The Alpha and His Song

Changing Pt. 1

Keaton stared at Noxus. Haley rubbed her index finger. I relaxed. That meant Alexander was with Odette and Melanie. Noxus said, “Caspian was gathering our armies. My sons were very worried. Odette called to all of us; even me.” He looked disturbed when he added, “We were very panicked when that happened. We thought the Merrick’s had her.” I snarled. Lux asked, “Who the HELL are the Merrick’s?” I snarled, “Dead motherfuckers are who the Merrick’s are.” Lux shrugged, “Ok. I can get on board with that.”

Haley asked, “Who are they other than dead motherfuckers?” Noxus said, “Dark sirens.” Lux asked, “How the HELL would Keaton know a dark siren…..” He trailed off when it clicked for him. Scarlett grabbed his hand. He snarled, “Why does my sister know a dark siren?” I told him, “Your b***h of a mother was trying to sell her off in marriage to her abusive ex who is stalking her. Leaving notes for me and generally being a pain in my ass.” Lux hissed and snarled. He groaned, “UGH! Does this song ever stop singing?” Noxus said, “No, your song is a part of you.” Lux sighed, “Do I turn into something?” Noxus said, “If you want, we can have the ceremony so you can be in your siren form.” Lux shrugged, “I guess if Odette does it…” Scarlett teased, “I bet your siren form is sexy.” He growled and pulled her against him.

I groaned, “Ok, that’s great. He’s a sexy siren. Love it. How do we get Odette back here?” Then I heard her voice. Lux froze beside me. Noxus smiled, “She calls you Key? That’s cute.” Haley agreed, “It really is.” Lux snorted, “He hates nicknames.” I growled, “I like hers.” Noxus laughed, “Of course you do.”

I turned and ran towards the door. I yanked her into a kiss. Channing told me, “Tatum. Our mate is Tatum.” Like her dog? Oh my god. She must have heard her wolf before they did whatever they did with those pills. She must have thought she was insane. Fury filled me at the thought. Channing was grumbling. He was in an odd mood because he was happy he was talking to his mate, but furious at what happened to his wolf counterpart.

When we pulled apart, I looked her over. She was fine. I linked Alexander, “Did you heal her?” He nodded. I prodded, “What was wrong?” He said, “Mostly bruises. Nothing big.” Tatum probably healed anything serious once Melanie did whatever she did to get her Tatum. I barely let Odette go to see Lux. Alexander clapped a hand on my shoulder. I couldn’t even look at him. I was drinking Odette in.

I linked Emmett, “Does this work?” Emmett replied, “Evidently it does.” I told him, “Odette found us. Her brother is the King.” Emmett replied, “Eric informed us. Your mate is a princess. I’m sure we’ll hear your ex’s shriek from here when she finds out.” I nearly laughed out loud. I sheepishly apologized, “I’m sorry that I yelled at you. I was just worried about her.” Emmett replied, “Mates and all.” I sighed, “Yeah…” Emmett said, “If you ever try to keep a secret like this from me again, I’ll have you running so many laps you’ll collapse. By the way, it’s sad how badly you kept this secret. Alpha’s are possessive, Keaton. Our mates are not a secret we can keep.” I didn’t reply because he might have a point.

Alexander linked, “Odette has been having dreams about my mom?” I said, “Uhh she had some type of vision we need to discuss. From the past.” Alexander raised an eyebrow. I definitely didn’t know about the wolf and Haley's dreams. Couldn’t Selene just slightly help out? I would’ve liked to hear her talking about wolves and Haley in her dreams. Maybe I could’ve just driven us over to their territory to meet Haley. Then things…would’ve come out.

Alexander pulled me out of my thoughts linking me, “The what if game haunts you if you let it.” I asked, “How do you stop?” He looked over at Melanie and replied, “You don’t. I go into the ribbon and see all the what if’s along with those in my mind. My dad’s been talking to me, I’m sure he’ll talk to you too.” I snorted, “He’s probably never going to speak to me ever again.” Alexander disagreed, “Of course he will. You’re family. You were even before it was official. None of us have ever treated Allison differently, and you’ve never treated TJ differently. It’s a little weird because now we know we are related to your mate, but that will wear off. It’s going to be figured out. You’ll probably want to run twenty miles after ALL the meetings we are going to have to sit through….Just remember, you’re her advocate too. She’s new to all this. You need to make everyone take steps back when it’s overwhelming for her. I probably don’t do the best job at that myself, but keep that in mind.” I nodded. He would know.

