Devil Dawg Donnelly

Devil Dawg Donnelly's

Standard disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to people or actual events is purely coincidental.

You may contact the author at ulfr57@gmail.com All comments, suggestions and/or observations are welcome if presented respectfully.

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Chapter Eighteen:

"You know Princess, if you'd just keep your mouth shut, no one would know how stupid you can really be." Danal huffed, his growing exasperation at the youth's persistence etched in every craggy wrinkle of his expressions.

'Projecting much grumpy grandpa" Princess/Timmy mused, his brilliant blue eyes twinkling devilishly as he sat there, with his head propped up between his two hands, his elbows resting squarely on the top of the Reliquary table.

Danal eyed him indifferently, in a thinly veiled attempt at appearing as if Princess's continued presence, despite his best efforts, wasn't starting to get to him.

"For the final time..." Danal leered back at him from across the table: "The Ceremonial grounds are for Heritage use only."

Danal emphasized his words by slamming the book shut that he had been scouring through for the last few hours and turning to Max and Jason in the hopes of some show of support or affirmation.

Jason just shrugged noncommittally: "We just got the pylons restored in time for the next scheduled event, I personally don't see any problem with Princess's request so long as it doesn't conflict with that."

Max looked up from the copy of the Codex he and Jason had been reviewing as part of Jason's continued education, something both he and Carl had been taking turns doing in the hopes of catching Jason and Billy up concerning all things Heritage.

Neither Princess nor Danal could tell if the annoying grimace glowering back at them was aimed at either of them or a reflection of his otherwise soured mood at the obvious absence of his son Billy. Something, as of late, that was occurring with more frequency since he claimed Baxter as both his mate and his Beta.

That had been over a week ago and getting Billy to focus on anything else was growing increasingly frustrating, not just for him, but for everyone else who sensed a mounting urgency gnawing away at them.

Now really wasn't the time for the pair of them to be behaving like a couple of love-sick pups.

As if reading his mind, Carl nudged him gently as he attempted to skirt around him with the armful of scrolls he had been gathering for future reference and leaned down to whisper in his ear: "I texted him, they are just running a little late, they'll be here shortly."

Max smiled over his shoulder, his beefy right hand easing in behind his mate, grabbing one of his firm butt cheeks, squeezing it affectionately: "I knew there was a reason why I married you."

'Because I'm the only one who could ever put up with you for more than five minutes?" Carl taunted impishly, giving Max a playful wink before scampering away to dump the contents of his arms squarely on top of the table.

"Ya know old man, might I remind you, we keep saying that things need to change, but here you are, once again arguing that something as simple as Princess and those like him, performing their own ceremonial rite of passage, is breaking with tradition." Carl scolded, meeting Danal's questioning glower with one of his own.

"Are you suggesting that I'm being obstinate and just clinging to some antiquated rite of passage out of some sort of misplaced, slavish devotion to custom?" Danal posited, his right eyebrow raising quizzically.

'Yeah, pretty much." Carl mused as he scrunched his face and shrugged his shoulders.

"Ooo, grumpy grandpa just got served!" Princess giggled as he crossed around the table and threw his arms around Danal, hugging him closely: "If it would help, you could officiate and spout a bunch of mumbo jumbo in Latin all dolled up in your snazzy witch-doctor costume."

Danal just hung his head, shaking it side to side: "I'm probably going to regret this, in fact I'm absolutely certain I am..."

"See, that wasn't so difficult now was it?" Jason stated cavalierly, a rare smile crossing his usually stolid visage.

"Hold up there Princess." Max cautioned: "Is it your intention to start chaining your inductees to the pylons as we do?"

Princess/ Timmy paused for a moment, a look of consternation crossing his face: "That's a valid question, since both Gavin and I just sort of passed out."

"I would describe it as more of a transcendental projection of consciousness." Carl suggested, adding: "On both occasions, while almost all of your autonomic functions remained intact, both yours and Gavin's sensory perceptions seemed as subdued as your consciousness."

His interest piqued, Jason asked: "What exactly does that mean, are you sayin' they couldn't feel anything while they were under?"

Carl shrugged his shoulders again: "Elizabeth ran several tests for physical stimuli and on both occasions, neither Princess nor Gavin showed any signs they could feel, see, hear or smell anything while they were...how shall I put this? Separated from their bodies."

"They were like an empty husk," Danal concluded, trying to break it down succinctly as possible.

Princess sighed heavily, as he slumped over the table, propping his torso up stiff-armed: "That's another mystery I've yet to figure out."

"Jason regarded him speculatively: "Care to elaborate? All this has been nothing but rather bonkers to me."

Princess offered him a casual grin and a quick supportive nod: "Mama said that she had prepared that island for those like me and Gavin to use, that there would be a need for it, but what possible use can it serve if we can't actually go there?"

"To be fair Princess..." Carl responded: "Aphrodite said that with the stipulation that you would find your mate after uniting the two halves of Gemini."

