22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Blaine

W ayden smoothed his hands over his shirt for the third time in a row. He'd dressed in a formal shirt with the sleeves down to hide his tattoos. Wayden's tattoos were gorgeous. They were part of who he was. Blaine wondered why he was hiding them.

"Are you nervous?" Blaine asked as they got out of the shuttle.

"A little," Wayden said. He smoothed his hands over his shirt again. "Do you think your mother is going to like me?"

"She will," Blaine said. He took Wayden's hand and pulled him to a stop. "But you have to be the alpha I fell in love with. That means you have to be yourself." Blaine rolled up Wayden's sleeves to his elbows, revealing his tattoos.

"I thought…"

"Shhh… if you're going to say anything negative about them, I don't want to hear it. My mom will love you, because I love you," Blaine said, and then continued to walk to the front door. "Do you want to hear something funny?"

Wayden nodded.

"Do you remember the day you came to fetch me from Xaine Covus' house?"

"Yes. How could I forget? That was the moment my life changed."

Blaine slapped him. "Don't. I'm trying to say something serious here. That was the first time I saw the real you. And I thought you were hot. You wore one of your form-fitting shirts, with the sleeves rolled up showing off your tattoos. You looked rough in the he-can-fuck-me-good-kind of way. All I could think about were twisted sheet, damp skin, deep moans, and smooth deep thrusts…"

"Is that something you should be telling me while we're walking into your mother's house?" Wayden asked with a groan. "And here I thought you'd never been with an alpha. How could you think of something like that?"

"Just because I had no experience with an alpha doesn't mean I didn't fantasise about being with one, even though I vowed never to have sex."

"You're a complicated omega," Wayden complained.

"I know," Blaine said, opening the door. "Mom, I'm home!" He shouted.

"What the hell? Blaine is that you?" His mother called. Blaine followed her voice to the cooking station. "Oh, my baby," she said rushing to him. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. "I've missed you so much."

"Me too," Blaine said, wiping away tears. She pulled back and ran her eyes over him. Her eyes snagged on the claiming mark. She gasped. "I got bonded." Blaine stated the obvious. He reached for Wayden and brought him close. "I want you to meet my mate, my alpha. His name is Wayden Mephis."

Blaine watched his mother shyly pat her hair, and smooth out her clothes. He suddenly felt guilty for springing this on her without telling her. But, even though she wore old clothes, she still looked beautiful.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you…"

"No. It's fine," she waved him off and turned to Wayden. "Welcome to our family. I'm so happy to meet you. Out of all my sons, I never thought Blaine would ever get bonded."

"Mom," Blaine grumbled.

"What? It's true."

"It's very nice to meet you too," Wayden said. "I never thought he would say yes, either. He made me wait for days until he made up his mind."

His mother laughed. Blaine smiled, happy to see her like that. They hadn't had good things happen to them in a long time.

"Show Wayden around while I prepare something to eat," she said, shoving them out of the cooking station. Blaine took Wayden on a tour of their small house, sharing with him all the good memories he'd made there with his family. Even though there were some bad memories sprinkled in there, they'd still had a good life. The house was still the same: immaculately clean and cosy.

Holo images of all his brothers, except for Orly's, were on the walls, even though some of the devices were old and worn. His mother's recliner was still in front of the fire pit, and the cushions where Blaine and his brothers used to sit were stacked in the corner.

"This is the room I shared with my bothers," Blaine said, opening the door.

"I can't believe you all shared this tiny room," Wayden said, looking around. He stepped to the window and stared at the outer building.

"It's that where Orly is?" Wayden asked softly.

"Yes," Blaine said walking to the window. "He's in there. Mom would have told me if he wasn't."

"Does the council of alphas know that he's here? Did you guys apply for a provisional stay?"

Blaine shook his head. "I told you. No one knows he exists. We don't talk about him. We're not supposed to be talking about him."

"Blaine, this is dangerous."

"Shhhh," Blaine said touching Wayden's lips. Tears filled his eyes. Talking about Orly fucking hurt. "Please. Moving him out of that room would kill him. Just… forget I said anything. Please."

"Okay," Wayden said wrapping Blaine into his arms.

"I told you I smelled an alpha," someone said from the door. "Shaine, Lorne, he's in here with Blaine. Come and look."

"He's your brother's mate, Tia. Stop being disrespectful," their mother shouted from the cooking station.

"Blaine got bonded!" Shaine screamed.

"I'm sorry for what is about to happen," Blaine said, smiling up at Wayden. "The chaos is about to begin."

His brothers rushed into the room and bombarded Wayden with question. They dragged him out of the room to the sitting area. That gave Blaine's mom the chance to drag him away to her room where she just stared at him for what felt like forever.

"Wow…he's a real alpha," his mother said blushing.

Blaine laughed. "What do you mean he's real? Of course, he's real."

"Sorry, I'm just shocked, that's all. I never thought you'd ever…" she trailed off looking a little sad.

"I wouldn't have if the tea worked," Blaine said with a shrug. "I guess it was fate."

"The tea stopped working. That's not possible," his mother said shocked. "Did you go into heat?"

