Cyrus stops in front of the door next to his new room. He raises his knuckles to knock softly on the wooden door. He waits a few seconds only to hear nothing from the other side. He knocks again, nothing.

He decides to open the door himself. Luckily, it's unlocked. Cyrus peeks into the room from the small crack he's made for himself. His eyes glaze over the room before they spot Lance at his desk, his back to Cyrus, working on something.

Cyrus clears his throat, letting his presence be known, "Lance? Can I come in?"

No answer. Cyrus allows himself to walk into the room, shutting the door behind him. He slowly approaches the distracted Lance, and his ears finally pick up on music coming from the headphones in Lance's ears. Cyrus quietly approaches his mate, stopping just behind him. He curiously peeks over his shoulder, seeing what he's so focused on drawing.

Cyrus's eyes widened. It was him. Lance was drawing him. The drawing was so beautifully sketched. It was a drawing of Cyrus smiling, from that moment on the cliff. It was memory perfectly caught on the piece of paper, which Lance was adamant on keeping this memory stored somewhere else than his memory. Now that Cyrus had focused on all of the other papers, they too, were of him. They perfectly captured every single detail of his face. Lance must of spent countless hours on each of these drawings.

Cyrus didn't know how to express what he was feeling. It was endearing.
But... Lance only felt this way about the real Cyrus. He had a mate bond with Cyrus, not Ethan. These feelings weren't meant for him. This love... this bond between them... did he have the right to return it?

Cyrus decides to stop hovering over Lance and places a hand on Lance's shoulder. Lance immediately jumps and snaps his head around, his eyes wide. Cyrus pulls his hand away and waves at the flustered boy. Lance immediately rips off his headphones and uses his arms to cover his drawings, in an effort to hide them. Lance's face is beat red, "D-Did you see?"

Cyrus suppresses a smirk, "Yes."

"O-Oh." Lance squirms with embarrassment. Cyrus continues to watch him with a growing amusement. When Lance tries to very discreetly push all the drawings off Cyrus off the desk - despite Cyrus already having seen them - Cyrus burst out laughing. Lance's eyes widen as he looks at Cyrus, who continues to laugh. Lance begins to calm down at the sound of his laugh; a sweet and angelic melody to his ears.

"Sorry, I'm not laughing because they were bad-" Cyrus starts, his voice shaky with amusement, "They were really good." His warm eyes lock onto Lance, who awkwardly returns the smile, his face now red for different reasons.

"So you don't think it's... creepy?" Lance asks, not trying to hide his drawings anymore.

"No. Although..."

"What?" Lance immediately tenses up again.

Cyrus shines a uneven smirk, "Don't you think it would be easier if you had the actual model right in front of you? Rather than drawing from memory? But... anyway... I have something to ask you, if you don't mind."

Lance blinks, astonished that Cyrus would offer to model for him so casually. He was excited that he might one day get a chance to draw him. He quickly cleared his throat, finally having calmed down. He spun around in his chair to face Cyrus, "Of course, what is it?"

Lance frowns when he notices Cyrus isn't smiling anymore, and instead looks very serious. Lance patiently waits as Cyrus gathers his thoughts.

"Well..." He begins, "It's about my wolf-"

"He's asleep." Lance finishes.

Cyrus furrows his brows, "How did you know?"

"Our wolves can sense another wolf. So when I met you, my wolf noticed that your wolf was asleep. It's not surprising, your wolf was the same way when we were younger."

"I see... but, I don't understand why that is."

"Well," Lance rubs his jaw, "There's only two reasons why a wolf would go to sleep. Either because the host refused to shift, and it hasn't been used in a long time, so it feels it doesn't serve a purpose. Or, a wolf can go through something severly traumatic and shut down altogether, as a sort of defense mechanism."

Cyrus is silent as he absorbs Lance's words. Traumatic? Did this body go through something traumatic to make his wolf go to sleep? Is that why they died in the middle of the woods? How exactly did they die? There were so many questions with so little answers - it made his head ache.