Princess groaned, rolling his eyes skyward: "I get that, but how will that help either myself or anyone like me access the island, even more confusing, why would we want to, if we can only do so in our heads?"

"If I may..." Danal queried, his right hand absentmindedly stroking his greying beard: "In Greek mythology, there were numerous times the Gods would draw temporary strength from each other to accomplish difficult tasks or to weaken a rival."

Biting his lower lip, as his face contorted into a mask of concentration, Princess speculated aloud: "I'm fairly certain Dalton and his twin brother Alton are the Gemini mama was talking about and it might be possible that Mr. Hunky Mchunky britches could be the front runner for the stud of the year..."

"Well, there's only one real way of finding out for sure..." Jason offered: "We need to make sure our newest arrival Matt knows exactly what to ask mam... err, Aphrodite... when and if he goes on his little vision quest."

"The sooner the better." Max concluded, drawing their attention back to him: "Make no mistake, we've ruffled a lot of feathers and stirred a few pots the last couple of months and we'd be stupid not to think, that at some point, there's not gonna be some serious blowback heading our way!"

"I ache in places I didn't even know I could ache" Matt McCormick grumbled as he plopped himself unceremoniously down on the ground next to Gavin Hollis, who sat next to Baxter Whitmore watching as the others there with them, this particular Friday afternoon, continued to spar with one another under the ever watchful scrutiny of Max Donnelly and Atticus Walker.

When he and Blake had first arrived, just a little over a week and a half ago, he never realized that part of their stay here at the Devil Dawg Compound would also include a strict regimen of exercise and hand-to-hand combat training. While he was still trying to adjust to the rigorous physical toll it was exacting, he couldn't help but notice how much Blake seemed to revel in it.

Even now, as he propped himself up on one elbow, nearly exhausted, wiping the sweat from his brow with one of the towels Baxter had brought with them, Blake continued to grapple with Barin Young as Atticus continuously shouted instructions from the sidelines at him.

Despite the size difference, Blake, being a good five inches taller and having about a quarter more bulk to Barin's five foot eleven inches, the more wiry Barin, was considerably more agile, striking with such speed and precision, it was sometimes difficult to visually track his motions.

Matt couldn't recall ever seeing someone move as fast as he did. That is, with one notable exception...

"Hiya boys, takin' a break?" Princess/Timmy taunted from directly behind them as Dalton, JD, and Jake trailed slightly behind him, making their way toward their position.

As both JD and Princess squatted down beside them, JD carefully positioned his son Jakson, who was still in his baby carrier, down in front of him, while Dalton and Jake veered off making their way over to join Atticus and Max.

It wasn't long before Atticus had them both partnered; Jake with Arliss and to Matt's surprise, Dalton with Coach Myers, who prior to that, had just been sitting idly on the sidelines silently taking it all in.

"I thought Atticus didn't like pairing us humans with someone from the Heritage during these combat exercises?" Matt queried, distinctly recalling Atticus had told him, that Matt could only spar with either Gavin, Brock, or Princess.

"That's just it..." Gavin interjected: "Liz's preliminary analysis showed that he's been infused, on the cellular level, with Heritage genes." he explained, adding: "Her test couldn't quite determine where he fits in on the Heritage scale though. Even Max's keen alpha senses haven't been able to pinpoint that yet."

"He's a gamma..." Baxter noted, as a matter of fact, his voice trailing off to a soft whisper as the silver ring around his green iris's flashed briefly, causing a visible shudder to ripple through their small group, before the light faded and Baxter turned his head toward them, smiling warmly: "Protector if I'm not mistaken."

"You've gotten a lot more interesting since you and Billy started boinking." Princess chuckled slightly, winking at Baxter lasciviously.

"Having sex with Billy seems to have that effect on people." Baxter concluded with near clinical detachment, looking first at Princess then at Gavin, causing the former to lower his gaze and blush, while Princess continued to stare back at him keenly, in a momentarily brief respite, before exclaiming: "Congratulations! Game, set, and match Baxter Whitmore."

"Haven't you heard Princess? Reading is fundamental." Baxter stated, a small wisp of a smile cracking the corners of his lips, sending Princess into a small fit of giggling as Gavin sighed and rolled his eyes.

Matt was still trying to discern what the trio was talking about, when a flurry of commotion followed by several deep growls caught all their attention, just in time to witness Chuck Myers deadlift a squirming Dalton Becker over his expanding muscular frame and hurl him almost effortlessly, into the air, only for him to come tumbling down hard against the ground, skidding and rolling until he finally came to a stop nearly thirty feet away.

Almost instantly Dalton jumped to his feet and began to shift, his already large, massive limbs and frame expanding until he stood fully erect, a nearly seven-foot giant of snarling fur, fangs, and claws; eyes blazing a brilliant amber, the beast, that was just seconds ago Dalton Becker, growling ominously as it began its enraged, slavering charge toward an equally bestial looking, red-eyed Chuck Myers.