"Yes," Blaine said.

"That's never happened before."

"I know. I still don't know what happened. But I don't care either way. I'm happy," Blaine said. He walked to the bed and sat down next to her. "Do you like him?"

His mother nodded. "He seems like a strong alpha. And he looks at you like you hung the twin moons or something."

"Thank you, Mom, for saying that." Blaine hugged his mother. She made a sobbing sound. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong. I'm happy. I…" his mother pulled away, wiping her eyes. "I never thought I would see this day. I always felt guilty for what happened to Orly because, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help either one of you. You were hurt the most by it. You took that pain, and you lived your life holding on to it. You were stuck in that dark room with your brother. It broke my heart every time you asked me for that tea, and I couldn't say no because I knew you were not ready to live your life. I never thought you would ever be ready. I'm happy you found an alpha who loves you."

"Oh, Mom," Blaine said, tears running down his cheeks.

"Stop that. This is a happy day. Don't cry," she said wiping his tears away. "We're going to celebrate. Have a mini bonding ceremony, like I've always wanted to do for my children."

"I don't need that," Blaine said.

"I know. But I want to do it. I'm sure your alpha won't mind." She said getting to her feet, not waiting for Blaine's answer. They walked back to the sitting area where his mother announced that she wanted them to have a bonding ceremony.

"I agree," Wayden said.

"I thought you had to get back to work," Blaine protested. "We have a long way to travel, remember?"

Wayden got up and walked to Blaine. "We can take a few days off. Ckson would love that too. We can have the ceremony at the house."

"Wayden, we don't have to…" Blaine tried again.

"No. We should do things the right way. Gather our families and celebrate our love. I want to do it," Wayden said gripping Blaine's arms. "I want to claim you in front of everyone. Please let me."

"Say yes, Blaine. I've never been to a bonding ceremony," Lorne said. Blaine turned to see his brothers' beaming faces. He couldn't disappoint them.

"Okay," Blaine said. His brothers rushed to him and wrapped their arms around him. Their joy was contagious. Blaine found himself smiling, even though his heart ached a little.

"We should go and get everything ready. We can have the ceremony tomorrow," Wayden said. He turned to face his mother. "We'll see you tomorrow. I'll send a hover pod to come and fetch you, just to make things easier for you."

"No. That won't be necessary. We can find our way," Blaine's mom said.

"No. I want to do it. You're my family now. And I take care of my family," Wayden said. Blaine watched his mother try very hard not to cry.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she said, wiping at her eyes. "You should go then. There's so much to prepare."

"We'll get going," Wayden said. He took Blaine's hand, and they walked out of the house.

"Blaine, wait," his mother called, following them.

"Go. I'll be right there," Blaine told Wayden. He walked back to the house to meet his mother.

"Are you alright? You didn't look like you want to have a bonding ceremony," she said. "You don't have to do it if you don't want to."

"I know. I'm sad, I guess. Orly won't be there even though he's here. It's…"

"Oh, baby…I'm sorry," she said pulling Blaine into her arms. "I wish things were different. But I want you to have this. You deserve it. I'll tell Orly everything. I'm sure he'll be happy for you."

Blaine nodded, too overwhelmed by emotions to speak.

"Go now. Your alpha is waiting," she said. Blaine hugged his mother and then made his way to the shuttle.

"Are you okay?" Wayden asked as soon as he walked inside.

"I'll be fine," Blaine said as he sat down. Wayden reached for him and took his hand. Blaine intertwined their fingers and held on. He found comfort and strength in Wayden's touch. "It hurts less because you are here with me."

"I'll always be there, I promise," Wayden said. He brought the shuttle to life, and they drifted away.

"I should connect with Holi and tell him that I'm getting bonded," Blaine said after a few minutes of silence. He bit into his bottom lip, not looking forward to that conversation. His cheeks turned warm just thinking of what Holi was going to say.

Let the torture begin, Blaine thought as he pulled out his connector. Holi's voice came through the connector a few seconds later.

"He's alive," Holi shouted

"What?"

"When was the last time we spoke?" Holi asked.

"Uhhh…" Blaine winced when the memories from their last conversation flashed through his mind. "I'm sorry."

"You should be. Xaine told me to give you space and so I did. Enough is enough," Holi said heatedly. "I've been worried sick about you."

"I'm fine," Blaine swallowed and blurted it out. "I'm getting bonded to Wayden."

Holi gasped loudly. "He knocked you up, didn't he?"

"No. I'm not pregnant," Blaine said horrified. Wayden's hand jerked in his. Blaine turned to look at him. Wayden looked horrified.

Was it too soon to talk about cubs? Blaine wasn't ready either, but he wasn't averse to having one. He wanted a cub that looked just like Wayden. Blaine smiled to himself, liking the idea. "I'm getting bonded to him because I love him."

"Ahhh… I never thought I would hear you say that. When?"

"Tomorrow."

"Why so soon? I wanted to be there," Holi whined.

"I want you to be here too, but we have to go back to work after this. Xaine paid us to work, remember. We have to go back and finish the research."

