The Boy in the Woods (boyxboy)

Chapter 1

(Fair warning, this story went through major plot edits as of April 2024 and when a paragraph is edited on my end, the inline comments vanish but remain in the general comments of the chapter. So if you happen to be looking through earlier comments in the chapter's comments and are confused about people referring to something that isn't in the story, it is because it has been edited out of the story or changed. For example, Damian and Galen were originally intended to know they were supposed to share their mate before they met him, but I have changed it so they don't know that they will share their mate, and the comments may be based on the previous plot point)

Damian's POV

"Damian! Galen! Where do we put the rest of these boxes?!" A voice shouted from the front lawn from where I stood on the driveway. I turned to look whose voice it belonged to and saw Sammy, our soon-to-be Beta, carrying a stack of boxes. Rows of giant U-Haul trucks were lined up on the lawn, and Sammy was currently emptying the second to last one.

Galen appeared beside me and shouted back to him, "Just put them on the walkway and separate them according to who they belong to!" Sammy nodded and instructed the other pack members on what to do.

Galen smirked and shifted his eyes to me. "Despite what dad says, I think we're perfect Alphas already. " I tilted my head as if contemplating it, making him laugh. I smiled and shook my head.

"We're in high school, Galen. We still need a more thorough education. We still have a while to go until dad steps down and allows us to be Alphas. And besides, you know how the elders feel about a young Alpha, much less TWO young Alphas taking over. We need to gain their trust, which means we need to go to school and go out to search for our mate," I told him. He rolled his eyes, the smirk fading.

"I know. I was just joking. No need to lecture me. Jeez, take a joke once in a while," he said, annoyed, then walked away. I just sighed and breathed in the fresh air.

We were finally getting a new start because of what happened back at our old location. A few pack members were out hunting when an avalanche swept down the mountain side without warning, killing all but one. For days, everybody was in mourning ad the pack came to a standstill. Our pack was more traditional; it was familial, and it was extremely difficult to walk through the pack house with a smile after losing so many family members at once. 

So, we moved. We moved from America to Canada, Southern Canada to be exact. The province of Manitoba was given to us by the council, who saw our situation and decided that we needed a break. They also gave it to us because of the rarity of our situation.

See, my brother and I aren't actually brothers. We grew up side-by-side, and it was the circumstance of our parents that led to us to do so. 

My mother was the Luna of the pack, a term generally given to the female leader of a pack. She was one of the most powerful pack leaders in the country, and she ran her pack with the care and strength that made others purple with envy. Her kindness made her many friends and that was how she fell into bed with my birth father, who died before I was born. She had a good support system through our pack, so I was raised well despite not having my father. It wasn't long after that, only about two years, that she met her mate. It was somewhat unusual for someone to meet their mate so late in life, but her happiness made the pack happy, and a new pack alpha certainly wasn't unwelcome. 

Vizin, her mate, already had a child in a previous marriage, who is now my brother-in-all-but-blood, Galen. Vizin's previous wife divorced him after Galen was born. It was an arranged marriage that was more friendship than love, and once his mother did her duty of bearing an heir, she left to find her own happiness. I certainly didn't begrudge her for doing so, as I gained a loving father and a shithead of a brother-- but, well, that doesn't matter much.