Matt had barely let out a gasp of shocked surprise when seemingly out of nowhere, Billy Donnelly stepped between the two charging figures, his arms extended in a warding caution toward both of them.

Matt didn't know exactly what happened next. There had been shouts, gasps, and growls reverberating within the valley that was shouldered and reverberated by the woodland hills that sprawled all around them. But, what he could recall, at the apex of the moment, right before the two snarling beasts were about to converge on Billy's position, there was a blinding flash of brilliant argent and the next thing Matt remembered was trying, with extreme effort, to lift his head from off the ground, from where he had seemingly prostrated himself flat against the moistened grass.

Managing with great difficulty, Matt looked around him as he tried to clear his head. Two lone figures still yet stood erect, Billy Donnelly, who was still on the exercise field, and Baxter Whitmore, who remained slightly off to Matt's side.

As his vision and head began to clear, Matt noted the kneeling figures interspersed around him.

Gavin and JD were face down, while Princess knelt on one bent knee facing in Billy's direction.

All around him, similar actions played throughout. Max, Billy's father, knelt on one knee, just like Princess did, as well as Jason Griffen. Everyone else was face down or bent over with their foreheads touching the ground, just as Matt had found himself to be, mere seconds ago.

In a hushed, preternatural silence, Matt watched as Baxter slowly crossed the field to join Billy, his right hand coming up gently to cover the spot over Billy's heart, as their heads tilted toward each other, eyes locked until their foreheads touched affectionately.

That singular action seemed to break whatever hold that had subdued them all and to Matt's continued astonishment, a chorus of forlorn howls began to peel in the distance, coming in all directions, only to be echoed by all those of the Heritage gathered on the field, and as abruptly as it had all started, it ended, with Baxter and Billy walking off together, arm and arm as Max and Atticus sprung those around them into action, tending to the still prone figures of Dalton Becker and Chuck Myers.

Matt felt the warmth of someone's hand on his shoulder, even as his eyes sought out Blake. He turned his head to catch the angelic face of Princess beaming brightly, his azure blue eyes twinkling: "See, I told you things get pretty exciting around here!"

Still feeling discombobulated and ever so out of place, Matt was still trying to formulate a comment, when Princess thrust his arm over his should and steered him away from the group, and back toward the compound.

"It's time we had a chat Matt, there's so much you don't know yet and I think it's high time we catch you up to speed, especially about your future and the wondrous path that lies before you!"

JD was pissed!

Well, actually, he was more than just pissed, he was furious and outraged.

The day before, Jake had informed him that because he had to spend much of his week at the Marine base during normal business hours, at least until he was permanently assigned to the DDC (Devil Dawg Compound), he needed to, at the very least, start spending his weekends there to help his Alpha train and ready all the new recruits in his pack to combat readiness.

JD knew that Jason had been expanding his pack, with Princess verifying that it was becoming almost a daily occurrence that someone new was showing up at the main gate seeking out the new young alpha in the hope of joining his pack.

In addition, both Jason and Atticus were constantly being inundated with other regional alphas just showing up in hopes of checking out what it was Jason was doing and what he was hoping to achieve.

Apparently, Princess told him, there were a lot of alphas that had grown discontent with the limitations placed on them, with most agreeing, that they too felt that there was a growing threat looming in the horizon from the eastern European packs.

It wasn't uncommon knowledge that the eastern packs were often openly dismissive of their western counterparts, but the once semi-open channels of communication between that side of the world and theirs were rapidly drying up.

Plus, there were always rumors. Little intel tidbits and gossip coming from once well-established pack leaders suddenly stepping down, being replaced or disappearing altogether, as well as an increase of Council of Greges sanctions and edicts against those they felt were straying from the path highlighted and propagated within the teachings of the Codex.

As an example of this growing unrest, his own father had made it clear, that within recent history, what had been attempted against his brother, though common in bygone eras, wasn't something that had been attempted in centuries, especially here in the west.

Their European counterparts had always been far more touchy, especially about territorial rights, and this was the main reason why those in the west basically had been ignoring, what was clearly now a growing dissolution of stability that had thus far endured for centuries. Give or take a few indiscretions here and there.

Keeping all that in mind and doing his level best at trying to understand current pack politics and fully agreeing with his husband and Alpha Jason's decision to try and be prepared for just about any contingency; it had come to him as a complete shock, that after the surprising event at the training field involving his brother, it had subsequently followed, upon return to the campsite, after finally getting his son Jakson to settle down, that he was now confronted with the sight of his crazy, murderous brother Michael and his equally guilty accomplish, roaming around free. Worse yet, learning that Jason had ordered it!

'Tell me you didn't know about this?" JD demanded, handing Jakson over to Barin, who cooed with delight at the silly faces Barin instantly started making at him.

