Chapter Five: The Calm Before the Storm

Fen reclined in the bed of soft grasses, lying down in Dylin's meadow among the wildflowers and bumblebees. Sunlight streamed down upon his upturned face, and he drank in the vibrancy only possible these twenty leagues from the Capitol. All was calm and quiet. Nothing could disrupt this tranquil clearing, filled with peace and joy.

Nothing except his mate.

Dylin radiated unease, gave off waves of restless anxiety as he pulled up blades of the grass below them. He had seemed distressed as he whisked him away from his training, eager to spend time away from the pack. Fennis barely had the chance to hide the unique manuscript Rhowena entrusted into his care. It seemed that his Alpha was unwell. Something, or someone was causing blind fear to permeate his scent and mind. Something was truly bothering his Alpha, something lurking in the shadows.

Fen wished it would die.

"Dylin?" He asked, his hand reaching out to stop the Alpha's hands as he tore apart a clover blossom. He dissected the flower as if it contained all of the world's secrets, if he only dug hard enough. "Dylin, what's troubling you, my Alpha?" Fen asked, his eyes taking in the tension lingering in his mate's shoulders and the anxious set of his eyebrows. He wanted nothing more than to ease whatever burden he had unknowingly placed upon himself.

Dylin turned his agonized eyes up, a solitary tear falling as he gasped, "I feel it. The… The cloud you mentioned, the darkness." He clutched Fen's hand in his own, and it seemed the only thing keeping Dylin from falling over the edge. Fen grapes his hand tightly in his own, holding him steady, an anchor in the storm. "I don't know what to do."

"Be here, with me," Fen murmured, pulling Dylin closer. He could help. He was useful. He was just as capable as Dylin was, able to keep them safe with his gift. "You don't need to go through this alone, my love." Gently, he leaned forward, his eyes drifting close as he pressed his lips to his mate's. "I love you, Dylin, " he whispered against his mouth, their breaths intermingling. "Nothing can take that away." He could smell the arousal in Dylin's scent as he moved closer. A thin trickle of slick escaped him as they kissed a second time, and he trembled as Dylin's hands moved to his neck, trembled with the aching need to feel his Alpha. He wanted nothing more than this, to know his mate in every sense.

"I love you, Fen." Dylin groaned softly as his hands sought out his mate's erection, his hips involuntarily moving against Fen's fingers. "Omega…." He panted, "Please. Don't…"

"I want you, Dylin," Fen whimpered, as Dylin's hands gripped his hips with almost bruising strength. "Please, I need to feel you. Before it starts, I need to know what it's like to lie with my mate." With a shuddering gasp, Dylin's hands slid under his shirt, tracing the curves and planes of his body. "Please, Alpha," Fennis begged, drawing him closer until no space existed between them. "Please."

-:-

Fennis let out a desperate moan as he felt his mate enter him, filling him slowly as the slick pouring from his hole eased the way. He couldn't have predicted that it would feel so *good* when he wasn't in heat. Without his heat turning this moment into a single minded drive to breed, he could appreciate the true closeness he felt as they moved together in the small meadow.

Their bodies tangled in the tall grass, giving and receiving the utmost pleasure, as Fennis bared his neck, begging for the bite, the mark that he belonged to his Alpha, and no other. He ached for the release it would trigger, the perfect completion of this moment.

"Mark me," he gasped, arcing into Dylin as he felt his knot lodge inside him, tying them together as they chased the blissful orgasm. "Yours. Only yours, Alpha."

Dylin buried his nose in his scent gland, his teeth scraping the delicate flesh and making Fennis cry out in pleasure. As Dylin slowly sank his fangs into his skin, Fen all but screamed his release, the warm liquid spreading between them. Dylin wasn't that far behind, and as he pulled back , Fen's blood staining his mouth, he let go, filling his mate with his seed.

Slowly, they came down, making themselves comfortable as they remained connected by the knot. Fen breathed in his Alpha's scent, moaning softly as his entrance clenched, milking Dylin's member of his seed.

"Fen," the Alpha whispered shakily, "I want us to marry." His nose pressed into his Omega's mop of dark hair, holding him close. "I love you more than every star in the sky, and if you'll have me, I would be your husband."

"Of course, my love," Fen returned, adjusting his position as he yawned. "Yes, we will marry." Fen was asleep just minutes later, as they stayed together in their meadow, surrounded by the darkening forest.

Dylin eventually slid out, along with a flood of fluids, yet he remained guarding his mate as twilight descended. He knew that in the months to come, many forces would conspire to pull them apart. He just as strongly knew that whatever happened, whatever quest was plotted out ahead of them by Gaia herself, he would remain with his beautiful Omega.

And when the blossoms of spring rained down like the snows of winter, he would bring Fen to this glen, and seal their vows under a moonlit sky, fastening the pendants of their union upon each other's necks. In that moment, he would be complete. In that moment, the future would be theirs, they would be parents, in due time, raising a rambunctious litter of blue and green eyed pups.

He would see to it that this future came to pass. Fight for it with his teeth and claws. Fen deserved the happiness it would bring.