Born of Blood

Chapter 12

Song is for this chapter.

The drums beat heavily.

The wind howled in defiance.

Augustus stood bare in front of his pack. His head was held high, shoulders tall as he stared at his members with tears shining in their eyes. They were proud, he knew this. They were proud of their Alpha finally being able to rest, and they were proud of the new coming in to lead them.

The snow and hail beat heavily across his skin, and though he was an impressively strong man, shivers raked his body. His hair was wet, his toes cramping, and he could see the shiver passing through his pack as well as they stayed in their rows to be present for the changing ceremony. It was the hardest winter they had experienced on the mountain, with no due cause, even the mundanes were conflicted with its unexpected ferocity. It would not stop the ceremony, though. Worry pooled in his gut, the old wives tale his mama used to tell him circling through his mind.

"Never transfer a pack on an evening the Goddess could not observe." She would tell him, they even rescheduled his own coronation due to rain.

Staring at the sky, all he saw was billowing clouds, the darkest he had ever seen, blocking out any and all from the earth. The Giant Sequoias surrounding the land made the wind howl with their swinging branches. The snow had built to his ankles, cramping the muscles in his legs and as his body fought to melt the freezing substance, he realized the battle was being lost between his internal fire and the elements. Superstition, creeped into his belly for a moment, but he knew better, and this storm hadn't stopped in a full week. If they did not do the ceremony now, it would be embarrassing for the visiting packs who had been requesting to speak business with his son for days now. Augustus nodded to his people, before turning around to face his pup. His Apollo, the young man who wasn't so young anymore.

He had never been so proud to see him, muscular and standing tall, with Adrienne draped over his arm; she was a beautiful woman, and hopefully, when he completes the severance, they might actually bond. He did not want to hurt his son with the impending rejection, but it was the only way. Scarlets parents' actions had put them in a bind, and Augustus had to make this permanent to protect his sons image. He stared at his boy, he was strong, he would be able to handle this.

Apollo's eyes showed fear, worry, anger pooled in his belly. Augustus gave a warning glare to the young man, and with a shudder from the cold, Apollo stood even taller against the storm, his eyes blinking through the snow to set into a harder gaze. It was the end of the ceremony, it was time to speak the words that Apollo needed to truly become Alpha of Malkún, and it was time for him to take care of his own mess. Augustus opened his mouth, and over the howling of the storm, began to speak the ancient language of the First Wolves, ignoring the taste of iron on his tongue as he stared at his pup.

Watching from the tree line, Orion Sendöw curled his upper lip, a growl rumbling deep within his chest. This ceremony was a farce, they were performing the transference on a night their Goddess did not consent to. There was no moon in the sky to show her blessing, the storm had been settled over the Sierra Nevada mountains for days on days, it was obvious that she did not give an agreement for either this coupling, or Apollo's leadership.

Rage boiled under Orion's skin as Augustus fumbled over the ancient tongue, spitting on their ancestors.

Orion was present when the language first came to fruition, and he had been there to see it die out. Watching this charade, seeing them use the tribal drums, watching the feeble man stumble over the language Orion so respected, his patience had ran dry with Malkún.