Jake held his hands up defensively, eyes growing wide at the level of vehemence being aimed in his direction by his irate spouse.

"JD, please, just calm down, and let's discuss this..." Jake stammered, cautiously taking a step toward him.

"Fuck that! Did you know?" JD blurted both his tone and tightening muscles leaving little doubt he was probably seconds away from escalating his words with action.

Jake continued to approach him timidly, his voice low, calm, and as non-threatening as he could make it: "Jason thought it best if it came from both of us..." JD didn't let him finish; his anger spilled over into rage: "I'm not fucking married to Jason asshole."

JD's declaration halted Jake in his tracks and a look of genuine concern subsumed his expressions as JD closed the distance between them and jabbed his finger in Jake's chest and shouted in his face: "Pack everything up and load it back in the vehicle, we're leaving!"

The look on Jake's face mirrored the conflict warring within him. Torn between his service to his Alpha and his duty to his spouse. His hesitancy and internal deliberation only added fuel to the raging fire that was consuming the one person he loved more than life itself.

But, Jake was bound by blood and oath to serve his Alpha and his pack, and now he was faced with the impossible decision to choose between the two and knowing full well, that the two were one and the same as far as he was concerned. JD might as well have just asked him to cut his own heart out.

Mustering his strength and as calmly as he could, Jake tried to offer him an alternative course of action, one he desperately hoped his irate husband would consider, that also just so happened to coincide with what had been the original plan Jason had suggested over the phone when he told him about his decision concerning the temporary accommodations for Michael and Kent.

At the time, it had sounded like a good plan; the two of them breaking the news to JD, with Jason explaining how he had come to this decision, which in theory, would have alleviated some of the pressure he was now experiencing and hoping to avoid.

But, sometimes even the best of plans turn into a complete cluster fuck, and for Jake, he was now the epicenter of this particular maelstrom, leaving him with little recourse other than to just try and salvage at least a portion of it, by suggesting: "I didn't tell you because Jason thought it best that it came from the both of us. He wanted to explain his reasons to you personally."

At first, he thought that maybe JD was considering what he had just said; the expression on his face was almost unreadable and for the briefest of moments he was hopeful...

"Ya know what?..." JD said, his tone icy and cold: "Forget what I just said, Jakson and I will just hitchhike back home ourselves and you can just stay here from now on, we'll make do without you."

JD didn't bother to see the effects his devastating words had on Jake, he just whirled around, thinking to just grab his son, his backpack, and the carry all he used to store what he needed to tend his child.

But, at some point, his dad and Carl had slipped in unnoticed behind him.

Carl now held Jakson in his arms and his dad stood directly in his path, less than three feet away, glowering back at him, with his arms folded across his chest.

The stern look and the dominant stance weren't new to JD, he had seen it many times before throughout his short lifetime, and it always preceded a lecture about how he had just fucked up. This time was no different from the others. Except for this time there was an unexpected twist.

Much to JD's chagrin, his dad started slow clapping, his keen, sharp gaze drilling right into his gut before confidently exclaiming: "Congratulations sport, you've just shown me what an idiot I've been."

His dad's words confused him since he had been certain, prior to this moment, that if anyone would have understood the rage he felt, it would have been his father. After all, wasn't his dad the one that had banished Michael from his sight, and disowned him for his egregious attempt at both patricide and fratricide, all in one night?

Didn't the man that stood before him now, to protect those he loved, kill the very woman that had given him and his brothers birth?

"Don't look so shocked son. It's always been a matter of time before my own words and deeds would come back to haunt me."

His dad stepped forward and placed a large hand on is shoulder, kneading it gently, capturing his eyes with his own. There was no anger or accusation in his words, no hint of anything except perhaps remorse: "Do you remember, not long ago, when I held you in my arms while you finally accepted the consequences of your previous actions that culminated in the birth of your son?"

JD didn't answer verbally, just merely nodded his head in silence as he simultaneously felt the knot in his stomach suddenly tighten further as he also felt the waves of emotions his father's words and his own memories of that night invoked.

He had felt lost. Like he had been all alone in a world that was rapidly crashing down around him, threatening to bury him in the rubble of his own bad choices.

That night had humbled him. It humbled him because his father's mere comforting presence had finally gotten it through his thick skull, that he wasn't alone, that he would never be alone, despite his actions, despite his bad choices.

That night had taught him the importance of family and the power of a father's love for his child.

Max's hand tightened on his shoulder: "Look around you sport, see the consequences your words have had on those who care more about you than they do about themselves."

His dad's words weighed heavily on him as he raised his head to look around him and caught sight of his own beautiful son, gurgling contentedly in Carl's comforting arms.

He turned slightly, taking in all the faces that stared back at him, each a mask reflecting the unsettling unease they felt.

But it wasn't until he pivoted toward Jake, that he truly saw the devastating ramifications his angry words had on the man he had sworn a vow to love through better or worse.

