POV - Alpha Carlisle
I walked into the meeting room with my Beta Scott and Gamma Chris already there along with the seven elders.
I sat down at the head of the table.
"Thank you for coming, Elders. We have quite a mess on our hands." I said.
The elders were all wearing black robes like human judges, four men and three women.
Atticus, at the other head of the table, a man with sharp features and snow white hair surrounding a bald top like a crown, raised his hand.
"Before we get started Alpha, we all want to extend a heartfelt congratulations at having young Kyas home again. We're all delighted to find that he is not dead as we all feared." He said.
"Thank you," I said, " No one more than me, though it's not fun to admit that I was so desperately gullible that I failed to figure it out." I said, embarrassed.
"There's no handbook for being a parent, Alpha," Clara, a dark haired woman with brown eyes, said, "and no rules about how to grieve for a lost child."
"Agreed, thank you for that," I said, still embarrassed. " I think the less complicated issue here is Elias, so we should tackle him first."
"Has anyone spoken to the boy about this?" Asked Darcy, a recent elder, with blonde hair and soft eyes. "Do we know his side of the story?"
"Yes," I answered. "I spoke with both of my sons, as well as Chaos after the pack run. I didn't include Ethos because he had no part in the original decision, however, I am told through other wolves that spoke to Ethos that Ethos had to threaten Elias to get him to put that plan in place for the ceremony. "
"Let's stick to the start of it," Jasper, the eldest, said. "How did Kyas get back here?"
"On my last visit to Cedar River," I explained, "the pack was attacked by a rogue pack. They were wiped out, except for a dog that I brought back with me - Chaos. Because we couldn't communicate with Chaos, or didn't think to try because he was so small, we didn't know that Chaos is actually Kyas' wolf, and that they are Reverse Bound. So, Kyas has been here that long."
"And when did the boys meet?" Asked Basil, a plump man with a bald head.
"On the second full moon after he arrived, the first full moon being the day after he got here. I was told though, that they formed a twin bond on the first night, with Chaos." I said.
"If Kyas is bound," said Eileen, a woman who continued to age gracefully, with brown hair and amber colored eyes, " how does he shift? Isn't binding meant to prevent shifting?"
I looked over to Chris, a man close to my age, with dirty blond hair, green eyes, and a blonde mustache.
"I researched this and found out that a witch can put exceptions on a binding spell, the goal being to prevent the wolf from dying by offering a chance to be able to shift. According to Kyas, the exception of his spell is that consuming apples in the morning will allow a dusk to dawn shift, only on a full moon." Chris said.
Harvey, a rail-thin tall man with a full head of snow white hair and eyes like ice, asked, "How long have they been shifting?"
"While Kyas didn't say why they hadn't tried it before, he said that the first full moon they had here was the first shift since the binding. " Chris replied. "They seemed to have accidentally rediscovered the exception after forgetting it."
"So," asked Scott, " the boys meet one month after Kyas arrived, and talk in secret while the rest of the pack is on a run. They discussed whether to reveal Kyas or not. How did they reach that decision in just a few hours?"
"They're children, Scott," Clara said. "The world moves at a snails pace and a sportscar race all at the same time for them."
"According to the boys," I said, "Kyas and Chaos noticed a marked difference in my behavior after his first visit to my room, which seemed to have had a ripple effect through the pack, including more engagement with Elias. The boys both said the decision not to tell was based on Elias' fear that I wouldn't continue that engagement with him if I knew the truth."
"Would you have?" Asked Jasper.
I looked down. "I would like to say I would have, as I had already begun making changes. I had reduced my visits to the witch, and resumed family meals with the pack. I actually DID rebuild my relationship with Elias, but at the time, I can't say that his fears were unfounded. It's possible also that because of the binding, access to Kyas would have been similarly restricted, and I would have done the same as I did anyway, but at least they wouldn't have pulled off a five year lie."
"How did they come to five years? What made that end of it?" Asked Eileen.
"Kyas said that Ethos was the consideration. Kyas said that Elias hated him already, for having to live in his shadow, and that if I chose to favor Kyas still, Elias would hate me and Kyas, leaving him alone, without a wolf and family. The boys basically decided that of the two, Kyas should wait because he had Chaos." I informed them.
"Did they not really consider that Kyas had just found out he was home? Part of us?" Asked Basil.
"This is one issue where I struggle. It's part of a larger issue with Kyas that we'll get into later, but again, the boys chose Kyas to give up family, because he wouldn't miss it so much since he had never had one before." I said.
The table gasped.
"This bothers me," I said, " Because I think Elias should have considered that, but it seemed like he put himself on even footing with Kyas because of my neglect. However, Elias still had his mother and strong ties to the pack, but the only factor that was considered was me. It feels like Elias only thought of himself, while Kyas didn't think of Himself at all. They're two sides of the same coin."
Harvey nodded. " I think I see your issue here, Alpha. The issue being that one of them is the future alpha."
"It's more than that, Harvey," Darcy said, "They could be forgiven, as ten year olds for having narrow views, but as they got older, the selfishness becomes more profound. If Elias gets to go fishing with his father, he knows that Kyas' only chance for that same quality time would be during his once a month shift. Keeping the promise keeps all of that away from Kyas, while Elias gets it all. Right Alpha?"
"Yes," I said. "What bothers me is that he either never thought of it at all, and should have on at least one occasion, or that he did think about that and was ok with doing it. This was a promise that Kyas made to Elias. Elias could have released him from it at any time, and he didn't, and when he did, it took Ethos to threaten him to do it."
"But didn't Kyas miss it? Didn't he ever want to go fishing?" Asked Jasper.
I sighed. "No, he didn't. He didn't feel it was an option for him, and he felt grateful to be seeing through Chaos. Kyas doesn't think he missed out on a thing, because he saw the world through Chaos. Everything I did with Chaos, agility, dog shows, Kyas just feels lucky - Lucky! - to have seen it. He's not even mad about missing anything he Might have wanted to do, because his promise granted Elias the Mercy of making sure I couldn't make the wrong choice."
We sat in silence for a few minutes digesting that.
"Well..." Basil said. "I do still think that Kyas bears the lion's share here because in the end, he knew he was lying and kept it up. He performed the act every full moon. However, intentionally selfish or not, I don't want an alpha that can put himself first over the pack, that doesn't look at the effects of his actions on the pack as a whole."
"Yes," said Eileen. "Elias needs to learn to be a team player, and also take some responsibility as the future alpha. He's fifteen, his training should start now anyway."
"Ok," Clara said "How about this - Elias should work with the washing and cleaning crews in the mornings, and in the kitchens in the afternoons, keeping the evenings for family time. In addition, he can be given one administration task to do, to begin training as the future alpha."
"How long do we make this last? It can't go on forever. " said Atticus.
"Let's do six months, to start." I said. "Then we can decide if he's refocused in the right direction, or if he needs longer."
The Counsel agreed.