beanside | Fic: This Is Not The House That Pain Buit-Epilogue

Night fell. The full moon hid below the horizon, ripe for rising, its pulse heavy in Jensen's veins. It seemed awfully cold out for an orgy, but maybe that was Jensen's inexperience speaking.

He was definitely overdressed, considering that none outside of Jeff and him wore a stitch of clothes. If the thought of full moon with such a large pack hadn’t daunted him, the amount of flesh that gleamed in the moonlight might. He let his eyes pass over them all, letting them see his appreciation. He wondered if he should strip, and idly wondered how some of them kept the cool air from causing shrinkage.

Then again, there was a bonfire. The two packs sat in a circle around it, a conspicuous gap between them where Jeff and Jensen were meant to fit. There were so many wolves, Jensen's small pack and Jeff's large one, unfamiliar faces and faces he knew better than his own scars. His stomach ought to sink at the pressure of their expectations, but he felt calm. He felt steady. Maybe it was the practice of the pulpit, but he didn't think so.

Jeff's hand crept down to his own, squeezed him once. It felt strange not to be wearing gloves, to feel the heat of Jeff's skin. The ties flared awake, interested at the skin contact, then sank to a dull throbbing in his groin.

Would he let Jeff fuck him in front of these wolves? Yes. He would. He might volunteer for it, spread himself open with his hands--

Jeremy raised his head and looked at Jensen, interested, saw the look on his face, and shrugged like he didn't understand humans at all. The sad thing was that Jensen understood that look without the benefit of telepathy.

Love to the factor of thirty. He could get hurt so many ways by these wolves, but he was going to offer them his heart.

The first moonlight colored the horizon in a nimbus. Some of the wolves stood, the betas, and began to shift.

Adrianne approached him first, her fur a gossamer cloud that made her look more fluffly toy than wolf. She came to stand before them and waited patiently.

“We stand before you as Alphas.” Jeff’s voice rumbled next to him, and Jensen startled a bit at the sudden sound. “As one, mated. Now, come forth to be recognized.”

Kane moved as one with Vicki, to flank Adrianne. “We stand for these wolves, that they may come to you, and be recognized.”

Apparently, as lackadaisical as Jeff’s pack could be, there were a few of the old ways that they held to. This was something that Page’s pack had long since dispensed with. Despite that he wasn’t worried. He knew the steps to this dance, his wolf offering the words to him. “Then let them come forth.”

Vicki smile approvingly at him. “Adrianne, go forth.”

Adrienne moved towards them like a pale shadow, head high, tail raised in joy. Her head butted against their thighs, and Jeff bent, letting his fingers card through her fur. Jensen joined him, touching her velvet ears and rubbing their scent on her fur.

With ceremony done, she moved behind them, taking up a position to the side.

“Jared,” Kane announced, and a wolf the size of a pony lumbered to them.

They went through the betas, until only a familiar wolf stood in between the columns of their lieutenants. Vicki said, “One of my mates, Misha.”

Misha was a striking wolf, his fur white, chased with chestnut along his ruff and face. His blue eyes stayed, but morphed into an even more startling color that mimicked a spring sky. He was still moving slowly, but cleanly. Jensen stroked fingers over every inch of Misha’s body, checking out joints and bone and sinew. Misha sighed and squirmed a little, but showed no pain, even when Jeff touched his paws. Chad had done his job well.

The alpha wolves, save Vicki and Kane, were shifting, too. Kane smiled easily. “Our pack healer, Chad.”

Jensen had never known that it was possible for a wolf to look smug, but Chad carried it off well. He obviously had some sort of dog in his background, something long-legged and lanky. It gave his wolf an ungainly look, but the way he moved was pure grace.

Ignoring protocol, Jensen knelt in front of Chad. “Thank you for taking care of our pack.”

Chad tossed his head, the wolf equivalent of eyerolling, but licked Jensen’s mouth in submission.

“My other mate,” Vicki said, smiling. “Jeremy.”

Jeremy’s wolf was exactly what Jensen had expected. He preened a little as Jeff and Jensen stroked his fur, sending them a soft contented sigh in his thoughts.

Kane shifted first, showing Vicki that he considered her Alpha. Kane’s wolf definitely had husky in it, those eerie blue eyes peering out from his chestnut face.

Vicki shifted next, her body flowing shapes as though she was born to both. She still had the fecund rich scent of pregnancy on her fur, and both he and Jeff took an extra moment to touch her, to try to tell her silently how happy they were with her cub. She took it all without complaint, pressing against their legs before moving to take her spot just behind Jensen’s flank.

Then, only he and Jeff were left. He heard the sound of something heavy slapping ground, and looked back in time to see Jeff tug his shirt over his head, tossing it to land on top of his jacket. The pants went a moment later and Jensen forgot all his earlier thoughts on shrinkage. “Jeff?”

Jeff smiled shrugging. “We’ve pretty much done everything out of order, and I doubt that’s going to change as we go, but I can give you this.” He gestured towards the pack, and smiled. “I stand before you with my pack, who are all that I have. I offer you my life, and all that I am. I take you to be my mate, and Alpha of my pack.”

Jensen caught his breath, watching as nearly thirty shaggy heads turned towards him. He could feel all of them, down to Alona, who was listening from the window holding the tiny bundle that represented their pack’s future. Jensen’s smile curved his lips as he reached for the hem of his shirt. “Oh, yes. Ditto.”

Jeff laughed.

It turned out that Jeff was a gorgeous wolf. All sleek salt and pepper fur framing golden eyes. Jensen had been worried about the shift, but before he could work himself into a freak out, power rolled over him. His four paws thudded to the ground.

Jeff nuzzled against him, warm scent washing over him and perking up his body’s interest, but sex could wait.

For now, a cool wind blew the scent of prey from the woods, and he could hear the gentle burble of the river. He wanted to show Jeff everything.

This wasn’t what he’d expected of his life, but it was good. Instead of his parish, these wolves watched him, trusted him to lead. It made him think that the church had managed to be bit right in a whole lot of wrong.

The church had told him that he was forsaken. Told him that the God he’d served had turned away. Truth was, they were right. He was forsaken, but only because he chose to be. God hadn’t abandoned him. Jensen just had stopped looking for Him.

Jeff danced to the side, taking his place at the head of the pack, and waited for Jensen to come to his side. When he did, Jeff let out a howl, one that Jensen and the whole pack echoed.

From the house, West’s tiny howl answered as they all darted into the night.

Finis.