It got into fairy details. Jarchi might have other motives, but he was keeping Odette’s mom away from her. There was no way he didn’t know about me either. So, I would thank this Jarchi when I saw him. He helped Odette, and that made him alright in my book. Alexander and I exchanged amused looks when Odette found out she couldn’t do charms. It was clear she was disappointed.

Channing purred, “We have a princess.” I replied, “Our mark told us that was likely.” Channing said, “Tatum is a new wolf. This is her first human. I can’t wait to show her everything there is to know about being a wolf.” I couldn’t help but be excited for him. He was a new wolf too, but we’d been together for a few years now. Lux made a face about being announced as a prince. I nearly laughed. I was sure this was all really odd for him. Channing linked, “You should talk to him. You are basically Hood royalty.” I’d be a Duke if we were technical which we weren’t, but he had a point.

Everyone was teasing her about a pony. I linked Lux, “Are you actually getting her a pony?” He winked at me, “Build a stable, Keaton. I’m absolutely getting her a pony.” I nearly laughed out loud. I’d just have Immy conjure one. Because then she’d want a pony, and Matt would get her one. He was such a sucker. My mom often laughed about never seeing Ted as the disciplinarian parent, but Matt was such a sucker for their girls that he had to be.

When they entered with the fairy dress Alexander linked me, “Oh dear god. That’s…” I teased, “A butterfly. It’s a butterfly.” He winced. Haley was going to change it. Caspian was fighting a smile with Odette’s other brothers. Lux covered his laugh with a cough. Aiden’s lips were twitching. He was definitely going to laugh recounting this story.

I linked Alexander, “Do you know the mermaid/Siren history?” Alexander answered, “No, but Melanie said she does.” Of course she does. I linked Clara, “Now, I need on the techy Luna’s schedule to learn about the siren/mermaid issue.” Clara snorted, “I’ll look into it, but I’ll talk to Sierra again. I probably have more juice now since you’re mates with her friend.” I’d take it.

We watched as Haley transformed the dress. I told Alexander, “She’s just good.” He smiled, “She is. My dad will flip.” I snorted, “She loves it when he does.” He laughed, “That she does.” Odette was excited then suddenly I felt how overwhelmed she was in my chest. I went to her. I wiped her tears away as she thought about her family.

Lux linked, “She did always want a big family. I can’t believe I didn’t know she was Nathan’s daughter.” I replied, “There was magic involved.” Lux growled, “Team Haley with witches in ditches. That’s two women I respect and one I love who were hurt by dark magic. Any witch so much as LOOKS at Scarlett and I’ll tear them to pieces.” I looked at my Aunt Haley. He was right. She’d been hurt by evil witches magic. Melanie had suffered and so had Odette. Channing growled in my head.

Aunt Haley took charge and we found ourselves winding down halls. I saw an older man look startled at Odette’s appearance. I linked, “Lux, there’s an older guy at your three o’clock.” Lux glanced over. The man blanched when he saw him. Lux linked, “He looks like my mom. He needs to stay away. There was a reason he wasn’t in that room, and whatever is in my head that’s singing is conflicted. Not happy like the other members of the family.”

I linked Alexander, “When you get back there’s a guy you need to find.” Alexander linked, “I already clocked him. He’s probably confused. I charmed him not to be able to go near Odette or Lux.” I asked, “How did you know who he was?” Alexander answered, “I knew Melanie was fine when we arrived. I could link her again. I went and looked around. He was outside the room where Noxus was. I also found his room. He had pictures with Morgana. She’s his daughter. I was erroring on the side of caution since it was clear he was on the outs with the family. Noxus was left in charge instead of him, but his motivations told me he wanted to be looking for Odette. The older man is why Noxus stayed behind instead of going. They don’t trust him, and his motivations are conflicting.” I replied, “So, we don’t trust him.” Alexander snorted, “Not at all.” Good to know.

When we got to Odette’s room, she was again overwhelmed. Haley actually distracted her by being horrified at her dress. To be fair, it was stuck in the wrong century. She’d look beautiful in anything though. Haley sent us off. She mouthed, “I’ll make sure she’s safe.” I nodded. I knew she would.

