POV - Kyas
I stood up, checking with Chaos in my mind. That's when we realized that the barrier between us had returned to a mist that we could see through, and Chaos tested it with a paw again.
'What's going on, Chaos?' I asked him. He thought for a minute but then shook his head. We couldn't figure it out.
I was standing on two feet for the first time since our binding. It felt odd. I thought about going back to Elias, asleep on the grass, but when I looked, he wasn't there. I panicked a bit but then saw our guard carrying him back to the house. I was on my own.
Then I realized that I was naked except for the dog collar. I went to take it off, but Chaos said to leave it since we didn't know when or if we would shift back. Not wanting to get caught naked, I quietly headed to the packhouse, but there were still pack members in various states of undress, chatting about the run.
So, since they were at the back of the house, I slipped around to the front, headed toward Elias' room. The dining hall was dark except for a fireplace burning, with pack members also there, chatting by a low fire. I was able to stay in the shadows, except for the moonlight streaming in through the windows.
I made it to Elias' room, and sat on the second bed, watching him sleep. I wasn't tired though, so I decided to get some of his clothes, and explore the house. They fit me perfectly. I didn't bother with shoes as I had no idea how those contraptions worked and had no intention to leave the house.
I found a staircase on our floor that led to an attic, a vast expanse of space littered with things like trunks, old baby cribs, boxes of things, and various furniture covered with sheets. There was a box of photo albums, with two boys in the first ones, but then one boy doesn't show in any more. Unable to help myself, I ran the length of it a few times, but then got bored and went back down.
The house was quiet now, the pack in bed for the night, and I was free to explore. I went everywhere, but eventually, there was nowhere left to explore so I headed back up to Elias' room, but heard a sound from the room next door. It was the Alpha. He was talking in his sleep.
"Couldn't find you..." he was saying in a pleading voice. "Tried so hard... so sorry...my fault…"
I turned the doorknob and went inside, a little nervous but drawn by the sorrow in his voice.
"I called your name, son... countless times... you didn't come..." he said while tossing under his sheets. The Luna wasn't with him. I suddenly felt like I was intruding and stepped back, turning to leave.
"Kyas..." the Alpha wispered. I froze. He was awake! He saw me! I turned back sharply, but he wasn't looking at me. He was still on his bed, still fighting his blanket.
"Kyas!!" He yelled louder. "KYAS!!! He screamed.
He kept screaming my name, over and over. I acted without thought. I rushed to his bed side and touched him.
"I'm here, Alpha! I'm here!" I yelled, trying to make him hear me over his own screams.
Alpha sat bolt upright and looked at me in the fading moonlight of the setting moon.
He reached a hand out and touched me. "Kyas?"
"Yes, Alpha, I'm here." I said.
He pulled into a hug so fierce, I thought he was going to crush me.
'Chaos, what is he doing?' I thought at him in my mind.
'I have no idea!' Chaos responded. 'But you did wonder what that felt like when he did it to Elias.'
Finally, Alpha let go. "Kyas, how are you here? " he asked me. "The witch is dead, I didn't get to say goodbye. "
Confused, I answered, "I came with you, Alpha, from Cedar River, don't you remember?" Forgetting that it was Chaos that he had brought back, that he didn't know about me.
"But the, Witch, she said you were leaving me, fading away...?" He said.
Fresh anger at Alma and Alpha Silas surfaced, fed by Chaos' anger at them too.
"That was a lie, Alpha. She was tricking you. That was never your son." I told him.
He gave a curious look. "Why do you call me Alpha?"
Puzzled, I responded, "Um... because you're the Alpha of this pack?"
"Kyas, you must not call me 'Alpha'. Never you." He said seriously.
"Then... what do I call you?" I asked, even more confused.
"Papa, like always. You'll do that, won't you? Never forget to call me Papa." He said, his gaze getting intense.
"Okay...Pa-Papa." I responded the word strange on my tongue.
He smiled a huge smile. It made me smile back.
I yawned, feeling sleepy, now that the excitement was passed and had calmed down.
I stepped back from his bedside. "I'm tired, Al- P-Papa. I need to go to bed." I said.
"No!" He shouted. "Don't go! Don't leave Papa. Stay, please!"
"Okay..." I said.
He picked me up, and settled me beside him, like he had settled Chaos next to him in the car.
I lay beside him him for awhile, and heard him settle into sleep. I was close to sleep myself , but as I was dozing off, Chaos woke me.
'Kyas, the barrier is coming back. I think we might shift soon.' He said.
'Ok,' I thought back.
'We need to take off Elias' clothes, we don't want to break them.' He reminded me.
I got up, very sleepy, and took off the clothes. Through the window, the last rays of moonlight were dipping below the horizon, and sunrise was coming.
I looked back at Alpha, and then was pulled back behind the barrier in Chaos' mind.
So, now I knew why the Alpha was so deperate to connect with his dead son - he blamed himself, and wore that guilt everywhere, and that's what the whole pack felt bleeding from him. Why the bonds were black.
The question I had though, that puzzled me most was... why did Alpha scream my name?
'Stay with him, Chaos.' I said.
Without a word, Chaos jumped back in the bed, and snuggled up to him, and we both went to sleep.