As His World Changed (MxM)

Chapter 22

Niel stood anxious in front of a mirror. It was his sixth time fixing the collar of his dress shirt. He went for the seventh time when two large hands stopped his trembling ones. "You look fine, now stop fidgeting."

The teenager turned around, stepping away from the werewolf. "Is there still a chance for me to tap out? I think I am not ready yet, maybe next time, I-" Niel's rambling was stopped by Atlas grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Niel, this isn't some sort of test as Charlotte makes it out to be. I will be there with you the whole time, don't worry... By the way, are you keeping that on?" Atlas pointed at the tiny cross dangling from Niel's neck.

The teenager immediately grabbed it. Even though his trust in the beliefs he was thought to follow had lessened, he still treasured the necklace his mother gave to him when he started playing competitive soccer games. It was the last part, the last thing that reminded him of who he was and where he come from. And well, to let him know this world that he had entered was real and not some weird dream. Although he wished it to be a couple of times.

"W-what's wrong with it?"

"Uhm..." Atlas didn't know how to voice out his thoughts. What he wanted to tell him was to take the necklace off as many hunters are Christians and the origin of the hunter's existence lays in the said religion.

It all began with the witch hunts, they were the first supernatural people who got discovered by humans. During this time – almost – everybody was Christian and of course, the witches weren't like everybody else. And when something doesn't fit it's scary, weird, or even dangerous to human's minds. And after the witches, the werewolves were discovered and that's when humans started to organize to get rid of the supernaturals.

But Atlas also knew the importance of the necklace. Niel had told him one evening when the two of them were just lying in bed, relaxing after a long day. So the Alpha sighed and shook his head. "Nothing, now let's get going we are getting late."

Atlas had a few words next to the two jeeps with Levi before leaving. The Beta would be the one in charge when the Alpha couple would be away. Rogues had been seen a couple of miles away from the pack borders and Atlas wanted to make sure security was tight when he was away.

In the corner of his eye, Atlas could see Niel was practicing the names one more time in the car. He admired his mate's efforts.

When the two men were done talking Atlas entered the back jeep. In the car in front of them were two warriors, the same amount of warriors the couple had in their car. Normally Atlas was fine with only two wolves joining him, but seeing the circumstances he wanted rather be safe than sorry.

Luckily the Midnight Pack was only one hour drive away so Niel didn't have to worry for all too long, thought Atlas. His mate kept on repeating names. Most of the time they were correct but sometimes they weren't and it happened more the closer they got and the longer they were in the car. Atlas said a small prayer inside his head to the Moon Goddess, wishing that his mate wouldn't make any embarrassing mistakes.

The packhouse of the Midnight Pack was much smaller than the one from the Black Lake Pack. This pack was more focused on the families than the pack as a whole as forming families, bearing children, and supporting your parents and grandparents were important values to these werewolves. So Niel and Atlas passed by many cabins on their way to the packhouse where the gala was being held.

Upon arriving at the packhouse Atlas and Niel were met by the pack's Beta. "Quinn, it's good to see you again." Atlas greeted the Beta.

"The pleasure is all mine Alpha Atlas." They both shared a smile after they both bowed their heads.