.
Adam finally understood and was good with things. He had her go through the stuff in the backpack one more time so he didn't miss anything. Finished with their talk, Xael grabbed the bag of bandages and went to find scissors and tape. Her pups were so used to the two of them that they never budged. Xael woke them up to go outside one more time before the ceremony. Coming out of the room all eyes were on them. Parker, who was sitting closest to the bedroom door, turned towards Xael. Her scent was still lingering on her clothes. She caught the faint red glint in his eyes as he sniffed the air. Xael immediately started to panic as her pups quickly sprang to attention, knocking Shado out of the way. Gunner growled at Parker.
"Sorry! Sorry! In!" Xael yelled for the pups to get back in the bedroom as she closed the door. She quickly put on a fresh pair of sweats. Skylar walked over to see what was going on. He also picked up what remained of her scent as he neared the door.
"Pup? Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, sorry about that!"
Xael came out, slightly embarrassed, the tips of her ears were beet red. "I'm so sorry Parker."
"Uhh, it's okay."
Shado still didn't know what was going on. He walked over to Xael with a questioning look on his face. She pulled him down to whisper in his ear. "Parker picked up my scent." Shado couldn't help but laugh. Xael poked him in the stomach.
"It's not funny, furboy!"
All the guys laughed at her. Shado just rolled his eyes and shook his head as he had a seat on the floor with the rest of them. The pups finally came out of the room. Gunner trotted over to Parker and licked him square in the face, catching him by surprise. Xael giggled. "He's saying sorry for freaking you out." Parker was still too terrified to move even though he was an Alpha, he was still pretty young and had never seen anything close to a wild wolf.
Xael walked towards the front door but stopped and realized Shado still had her keys. She quietly walked over to him and leaned down to whisper to him
"You still have my keys?"
"Sorry babe."
Keys in hand, she headed out the front door, pups staying close. They wouldn't stray too far, not with so many unknown males around their momma. Xael grabbed the large military duffle bag from the back of her jeep, she needed to go through it anyway. The bag was heavy and cumbersome and took both hands to carry. She tried to be quiet coming into the house but the bag banged into the wall as the guys were still chit chatting.
"Sorry!"
"What's all that Pupkins?" Skylar was surprised by the size of it.
"EMT and military gear."
"Military?" Some of the guys from Shado's old job were shocked.
Xael gave them a small salute as she and the pups walked towards her room. She saw her Grams come out of her room, the two went into Xael's room. She placed the bag on the bed and her Grandmother sat next to it.
"What's this hun?"
"Military and work stuff. I have something for you. I forgot to give it to you before." Xael dug deep down into the duffel and pulled out a chain with her dog tags on it and her military picture from when she first enlisted. "I want you to have this. They can go with Papa's."
Her Grandmother held Xael's Dog tags with care.
"I'll set it next to his on the mantel!" Ms. Emma walked out to the living room, the men still chatting away. Skylar saw her wipe tears from her eyes and walked over to her.
"What's wrong Em?"
"Oh nothing, look." She showed him the tags she was holding. "They're Xael's." She placed it over Xael's purple heart medal. Some of the guys saw her.
"Who's purple heart and tags Ms. Emma?" Chief Houser probably already knew who it belonged to. But he had to ask.
"Xael's." Ms. Emma flashed Xael's military headshot at him.
He nodded. Skylar let the guys know they were getting ready to start the pipe ceremony. Ms. Emma returned to Xael's room and shut the door.
While the ceremony went on, Xael and her Grams quietly went through the duffle bag as her pups slept on the other side of the bed. Her Grandmother asked her all kinds of questions about the gear she pulled out and Xael was happy to answer them.
Xael was looking for her smaller EMT kit as she needed the tape and scissors from it. Finding the stuff she wanted she added it to the bag of bandages. Her Grams asked when she would talk to Adam about what happened in the kitchen, Xael let her know she already had and that he understood things and knew what to do for her afterwards.
The two sat and talked while the men did the ceremony. Xael asked what they would cook for breakfast in the morning. Her grams thought biscuits and gravy. Xael suggested an egg casserole to go with it. Both agreed that should be enough for breakfast. There were left over strawberries that they could serve up also.
The women heard a soft knock at the door. Xael slowly opened it, it was Adam.
"We're done."
Xael opened the door all the way. Skylar was letting the guys know that in exchange for the ceremony and lodge he was going to put them to work. There was more wood that needed to be split and stacked, the path to lodge needed to be mulched and some boards on the front deck needed replacing. The guys were free for the evening but reminded not to wander in the woods and no shifting for the Wolfen.
Xael and her pups hung out with her brothers for a bit around the fire pit as Shado put his stuff away that he brought over, showered, then joined them out back. The four talked till late, Shado getting along really well with them. Knowing they would have a long day ahead of them in the morning, Xael hugged her brothers good night then they all went to bed.
Xael took a quick shower and wrapped her hair in a bun for the night. She had on undies and a tshirt, as she exited the bathroom, Shado couldn't take his eyes off her.
"Come here you..."
Her pups were laying at the foot of the bed. Xael walked to the other side to pick some clothes off the floor from going through the duffel bag. She slid into bed and made her way over to her Mate, curling up next to him and deeply inhaled his scent.
"Tired baby?"
Xale shook her head. As he pulled her closer, he felt her shake. "Why are you shaking? You're not getting sick are you?"
"No, just exhausted." She stretched out alongside him, her long legs intertwined with his. Shado was going to talk to her for a bit but he felt her body completely relax and realized she was already asleep.