Jake looked defeated, his eyes unable to even look at him, in either fear or dread of what he might do or say next.

This wasn't a man who could ever consciously betray him. This was the man whose every action focused on protecting and providing for him and his son... their son.

All the anger that had welled up inside him, had festered in the deepest recesses of his consciousness, shattered into a thousand shards at the realization at what he had just done.

He felt his father's hand slip from his shoulder and gently nudge him toward his husband, an action barely needed as he rushed toward Jake and wrapped his arms around him, pulling and squeezing him tightly against him, his face buried against his chest, muffling the words his trembling lips could barely mumble: "I'm such a dick, Jake, please forgive me."

If he had expected anything else, that to fell to the wayside as Jake's powerful arms embraced him, his soft, deep voice a gentle rumble in his ears: "I'll always be here for you JD, you and Jakson."

They stood like that for a moment before he eased himself away from Jake, as he tried to regain some semblance of his composure.

Looking back at his father, who now stared off into the distance to where his brother, Michael, and Kent sat, around a small campfire they had made, bowing their heads and doing their best to avoid the scrutiny of his father's gaze. JD turned back to Jake: "I need to talk to Jason... alone..." He added, still bristling over the Alpha's decision to allow such a threat to the safety of himself and his family, to wander around freely: "Please stay with our son and don't let either of those two assholes anywhere near him, okay?"

"I'll guard him with my life," Jake vowed, taking Jakson from Carl's arms and securely holding him against his chest.

Jake didn't need to put it that way, JD had no doubt he would do exactly that. But as he veered off and made his way down the path toward Jason's cabin, the implied potential violence against any would-be threat of their son as opposed to the dichotomous gentility of the way he gingerly cradled Jakson protectively, brought a smile to his face, one that slowly waned the closer his approach to the Alpha's cabin took him.

Ever since the night his older brother attacked him and his own mother threatened to kill him, there was a part of him, deep within the recesses of his ID, that he had compartmentalized and shoved to the side, leaving a deep-seated, lingering sense of betrayal and abandonment. Not only from his brother and mother, but from the one person he had just started to open his heart to. One, up to the moment of his transformation into a large hairy, dark, primal beast, he was absolutely sure would've stood by his side and faced anything thrown their way.

Everyone, Jason included, had tried on multiple occasions to alleviate his feelings of abandonment, and consciously, while he could discern the logic of their reasoning, he was always left with a needling voice of doubt that no amount of reasoning could wash away.

He had done his best to suppress it, tried as hard as he could to put his best foot forward and at least be as amiable as possible when around Jason. But, no matter what, he still feared and distrusted his own feelings, since it was those very same feelings that had nearly gotten him killed.

JD was self-aware enough to know this wasn't all about what he currently felt about Jason. Up till now, it seemed his whole life had been one series after another of bad choices, all of which he had made based on how he had felt at the time. Jason was just one, in a long line of people he had trusted and put his faith in, only to either be betrayed or abandoned later on.

His mother had been the first, leaving when he was just a toddler, and her continued absence throughout the rest of his life, until that fateful night, when she had threatened to kill him and was only thwarted from doing so, by his dad. And of course, there was Jake, back when he was thirteen, which was when Jake stopped visiting and had ceased almost all communications after years of them being almost inseparable.

Luckily, Jake's reasoning, as silly and stupid as JD found them when he finally confessed his love for him, those very reasons had sounded so much like the Jake he had always known and remembered, that he could overlook whatever trepidation he had fostered.

Then of course there was Andrea...though he didn't exactly ever trust her, or any of her friends, he had wanted to, which had ultimately allowed her the opportunity to take advantage of him.

And of course, there was Michael, his older brother. The Mike he encountered the night his mother died, was nothing like the one he had known growing up. The Mike he remembered was the typical older brother, teasing and taunting, but always presented as just playful brotherly banter, but underneath, there was always the support and the feeling of safety and trust that was only rivaled by his dad and Carl.

The truth was, as much as those others had hurt him, somehow, what happened that night, when Jason transformed and left him and the others there to face what JD had been so certain would be their untimely death; that singular action had broken something inside him.

These thoughts raced through his mind as he raised his hand to knock on the cabin door. He fully understood that Jason's reasons for allowing his murderous brother free reign to roam around as he pleased, was only part of the fuel that fed the anger that drove him to this confrontation.

It was only a few seconds before the door swung open and he was greeted by a grinning Atticus Walker; whose smile faded quickly as he stepped aside to allow JD entrance into what was once his childhood home away from home during their frequent stays at the compound while growing up.

JD surveyed the interior until his vision focused on the reason for his presence and the source of his current ire.

Jason sat at a round table off to the right, directly in front of the double french doors, bracketed by Danal and Brock, with the chair directly across from him, pulled out and slightly askew, indicating that Atticus had occupied the spot until his interruption.