"Xaine doesn't care about credit. You can come back and get bonded here," Holi said. Blaine heard a displeased growl in the background. It sounded like Xaine. "Damn, I guess he does care," Holi said, laughing. He suddenly screamed and then the connector went dead. Blaine shook his head, smiling. He felt ridiculously happy for the first time in his life.

Blaine squeezed Wayden's hand.

"I love you too," Wayden said.

***

Wayden

"You are the dad of short notices," Ckson grumbled.

"Stop complaining and carry that chair," Wayden said as he followed the event planner into the garden. Wayden didn't have to hire one. An officer from the council was enough to make their bonding ceremony official, but he wanted to make it special, beautiful and memorable. The event planner moved around, making sure the flower arrangements were sitting just right, and the twinkling lights worked properly.

"Put it there," Wayden instructed Ckson. They set the chairs in a semi-circle, facing the round table that had all the things they were going to need during the ceremony. The tattoo artist they used in the family set up his things a few paces from the table. Long ago, their pack had created the tradition of tattooing their bond mate's name on their body. Wayden didn't know if Blaine would want to do that. But Wayden was going to do it once the ceremony was over. He was going to wear that tattoo with pride.

"Stop smiling, Dad. We have to get dressed," Ckson said slapping his back. "The family will be arriving soon." There was a knock at the door. "Oh, there they are. Dammit. Now they're going to think that you have a shabby brother. I'm going to get dressed," Ckson said, limping away. "Go answer the door. Ambrose is not here to do it. I told him to leave."

"Thank you," Wayden said. He hadn't noticed the omega, but he'd assumed he was somewhere in the house.

"You're welcome. Go… go… I don't want to keep them waiting."

"You do know this is not about you, right?" Wayden called after his brother.

"Whatever!" Ckson called from upstairs. Wayden shook his head as he went to open the door for Blaine's mother and brothers.

"Welcome," Wayden said.

"I brought the purified water," she said holding a beautiful golden bowl.

"Thank you," Wayden said, even though he had some. "Blaine is upstairs, changing. You can go up if you want to talk to him."

"No. I'll let him get ready."

"This way then," Wayden said, walking them to the garden. He placed the golden bowl on the table, removing the water he'd prepared. He made sure everything was perfect and then went to change. The officiating officer arrived just as Wayden and Blaine made their way downstairs to the garden. They came to a stop in front of the table.

"Wait, don't start without me," Ckson shouted from somewhere in the house. Wayden groaned, making everyone laugh. "I'm here… I'm here." Ckson hobbled into the garden.

"Sit down somewhere and be quiet," Wayden snapped.

"Mom, that's Ckson Mephis," Shaine screamed.

"Stop pointing at him. I can see him," Blaine's mother said. "Now… shhh. They're about to start."

The officiating officer stepped forward. He picked up the golden bowel and instructed Blaine and Wayden to place their hands together, palms up, with Wayden's hand at the bottom. The officer poured the purified water into Blaine's hand. Blaine turned his palm over to pour the water into Wayden's palm. They held their hands together for a few minutes before the officer tied the bonding cuff around their wrists, bonding them together. Wayden pulled Blaine to him and kissed him.

Everyone cheered, clapping their hands.

"Congratulations," the officer said. He bowed and excused himself, leaving the family to celebrate. The maids came in, carrying trays of food and spirit. Blaine reached for a glass, already salivating. But Wayden grasped his arm to stop him.

"You shouldn't drink," he said.

"This again. Stop. I need a drink," Blaine said, reaching for a glass again.

"You can't drink." Wayden took it from him.

"What? Who says I can't." Blaine reached for the glass.

"You better stop him," Ckson chimed in. "You don't want anything to happen to the cub."

"Cub? What?" Blaine's eyes widened. Wayden nodded.

"How do you know? I don't feel any different. Shouldn't I feel something?" Blaine asked, his voice going high with every word. And then he started to laugh.

"Please don't freak out. I know it's too soon. We haven't been together for long, but…" Wayden said pulling Blaine into his arms. "We can get through this. You and I are perfect together. And our cub is going to be amazing."

"I'm not freaking out. I'm… I'm… happy?"

"Are you asking me? You're freaking me out, Blaine. Are you okay? I know you don't…"

"Shhh…. I'm fine, Wayden. I'm happy. I know it's too soon, I know, but it's our cub," Blaine said. "It's ours. From the moment we met everything just happened. It was like fate brought us together. And I'm done questioning it. I'll follow you anywhere. And our cub… he's going to be the best alpha ever. Just like you."

"I love you," Wayden said leaning down to kiss his mate.

"And here I thought I was the best alpha ever," Ckson mumbled. Blaine laughed. He turned to his family. They talked and laughed at the same time as they celebrated their bond and the news of their cub. The celebrations went on well into the night. Wayden held on to Blaine as they swayed to the music.

"I never thought my life would end up like this," Wayden said.

"This is not the end, Professor. We have a lot to do."

"And you're coming with me."

"Of course, I'll follow you anywhere, remember?" Blaine said, looking up at him. Wayden stared at his true mate, and he knew he would follow Blaine anywhere too… forever.