- Join the Iron Fangs
Colby
“As a member of the Iron Fang Pack, you need to make us proud. You must convince your future mate and the rest of the men to join the Iron Fangs.”
I forced a smile on my face as the elders of the pack gazed upon me through the Zoom call. They were the type of pack that enjoyed traditions but also took advantage of technological advances. Sometimes, it felt a bit hypocritical about what things they chose to hold upon and the things they decided weren’t worth continuing.
When I realized my friends and I were going to be Lia’s future mates, I tried not to think too much about our future pack dynamics. It was going to need to happen within six months so I wanted to just focus on bonding with
Lia
But the Iron Fangs had a different idea. They had been reaching out to me to have a video call with them for weeks now. I tried to put it off for as long as I could, but I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
“I’ll do my best.”
One of
of the elders snarled. Her lip curled upwards, baring her fangs.
“You’ll do more than your best! You must join the Iron Fangs as all your family has done before you.”
Of course, that was the one fucking tradition they wanted to keep. I almost rolled my eyes, knowing I needed to wait until I hung up on the Zoom call.
Rain walked into our shared room just as I was getting off the phone with them. I had a scowl on my face and Rain did a double take.
“Uh, what’s with the sourpuss look on your face?”
“The Iron Fangs are riding my ass about getting us to choose that pack to join,” I muttered, glaring out the window. “I wasn’t sure what to hell to do except just keep nodding.”
Rain scratched his head. “Yeah, my pack is doing the same thing but yours seems forceful about it.
“It’s the Iron Fangs, Rain. What part of the name sounds nice at all?”
Heb
He blinked. “No part of it does.”
“Exactly, that’s my point, Rain.”
I threw myself onto the bed, knowing I was going to have to talk with everyone sometime soon. If Rain’s pack was on his ass too then we had to get to it in the coming weeks.
“Do you have any preference, Rain?”
“I mean, I would want to stay with my pack. It’s probably what all of us want to do-”
I shook my head, “No, not Mall.”
“Oh, right,” he whispered, shoulders slumping “Yeah, Matt can’t stand his pack. What about Jesse?”
“They might push for it but know that Jesse is ultimately not going to consider them in the decision. He’s going to consider Lia and us, no one else.”
At least that made it a little easier for us to figure out what we were going to do. Still, Jesse might change his mind. The only one I was sure about was Matt who hated his pack with a dying passion. He had hated them since he was younger, refusing to accept how they shunned a family member of his.
Join the Iron Fanga
+25 BONUS
The two of us sat there for a while, Rain leaving when he sensed I wanted to be alone. I didn’t know what I was going to do about my family. They usually sided with the pack with one or two dissenting voices but it wouldn’t be very strong.
This was just how it was,
I was going to have to think about it and make a choice. At some point, I was going to be forced to disappoint someone. It was just simply how it was.
Not that I wanted to.
Would my parents be disappointed in me? I didn’t want to disappoint them. They were my family. All my family had been in this pack for decades. It was expected of me to join it and honestly, I assumed I would.
Until this situation happened.
Sighing, I stared up at the ceiling. With the way my mind was spiraling today, I don’t think I was going to be able to get any sleep. What was more likely I would be tossing and turning all night, before finally getting up and heading downstairs.
The stress was starting to get to me. It got to the point where I got up early the next morning and headed downstairs earlier than usual. I stopped on my tracks when I noticed Lia was downstairs. To think she had gotten up early and beat me down here was surprising.
She didn’t notice me or if she did, she kept her attention on her phone and her cup of tea. I knew Lia enjoyed switching between tea and coffee. I, on the other hand, was the type of person who refused to give tea a chance. What I preferred was a strong dose of espresso with some cream mixed in.
I stood in the doorway, watching Lia sip her tea. She hadn’t even noticed me yet, or at least she pretended not to. For a moment I wondered if I should turn around and leave But then I realized I was up for a reason, coffee!
“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual. “What are you doing up so early?”
She glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. “Just couldn’t sleep very well.”
“It happens,” I muttered, stepping into the kitchen. “Listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.”
She sighed and set her mug down. “Colby, if this is about the dishes-”
“It’s not,” I said quickly, holding up a hand. “It’s about… you know, Before.”
Her jaw tightened. “Don’t.”
“I just ”
“No.” She turned fully to face me, crossing her arms. “We’re not doing this again.”
“But I feel like I need to say it-”
“You don’t,” she interrupted her tone firm. “You’ve apologized. I’ve accepted it. End of story.” “Yeah, but ”
“Colby,” she said sharply, cutting me off. “Dragging this up every few weeks isn’t helping either of us. It’s done.”
I ran a hand through my hair, searching for the right words “I just… I feel like I owe it to you-” “Stop,” she said, her voice softer but no less resolute. “You don’t owe me anything. What happened, happened.
+25 BONUS
Join the Iron Fengs
We’ve moved past it. Haven’t we?”
“Yeah, I guess,” I mumbled, looking away.
“Then stop beating yourself up over it. Seriously. It’s exhausting.”
I blinked, startled. “Exhausting?”
“Yes,” she said, picking up her mug again. “For both of us,
I leaned back against the counter, exhaling slowly. “Okay. get it. I’ll stop.”
“Good,” She took a sip of her tea and then gave me a pointel look. “Now, can we focus on figuring out how to live in the same house without driving each other insane?”
“I mean, I think we’re doing all right so far,” I said, trying for a grin. “You haven’t killed me yet.”
“Not yet,” she said, smirking. “But you’re still on thin ice.
“Noted.” I smiled, feeling a little lighter. “Thanks, Lia.”
She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything else. I took that as a good sign.
“Also… have any of the guys or your brother talked to you about the pack situation?”
Lia blinked, voice going soft. “Oh, yes. Michael mentioned to me when we were talking the other night. He didn’t think you all had said something because you didn’t want to stress me out.”
“That would be correct. But we’re also trying to figure out things ourselves,” I admitted. “We need to have a discussion soon.”
“I agree.”
I wanted to ask Lia what she was thinking we should do but I decided to just let it be.
The two of us stood in the kitchen together, drinking our separate drinks. A sweet scent caught my attention, causing me to shift closer to Lia and take a sniff.
She flushed. “Colby, what are you doing?”
“Sorry, you smell nice this close.”
“Are you saying I smell bad from far away?”
I chuckled. “No, you don’t smell bad far away. You smell good from far away and close. But good close.”
Her cheeks were flushed. I was worried that I was making her uncomfortable but then I smelled how calm she was. If she were uncomfortable, I would be able to sell it here. As wolves our senses of sinell were always greater, but being someone’s mate opened yourself up to a whole bunch of different scents.
“Colby, can you take a step away?”
I cleared my throat, “Sorry, am I overstepping my bounds?
1 would be lying if I didn’t admit that I wanted to pull her into my arms and feel her body against my mind, but we weren’t at that point. It was important to treat your mate with the utmost respect and respect for their boundaries.
This was something I didn’t do before, always bullying her and treating Lia like shit. It wasn’t something I wanted to do again.