Melanie was upset. I wished I could link Luna’s. Then I remembered, the white wolf could link anyone. So in theory I could. I linked her, “Melanie.” She replied, “Yeah.” I smirked. I asked, “What’s wrong?” She began to pick at her sleeve, “Uhh nothing…” I cut her off, “You’re a bad liar.” She made a face. Alexander faded in. He linked me, “I’ll figure it out and let you know.” I nodded.

Odette was teasing me until Lux slapped me on the back of the head. I linked him, “HEY!” Then it hit me. How could I link him? Channing linked, “Mate…changed things when she marked us. We are an Alpha though we can link other Alpha’s.” I replied, “But we haven’t had our ceremony.” I’d just been acting like it wasn’t strange I could link him and Alexander.

Alexander ushered us out teasing Melanie who was shouting she was helping. I told him, “She did help.” Alexander said, “Uh huh. Are we talking about how you have been linking me?” Lux said, “And me.” I shrugged, “I actually just realized that was strange. Channing said it has something to do with Odette.” Alexander said, “Welcome to the our mates do fun and interesting things to us club.” Lux groaned, “Shut up.” I snorted, “You’ll be the mate doing weird things to yours so…you’ll have to be in their club. Scarlett’s in ours.” He glared at me while I just smiled.

Someone cleared their throat. We turned. A man smiled, “I can show you to your room, Lux. Of course we didn’t know as much about you, but I ran with you being an Alpha werewolf. I was pretty convinced you were and told your brothers I’d take the hit if I was wrong.”

I asked, “And you are?” He gave a mock bow, “I am Harish. Cython’s song. I’m the fun one. Obviously.” Alexander smirked. Harish smiled, “Oh, you look your dad Alpha Alexander. I heard back in the day, pre your mother days, that is, he swung both ways. Do any of you boys? I have a brother. I’ve gotta help him out where I can. You know how it is.” Alexander snorted, “Max used to, but he’s mated. Brady experimented but as far as I know it was just the one time.” Harish winked, “Well, I’ll just have to let Tarik know.” Alexander laughed, “I don’t know that he’d get anywhere, but as long as he doesn’t hurt my brother that’s fine.”

Harish snorted, “He would never. He’s a lover.” I asked, “What about you?” Harish said, I was there with our armies to bring our princess home. Her call to them knocked them on their asses it was so strong. Her terror came through clear as a whistle. All of us in the throne room heard it. The terror in her voice…” His hand had a slight tremor. He said, “I may prefer not to get down and dirty with a trident, but it doesn’t mean for those I love I won’t. You mess with my family, and I am lethal.”

I asked, “What does that mean? Her call?” Cython answered, “She has called to Caspian twice now. When a siren needs their family or king and they’ve surfaced she can call to them. The first time, she just whispered that she needed him and wished for him to help her. It didn’t reach her other brothers. The golden note floated to him in court. We couldn’t make out her whisper, but he could. He flew into a rage and demanded she be found. We all knew then, she’s the one who called. This time…the note was practically vibrating. We all heard her screaming for them. She even called to Noxus and she shouldn’t be able to do that. That’s a whole other barrel of kittens.”

Alexander snorted, “Don’t say that to my mother.” Harish frowned, “But I googled earthly sayings when we found out about Odette and Lux.” I laughed, “His mother wasn’t raised in the earthly realm, and doesn’t understand the sayings.” Harish sighed in relief, “Oh good. Someone doesn’t actually put cats in a barrel. I was thinking the earthly realm was the most savage of us all.” I snorted. Alexander said, “My mom is going to love him.” She was. I replied, “Can’t you just see him, TeleTed, and Dylan together?” Lux snorted, “The world is unprepared.” Harish smiled, “I like the sound of all of that. Anyway, here is your suit.”

I was expecting something awful, but it was a normal suit. Lux snorted, “How is this a regular suit, but the girls dress was terrible?” Harish smiled, “Well, the men’s suits might have had an unfortunate accident after Cython and I discovered we were mates. A fire of all things…so very strange.” Alexander started laughing. Lux even smirked. Alexander snapped him into his suit.

Harish sighed, “We need one of you all down here. That’s so handy.” I smirked, “Well, you’re about to be in our realm a lot. There’s bound to be one or two mated to someone here. Dylan would help you find someone. He might make it his mission.” Harish smiled, “I like this Dylan the more and more I hear.”

