Tyler's Surrender

Familiar Taste of Poison

Dedicated to @Artlynne

This is a rough draft but I just wanted to get something out there.

Jackson

I grew up with the knowledge that my parents were Fated Mates, but not Destined. These terms are particularly important in Were culture because while similar, they do not mean the same thing. Destined mates are those that the Goddess has created to be together. All of her children have at least one, a soul-mate in human terms. In some instances, a person will lose their first Mate and gain a second. My grandfather is one of those. For my mother, she was given a Destined Mate at a young age. This pairing went as planned until my mother's last year in high school and her Mate chose to defile the meaning of their bond by sullying with another female. My parents never revealed who he was, but I've always had my suspicions. The journey for my mother to achieve happiness was not an easy one, but she did eventually find it.

This is where the term Fated Mate comes in. It is abnormal for two Destined Mates not to be together, but when this happens, one of two things occur; one, the Mate who did not readily accept the choice eventually goes insane and dies, or two, their Wolf meets someone and latches on to their soul. We like to call them Fated simply because we like to believe that our Goddess has a plan for everything.

I would soon find out that She did.

******

I was going to be a father soon, or at least that was what Kira was telling me. Somehow, the joy that I knew I should've felt wasn't there and I wondered briefly if there was something wrong with me.

Shouldn't I be over the moon?

Shouldn't Trace?

Even as I asked, I felt nothing of the sort. However, I did feel as if something weren't right.

There was a small voice in the back of my head telling me that I needed to open my eyes and see what was going on, but I remained blind. When I focused on the feeling enough, there were flashes of red and green -- vibrant colors -- then I would see my wife for a second before she morphed into another person: someone with silver eyes and blonde hair.

Ignoring the confusion deep in my gut, I dressed for the somber occasion - yanking at the collar of my dress shirt in an agitated manner. I hated wearing a suit, but the event called for it.

An Alpha had died.

Alpha Nathaniel of the neighboring pack died late last week, the cause unknown to those outside of the Council of Elders. He left behind an heir that was rarely seen in public and a widow that most of their pack refused to treat as a Luna. I didn't blame them since I'd met her quite a few times, even in her fifties, there was something about her that wasn't quite right and nothing motherly at all.

Our Packs were neighbors, but not friendly by any means. Something had happened before I was born to cause a rift between the two groups and while it stayed mostly peaceful, there were issues as well. We occasionally had to pull teenagers off of one another at gatherings that brought the groups together -- foul curses being slung at one another in an attempt to rile nerves. There were also instances of aggression during Mating ceremonies -- the father of the "bride" chasing after the brother of the "groom" with a silver butter knife. Some old family riff. The Mates that joined together from our two Packs usually chose to venture off and join a neutral one for the sake of their sanity.

"You look nice, sweetheart." Her voice tinkled as she spoke, and there was this enchanting melody about it. It was nearly impossible to turn her away once you heard a single word fall from her mouth. Kira was only two heads younger than me, but something about her put off a vibe for wisdom of the ages.

There it was again, that feeling deep in my gut that something was wrong. I muttered a thank you as I continued to fidget with my tie. What was it that seemed so wrong? My brow furrowed in irritation. There had always been something about our marriage that had never been quite right. Trace was smitten, but I wasn't. He lived for every breath that she breathed while I could barely stand to be in the same room with her. I straightened as it hit me straight in the gut but my eyes shot up and caught Kira's green one in the mirror.

And suddenly, I couldn't quite remember what I was thinking about before.

"If you don't hurry, you're going to be late." She risked, rolling her hips as she pushed away from the door frame she was leaned against. "You wouldn't want that, Jackson." There was a darkness in her green eyes that laughed at me -- for what I wasn't certain -- and part of me was too afraid to ask why as she turned and left the room.