One look in his direction, and the wane smile that had begun to form at the corners of his mouth upon seeing him, dispersed just as quickly as their gazes locked.

Jason rose from his seat and without breaking eye contact, he instructed the others that they would take a brief recess and asked them to clear the room so that he and his quest could speak in private.

Brock was the only one to make comment as they all made their way toward the door, with the gunny sergeant grumbling: "Even a blind man could have seen this one coming." as he maneuvered around him to make his exit.

JD waited a moment, trying to maintain his composure as Atticus pulled the front door shut behind him, leaving them alone.

Debating how best to express his grievances, without sounding like a raging lunatic like he had with Jake earlier, he was slightly caught off guard when Jason, who had moved around the table and now leaned his ass against it for support as he continued to regard JD with what he could only describe as a calm, but stoic demeanor.

"Judging by the way you're looking at me right now, I'm guessing you're not here for a social visit."

Instantly, Jason regretted the words that had just escaped his mouth as well as his futile attempt at levity.

Before JD could hurl the scathing retort he knew would be forthcoming, Jason threw his hands up defensively: "Sorry about that, you should know by now that humor is my first defense when I'm put on the spot."

"Humor is supposed to be funny..." JD retorted, adding: "Do you hear me laughing?"

For the first time, Jason dropped his gaze to the floor, avoiding the accusatory glare meant to bore right into his skull.

"No, I don't suppose I do.." Jason offered sheepishly, but quickly added in his own defense: "As of late, there doesn't seem like there's anything I do that meets with your approval."

JD did chuckle then, more out of irony and anger than any sense of humor, and it was solely intended to mock the only other person within earshot, before giving his icy response: "What did you imagine would happen when I saw the person that nearly took my head off and tried to assassinate my entire family? Did you think that I'd just shrug my shoulders and start singing Que sera sera and just let bygones be bygones?"

"Don't be ridiculous JD, it was never my intent you find out like this." Jason shot back, adding: "I thought I had more time to break it to you. Michael and Kent have been holding up by themselves out in the woods since their release, I had no idea they had made their way back to the main camp-sight until moments before you got here."

JD just shrugged his comments off, rolling his eyes to the ceiling as he zeroed in on what he perceived as the one glaring flaw in his self-defense and actions: "Oh blah, blah, blah Jason. Ya wanna know what you could have done to avoid all this?" JD fumed, his hands clutching into fists at his sides as his anger boiled over: "You could have just left them locked up for the rest of eternity and thrown away the key!"

JD paused for a second, trying his best to reel his anger in, though arguably with limited success as he concluded with the deepest cut of all: "The Jason I thought I knew before that night, would have never allowed this, or that to happen in the first place. Then again, I guess this just proves, that what I thought we once shared, was nothing more than me yet again believing that someone actually gave a rat's ass about me, and ya know what? From where I'm standing, this whole Heritage thing is nothing more than dog eat dog and I for one, want nothing more to do with it!"

His fury mostly spent, JD turned with the thought of making a quick exit, leaving Jason to play at whatever games he and the others were concocting within these four walls.

Right now, all he wanted to do, was to hold his son and get Jake to take them as far away from this place as they could get; silently vowing to himself, that it would be a cold day in hell before he and Jakson ever stepped foot in this place again.

"So that's it huh?" Came Jason's somber voice from behind him, just as his hand reached for the doorknob.

JD froze for a second, silently wondering what more could possibly be said.

"What about your dad and Carl?" He asked, his voice thick with emotion: "How about Billy and Baxter?"

JD's shoulders tensed slightly, knowing full well where this was heading.

"What about Jake JD, does he get a say in this or are you done with him too?"

There was no anger in Jason's voice. No spite or mockery intended, at least as far as he could tell and if he wasn't mistaken, and judging by the timbre of his voice, there was something he was holding back, some point, that even now he struggled with; as if once spoken, it could either be wielded against him or bridge some narrow divide.

It did give him pause and was just enough to pique his interest: "Is it your intent, as Jake's Alpha, to use your bond to keep Jake from me?

JD had turned to confront Jason, his defiance subsuming every word of his query, certain of Jason's intentions and motivations. But, one look at the forlorn Alpha, revealed a different story, but it was his response that gave JD further pause.

"I think the real question is, how will Jake feel once you badger him into asking to be released from his bond with me, knowing full well the only reason you're doing so, is to lash out at me for something I'm not even guilty of."

Jason didn't even give JD time to formulate a response, the shocked look on his face denoted that nothing constructive would come from the deep well of untold pain locked behind the fragile barriers he had erected around his heart and the carefully manufactured outrage, that kept the two of them at a distance.

But Jason had grown weary of pretending that everything was alright. That JD''s heart would eventually heal and at some point, they might actually reach a time and place where he and JD might at least be friends once again.

It was in this brief span of heartbeats, that during one candid confession by Brock, about how Max had helped him by forcing him to admit he was gay. He had learned that Max had begun his process of healing by making Brock read a passage written on a plaque hanging on the wall of Max's old office back at the Marine base in Albany.