I asked Alexander, “Do you know what Melanie was lying about earlier?” Lux snorted, “Do you know how she’s actually getting worse at lying?” Alexander said, “I do know what she was lying about earlier. She’s pretty annoyed, and I don’t mind that she’s a bad liar. I’m not about to offer tips on her improving the one skill I need her to be bad at. No one had better do try to change that quirk of hers.” Harish gulped, “Gosh, he went from lighthearted to I’ll slit your throat in a second.” I nodded, “We all do that.” Harish sighed, “So serious. You’ll fit in just fine, Lux. I’ve been lightening up this group for decades, and I still have work to do.” Lux laughed.

Alexander said, “I’ll pop Keaton downstairs.” He grabbed me and we were gone. Nathan was staring at the doors where Odette was going to walk in longingly. Alexander asked Eric, “Did mom warn you?” Eric asked, “About?” He didn’t have to answer before Haley walked in. Anne came up beside me. I smiled, “Lux will be happy to see you.” Anne whispered, “Theo is so upset he can’t be here. Haley was texting Lux about it. He knows I’m here.” I asked, “What’s wrong?” She sighed, “An urgent Alpha matter.” I nodded. Emmett always felt bad if something like that came up and he missed something, but it came with the job.

Preston came up beside me. He winked. I relaxed having him here. He whispered, “Take a breath. She’s here and she is fine.” I nodded. I watched all of them come in one by one. When Odette walked in I couldn’t help but admire her. I growled at several looking at her like she was a snack. Jackson Conners was beside me glaring at the same group I was. Channing snarled, “She is OURS!” Yes, she was.

She was stunning. That dress. I had ideas. Emmett linked, “So, are you coming back today? Inquiring minds want to know.” I responded, “I’m surprised you didn’t come. Actually, I’m more surprised I have yet to spot Dylan Frost lurking in the background eating popcorn. I met their version of Dylan. He’s actually like a cross of Ted and Dylan.” Emmett snorted, “I tried to come. Dylan is forlorn that he’s not there.” Of course he was. I replied, “I think we are coming back after Nathan meets Odette, but I really don’t know. I’ll link you.” Emmett told me, “I’d really like to see you again today. We are all a little unsettled.” Weird but ok.

The second they led Odette away; I was going after her. I snarled at one guy that was still looking at her. He quickly looked away. Channing growled, “Let’s shift and rip him to pieces.” I saw Darrin Conners make his way in that direction. I told Channing, “It’s handled. We need to get to our mate.” Channing agreed. Channing was practically jumping in my head once he saw her. He told me, “I can’t wait to run with Tatum.” Her eyes flickered back. Channing purred, “Mate. My turn.” I let him come forward. They introduced themselves. Which I found odd. He already knew her name. He told me.

I let Channing have a minute before I came out to meet Tatum. She figured out May and Keith were mates. Something briefly made her sad, but then she felt resolved. Eric, Jackson, Harold, and Darrin came in first to meet Odette. I could feel how much their acceptance meant to her. Eric raised an eyebrow when she said she knew Jackson. She must have seen them in the vision she had of the past. Which Melanie clearly knew because she tried to deflect. Wow. We might actually have to give her lessons on lying.

Eric had a few tears he wiped away when they hugged. Eventually, it was Nathan’s turn. I was going to leave even though I felt her unease and worry since she wanted privacy, but she had a vice grip on my hand. She was worried Nathan would reject her, but I knew he wouldn’t. I could feel all her worries swirling in my chest. It was almost overwhelming. I began to hum her song that she always hummed around me. She began to calm down.

Channing told me, “She wants us to stay, but she also wants to meet him alone. She’s been dreaming of this moment for years.” Ok, conflicting but she should have this moment. I stepped outside. I spotted Nathan. I told him, “She wants to meet you, Nathan.” He steadied himself and walked inside.

Eric put a hand on my shoulder. I somewhat teasingly but seriously asked, “Do you still like me?” Eric frowned, “Keaton, you’re my godson. I love you. Let’s just never speak of the s****l things we’ve discussed about my sister.” I snorted. He sighed, “In all seriousness, you know I’m always here for you. That doesn’t change. If you need something no matter what it is, I’ll be here. Maybe we just talk in….code. I don’t f*****g know. If you hurt my sister, I might punch you in the face first though.” I smirked, “Noted.” He ran inside when he heard his dad growling. I knew Odette wasn’t scared though, so I stayed back.

