Destiny's Tethers

Chapter 18 - Separation

A/N: So what happens later in this chapter is a representation of the closest you will see to smut in this story

Also, note the glee I had writing this

......

Two Months Ago

Once the dagger was used to slice their palms, the now former Alpha Bradley stepped back and gestured for both Aaron and Kylie to turn to the rest of the Silver Arrow Pack.

"I now give you, Alpha Aaron Young and Luna Kylie Young of the Silver Arrow Pack!"

They had completed the Marking before the leadership of the pack was passed to them officially, and Aaron's mark was displayed proudly on Kylie's slender neck, the same way hers was on his.

Kylie was smiling broadly, grasping Aaron's wrist with her uninjured hand as she faced the crowd that had gathered to witness their ascension. Aaron had the same smile, but it soon became strained as he took a good look at the audience in front of him.

Once the ceremony had formally concluded, the now Luna Kylie planted an affectionate kiss on Aaron's cheek and went off to celebrate her new role with a group of friends, and Alpha Aaron went to talk to his father.

"Is it just me, or did the hall look emptier than it was supposed to be?" He asked in a hushed tone, seeing the stoic expression on Bradley's face slowly show a scowl as the people dispersed.

The older man called over one of their pack members who had been put in charge of recording attendance.

"You. How many attendees were missing from the Ceremonies?"

Swallowing, the young man flipped through a bunch of papers on his clipboard.

"Uh...judging from the amount of names...it would amount to...a third of the pack?"

Glancing at the anger that showed in Bradley's face, Alpha Aaron gestured for the man to hand over the clipboard and then dismissed him with a harsh flick of his hand.

"I'll get to the bottom of this, dad." Aaron assured his father firmly, already on his way out of the hall.

Present Day

So apparently the third of the pack members had a valid reason for not being able to attend the new leadership Ceremonies - they'd consumed a batch of expired food and come down with food poisoning that very morning. It seemed too coincidental to be true, but despite Alpha Aaron's insistence at having the source of the affected food being traced, they had come up short.

Unable to accept this, Bradley had attempted to attack some of the wolves who had skipped out on the ceremony, and each time Alpha Aaron had to hold his own father back and remind him that causing casualties amongst the Silver Arrow Pack was not a good idea at this point.

After all, Aaron had assumed the Alpha post at a particularly bad time.

After the stunt Stela and Cael had pulled, his father had again threatened disciplinary action on the pack if they speculated any further on the emails. Not that it made things any better. Even without mentioning the incident, the atmosphere in the Silver Arrow Pack had changed.

Kylie's reaction to the emails had been to stay in her room for three days straight, after which she came out with puffy eyes. Unlike before, no one aside from Aaron, Bradley and a number of close friends gave her the time of day for a pity party. And...as many expected, Kylie's faux tears dried up like a well in a drought as her Luna Ceremony drew near.

While Delta Jace and Gamma Edric had carried on as per normal and fulfilled their duties in the pack, things outside of that were nonetheless strained. Delta Jace's mate had just recently given birth to a child, and he declined to have a baby shower open to the other pack members just so his newborn son wouldn't be around the quick tempered new Luna - and he wasn't the only one giving Kylie a wide berth.