Verum Tuae sui or translated into English to thine own-self be true.

While Jason was certain that there had been more to the story than Brock had admitted, the axiom, as well as its message still held true.

Jason knew the things JD believed about him weren't true and because of what had happened to him and all the doubts that night during Billy's Heritage ceremony left hanging heavily on his mind and in his heart, Jason had suppressed his own feelings, his own wants, so as not to further burden JD.

Plus, the way JD had clung to Jake the next day, coupled with the trauma he had suffered, Jason had made the rushed and hasty decision to sacrifice his own happiness for the comfort JD derived from the reassuring and familiar solace found in Jake's arms.

But he was tired of hiding the truth and Jason was now determined that the lie upon which JD had constructed this barrier between them, did nothing but harm for the both of them.

JD deserved the whole truth, not just his skewed perception of it, and Jason's truth was, he was sick of shouldering the lugubrious yolk it had become. If in the end, it settled nothing between them, upon revelation, at least he had done his best to put things to right.

Jason didn't let JD respond. He laid out all the reasons that had led up to his decision to grant minimal freedom to Michael and Kent; carefully detailing as best he could, the conclusion of his mother's exhaustive testing and her subsequent, professional opinion.

The truth was, Michael and Kent were just two more, in a long line of people, manipulated and coerced into doing Monaca Donnelly's bidding.

"As much as I want to share your desire for retribution JD, as Alpha Regent of the Southern District, I sometimes have to wear a different hat, much like the one your father had to wear when you stood before the Quorum," Jason stated, attempting to explain the reasons for his actions.

"Yeah, yeah... the needs of the many speech, I've heard it before from my dad." JD huffed, doubt, clouded by residual anger, still muffling his reasoning. But, as JD turned once again as if to leave, Jason tossed out one more tidbit for JD to mull over.

"JD wait... I never told you the whole truth about why my beast tore out of the cabin that night..."

Jason's words sounded like a plea to JD. Annoyed, he turned to confront him once again but came up short of hurling more vitriol at him as his gaze fell upon him.

He didn't know what he had expected to see after pivoting around; imaging a cocky alpha, stringing him along by dangling some metaphorical carrot just out of his grasp, but what he actually saw, was the personification of that once timid boy on his front porch that one fateful night, the one who feared his response after revealing his intentions by stealing a single emboldened kiss.

The feelings of that evening pushed their way to the forefront, brushing aside the thinly veiled trepidation of his lumbering heart.

Those memories still haunted him and for months now, had come to feel foreign and distant: "Okay....I'll bite." JD bristled cautiously: "What could have possibly driven you and your beast from the cabin?"

"Rage" Jason answered, his gaze dropping to the floor again.

JD shook his head in disbelief, reminding himself and Jason that this was nothing new. Rage was par for the course for a first-time shift, that's why they always bind them to the pylons at the ceremonial grounds during their Heritage ceremony.

Jason stammered for a moment as if still bulking at the notion of saying something that once said could never be taken back and it was really getting on JD's last nerve.

"For fuck sake Jason, either spit it out or I'm leaving... for good this time!" to emphasize his point JD reached for the doorknob again and gave it a tentative twist.

"The rage didn't come from the shift JD, the shift came, because that night, at that precise moment, I caught the scent of something that pushed me over the edge, but not out of anger..." Jason paused, his head shaking from side to side for a second as he peered up at JD from below his brow, the irises of his eyes glowing faintly... his words left hanging somewhere in the space between them.

JD tried to pull his eyes away, but his feet felt transfixed to the floor as Jason slowly stood erect, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as a metaphysical battle seemed to be waged within him.

"The scent spurred the change, out of a need to protect and then to exact vengeance on anyone near it, friend or foe, both it found to be indistinguishable...." Jason's words grew thicker and deeper as if he were trying to control a snarl.

"I ran JD, because I could barely contain it and I needed to get it away and focus its rage on those deserving of it, not on the innocent ones I left behind in the cabin."

JD's mind swam in confusion, reeled at the thought of a bestial Jason rending everyone in the cabin to shreds and worse of all, because of some scent.

The question formed on his lips before he could even fathom the ramifications of asking it: "What kind of scent could possibly bring about the carnage you describe?"

Jason remained silent, breathing heavily through his nose in short staccato snorts, glaring back at JD from across the room.

Impatient for the answer, JD anxiously blurted out: "Answer me...what did you smell Jason?"

With a sigh, the struggle within Jason to contain the impact of speaking the one word he had been keeping from him for months now, slipped with a gulp and a whisper, leaving him helplessly exposed and vulnerable against its unfettered utterance... "Mate."

"So, on a scale of one through infinity, how much do you miss me?" This had been the question Talia Brooks, his best friend since first grade had asked him, when they face timed earlier that day, during one of his homesick bouts of micro-depression he still suffered from time to time.