Haley squeezed my hand and smiled at me. She said, “You are family to all the Conners, including Nathan. He may struggle with the adjustment of being a dad to a teenage girl he’s now getting to know, but no matter what you need to know all of us love you. No one is upset you’re mated to Odette. You’re what she needs. You have been there for her, and we all know the young man you are. She’s a lucky woman to have you as her mate.” She was going to be my biggest ally in all this. She would be able to talk the Conners down off the ledges they were going to find themselves on.

Caspian walked over, “So, next time you find your mate…maybe say something to the community at large.” I snorted, “Were you looking for me too?” Caspian raised an eyebrow, “Yes, we even looked at you and your brother as options for Odette’s song. We just heard it wasn’t the case, and you didn’t announce you found your mate.” I winced, “Sorry about that.” Caspian said, “I’m sure you’ll make it up to me, song boy.” I asked, “Song boy?” Caspian smirked, “It’s what she called you. It’s a habit now, I don’t think I can break it.” I told him, “I don’t really do nicknames.” Lux snorted, “Sure you don’t, Key.” I growled, “That’s different.” Caspian laughed, “It’s just going to be song boy to us.” Channing grumbled, but he had a point. If I’d announced Odette was mine, they’d have at least come to meet me. I smirked, “Whatever you say mob boss.” Caspian smirked. Lux choked on his drink. I winked at him.

Eric came back out. Haley went over to him before he joined our group. Alexander had Melanie over in a corner, and they were clearly linking. I titled my head over in his direction. Lux took the hint and looked. Eric came over. I asked, “What’s going on with that?” Eric snorted, “I’m sure we will be the last to know. What’s new?” It must be very disconcerting for him since he was used to knowing things right away when it came to any type of situation. Eric prided himself on knowing things. Melanie threw a wrench into the plans with that. She had all these secrets that just kept growing.

I told Eric, “Odette does this thing we should talk about.” Caspian said, “We can discuss that as a group.” I asked, “How do you know what I was going to say?” Caspian said, “Because she told me about it. I doubt she told you which means she talks while she’s seeing the past.” Eric snorted, “I’m sorry, did you just seeing the past?” I answered, “He did and she does.”

Eric rubbed his face with his hands. He groaned, “Of course she does. What did she see?” I said, “I only got snippets from what she was saying. Not a lot made sense.” Caspian smirked, “She saw you.” Eric asked incredulously, “Me?! She saw me.” Then it clicked for him. He said, “And Jackson. She saw us both. Oh, god. When? What did she see? We were shits when we were younger.” Nathan joined us. Caspian said, “We’ll discuss this later.” Eric looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t. Lux had slipped into the room where Odette was.

Nathan came over, “She wants a clean slate with all of us.” He whispered, “She doesn’t hate me. I can’t mess this up.” Eric assured him, “You’re not going to. We’ll get to know her.” Nathan said, “She needs a room in our house, Haley.” My heart stopped. I was going to be without her. How was I going to do this for a year? Channing whimpered, “We can’t be. We are marked.”

Haley replied, “Of course. I’ll get a room ready for Odette and Keaton.” Thank god for her. All of the Conners except Jackson and Eric tensed. Eric just titled his head in acceptance. Nathan’s eye was twitching. How was I going to be an Alpha of my territory in a different territory? I was really fast. I could probably make that work for a year.

Lux and Odette stepped back out. Thankfully, Haley took control of the conversation again. I knew Caspian needed to be debriefed on what happened. Hell, we had a lot to debrief on in general, but we had to keep Odette’s feelings in mind. Haley was the best person to make sure she didn’t get lost. Alexander gave me a meaningful look. I nodded in return.

Melanie said that Odette was going to shift. Channing was purring. I didn’t think I was going to be able to handle Odette in that kind of pain. It was going to break my heart. I was beyond relieved Freya and Melanie had done something so her shift would be painless. Caspian and her other brothers didn’t want her to leave. It was all over their faces. Haley agreed to bring them to her shift. I was team Haley in every tense situation. She was so calm, and considerate of everyone’s feelings. It was such a strange thing since she often discarded her own emotions, but she certainly took care of everyone else.

I watched Odette leave the room. Everything in me wanted to follow her. Melanie linked me, “Haley and I’ve got this. Just slip out.” I snorted, “You? You’re going to cause a distraction.” Melanie responded, “In case you didn’t notice causing distractions is kind of my jam. Lying…is a work in progress, but I’m killer at distractions.” I nearly laughed out loud. I eased back. Melanie cleared her throat. I zipped out of the room.