I'm not at your orders

Awa

"are you okay?"
"yeah."
"you gave him a good shot"
"he deserved it"
"you amazed me, you know"
"did you think I was going to calmly ask him not to bother me anymore?"
"something like that "

Nori settled his horse's halter outside the tavern and with the moist air cooled his cheeks, trying to compose himself from the anger he felt as much as from the effect of Filip's pheromones on himself.
One doubt, however, remained fixed in his mind, and one that he thought would ever surface in those ciscumstances:

"Filip"
"mm?"
"my smell...is it...so evident?" Nori looked at him in curiosity, with a small wrinkle furrowing his brow:
"don't tell me you think it's because of your smell that that guy acted like that?"
"just answer me "

Filip did not answer right away, and so Nori felt shame mount for not realizing it sooner:
"oh God, so the warriors and...and the others in the tavern must have smelled it too. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"calm down, it's not that strong." Nori gave him a dumbfounded look so Filip continued, "come on, it's normal for unmarked betas and omegas. Even Jean occasionally has a stronger smell at the end of the month. Besides, what would you have done if I had told you? "

"uh...something. It must be annoying to smell it even at night in the tent."
"What?"
"you know what I mean. You're also unmarked...and breathing it so close must be annoying"
"it's not" Filip replied convincingly, not wanting Nori to believe the opposite of what he actually thought:
"I think it's quite...good" Nori's eyes were genuinely surprised:
"you don't have to lie" his voice was unconvinced but Filip searched his eyes with a destabilizing confidence:
"I would have told you earlier, but I imagined you would feel uncomfortable. More than you already feel with me."

Nori felt his cheeks heat up as he looked away, searching for the right words:
"I was reckless at the hill, and I didn't want to make things more...bizarre."

They both recurred to the thought of that potential kiss between the two of them, and Filip felt his wolf stir inside, as if he had to make sure to express what he was thinking:
"I would prefer your insults to your silence." They realized at that moment that the other warriors were coming with their horses, since Filip finally said:
"I will be more careful with my pheromones. It's hard to control myself, too."
Finally he mounted his horse, leaving Nori to ponder to himself only to realize how loudly his heart was actually beating, worrying if Filip could hear it too.

What is happening to me? Is it still the effect of his pheromones? Is he struggling to control them too?

Nori didn't know whether to believe Filip about not being bothered by his scent, since he generally never knew whether to believe what he was saying, although hearing his anger billowing out like smoke in an enclosed room had destabilized him for a moment, not remembering when the last time he had heard such strong pheromones.
Surely Filip must have felt challenged by that Tristan for reacting that way; that could only be the main reason.

alphas...

The ride was long, and the relationship seemed less strained between the two, but not even clearly defined, since their conversations seemed to resume their own tentative course along with the brash and direct ones with the warriors.
Three days after the episode with Tristan, the company overlooked a hill from which, under a clear sky, they could glimpse the green landscape with splashes of color unraveling before their eyes and escaping along the horizon:

"look" Sandor pointed to the distant stronghold rejoining heaven and earth and standing out in color and shape in the eyes of our travelers:
"Awa"
said Filip, creating different feelings in each one in front of that pack they had talked so much about and which finally took shape as a consistent reality. Nori did not express any reaction, but internally he felt a slight tightness in his chest that he did not believe the mere sight of that real mirage would cause him, or specifically the significance of that place, before which he would have preferred to remain ataraxic.