All in all, things hadn't really been that bad, even with the rocky start upon their arrival when Billy Donnelly's dad had practically scared the crap out of all of them when he manhandled Dr. Ventrov the way he had. Not that Matt thought he deserved any better, but Max's intensity and sheer raw power, had peaked the meter on his growing and ever-expanding senses.

For the rest of that weekend, things ran a bit differently as he and Blake did their best to fit in, as well as get better acquainted with their surroundings and the various people who frequented the DDC.

Blake, in particular, seemed enthusiastically keen on the physical training and self-defense courses available to them and had spent much of their initial time participating as much as possible or as much as his body could withstand before exhaustion set in and he was forced to recuperate.

Matt, on the other hand, spent more time with Gavin and Princess, though as their stay progressed, he and Baxter Whitmore seemed to hit it off best; sharing many similar interests in music as well as a near-slavish devotion to reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; even sharing Willow as their favorite character.

All of that had been fine, even a bit exciting, but when that first weekend came to an end and almost every one they had been bonding with had vacated the place, to head back to their respective homes, due to having school the following day, that the first couple of weekdays following, dramatically altered their opinion about their current living arrangements.

Both he and Blake, absent the companionship of their new friends, felt less like they were on some new adventure and more like they were existing in a cage of their own choosing.

Luckily, the one called Carl had taken noticed and assured them, that their current living arrangements were only temporary as they were merely waiting for their school records to catch up with them, before settling them into more stable accommodations.

It was that first Thursday afternoon, they found out what those accommodations would be.

Billy and Baxter showed up unexpectedly and even before Blake and Matt could make their way back to the camp sight after Carl pulled them from their training exercises, located next to the Ceremonial grounds, the duo was already loading their personal gear into the back of Billy's truck.

As it turned out, the arrangements Carl had made, were for Matt and Blake to move in with Billy and Baxter, who had two spare rooms in their trailer.

Billy had just winked at them when Carl explained they would each have their own room, and neither Blake or Matt saw it necessary to correct him, on either their relationship or their future sleeping arrangements.

That had been over a week ago and while his and Blake's room wasn't as sizeable as either was accustomed too, it perfectly suited their needs, and Billy and Baxter couldn't have been a better choice for roommates, even if they themselves had chosen them.

School, on the other hand, was considerably different. The most notable being, its size.

Blake and Matt came from a small, sprawling rural community and while Albany was no major metropolis by any means, it did have a thriving river culture, a university, and a military base to help boost its population.

It did help already having a few familiar faces and it didn't take long for either of them to find their niche at the new school.

Billy and Baxter had even gotten Blake to sign up for the school wrestling team, while Princess had all but insisted Matt try out for gymnastics, and while he was certain his tryout for the coach had been, at best, a marginal disappointment, there was no one more surprised than Matt when the coach had agreed to take him on in his first-year fundamentals course.

Considering Matt was a senior, he was more than certain Princess/Timmy had somehow used his status as the team's star athlete, to influence the outcome of the coach's decision.

That was one of the first things Matt learned. Princess/Timmy was like a force of nature; unpredictable, energetic, and unyielding in his exuberance. The epitome of the phrase yes we can or in his case, more singular in translation.

He was also one hell of a ruthless taskmaster, but one that garnered respect because of the results.

While that was noticeable at school in the gym, it was greatly amplified on the training field at the compound. Everyone sought his personal instruction and anyone he took under his wing improved their combat skills by leaps and bounds...quite literally.

Princess/Timmy was a whirling dervish of ferocity, that even the upper echelon of those comprising the Heritage, struggled to contend or hold their own when facing off against him.

It was toward the end of October, just a few scant weeks after his and Blake's arrival, and after a particularly grueling training session that autumnal Friday afternoon with Princess, that the latter, who had barely broken a sweat after nearly an hour's worth of exhaustive sparring with Matt, which left him nearly gasping for breath and already feeling the first vestiges of what he was sure would be a residual stiff ache in just about every muscle in his body, just plopped himself, unceremoniously down beside him and with the most mischievous Cheshire cat grin subsuming his handsome cherubic features, just blurted out: "How do you feel about taking a little family trip tomorrow evening?"

"Family trip?" Matt queried, between gasps of air, not sure he understood the question correctly since he knew that his dad, mom, and older brother Brian, were still back in Kansas, having talked to his brother, just moments before he began his session with Princess/Timmy.

Princes threw his arm around his shoulder with one hand and patted his chest with the other, still beaming broadly: "Why yes sis, I think its high time you pay your respects to Mama, and ya know what?"

Matt didn't have a clue what he was talking about, but decided to humor him anyway with a simple monosyllabic response: "Wuh?"

Princess winked at him, as the iris's of his eyes flashed a brilliant azure blue, twinkling like two stars in the evening sky: "I have a feelin', Mama's just gonna love you!"