"Is there a way to wake him up? My wolf?" Cyrus eagerly asks.

Lance blinks, "Well, of course. The most obvious way is to shift - that will force your wolf to awake. Do you remember how to shift?"

Cyrus opens his mouth to say yes, but stops himself. Shift? He witnessed Lance shifting once, it looked so easy. But then again, Lance has had plenty of practice. Cyrus realized he didn't know the first thing about shifting - his memories would of told him how. But he didn't have any memories.
Cyrus looked down towards the ground and shook his head, almost ashamed. He was to become the most powerful wolf and yet he didn't even know how to shift?

Cyrus flinched when he felt a hand rub his head. He looked up and saw Lance standing before him, smiling down at him reassuringly, "Don't look so down, I can teach you later, okay? How about when it's dark? You'll have a better chance shifting under the moon."

Cyrus blinked. Lance's gesture immediately washed away all of his worries. It was a strange feeling. Just Lance touching him, even a simple gesture such as this, it made his heart race. He knew it was because of the mate bond, but still... he's never felt this way. Cyrus mumbled, "Okay," not making any effort to tear his eyes away from Lance's golden gaze. Those eyes, he felt like he could look into them forever. He had never seen a pair of eyes so beautifully enchanting.

Lance cleared his throat and pulled his hand away, his face turning beat red. Not a second later, the door to Lance's room swung open, revealing Rudy. Is that why he pulled away? Because he knew someone was coming? Cyrus thought. That thought made his lips quirk.

Rudy took a moment to process the situation; specifically how the pair were standing so close, that Lance was blushing, and that Cyrus was smirking. Rudy cleared his throat, "Uh... please continue. Just wanted to let you know dinner was ready." Rudy stood in the doorway for a second before quickly turning around and shutting the dooe behind him. A pair of heavy footsteps running down the hall could be heard.

There was an awkward silence in the air as both were left back alone. Lance broke the silence, "Uhm, you hungry?"

Cyrus quickly nodded. He really was hungry. He was too distracted with everything else that he neglected his growing hunger.

"Well, follow me then," Lance made his way to the door with Cyrus following behind. Lance opened the door and turned to face Cyrus, "Just a warning - dinner is... well, it's about what you would expect from a pack of hungry wolves."

Cyrus nodded and followed the reluctant Lance down the hallway and down the stairs towards the dining room. The closer they came to the room, the louder it became. Voices chatting and laughing over each other, almost as if they were competing to see who could be the loudest. When they reached the dining room, Cyrus took in the long table filled with members of the pack. They were sitting side by side, there wasn't a space left unfilled. Not all members of the pack ate here though, that would be practically impossible, considering there were hundreds of members. It was only who lived here in the house, and others who were lucky enough to reserve a spot to eat here. Eating with the Alpha, it was what most wanted to do at least once in their lifetime.

On the table were mountains upon mountains of steaming hot food ready to be devoured. The main course was what looked to be a large roasted pig, roasted a golden crisp brown. It was surrounded by multiple side dishes like creamy mashed potatoes, honey glazed carrots, and a few pies here and there. Cyrus could feel his mouth watering as the scent wafted to his nose, but he quickly composed himself.

The rowdy pack settled down as they took notice of their Alpha and his mate entering the room. The pair sat down on two chairs already prepared for them on the far end of the table, sat side by side. Cyrus thanked Lance as he pulled out the chair for him, before taking his place beside him.

Cyrus couldn't tear his eyes away from the full course meal in front of him, he wouldn't be surprised if he started to drool. He could feel his stomach growling out of hunger.

"What is it?" Lance leaned in to whisper in Cyrus's ear, "You're not vegan, are you?"

"No. It just looks... really good. Like, really really good."

"Did you hear that Car, Lanny's mate himself approves!" Rudy speaks up, from a couple seats down. Sitting beside him is Carolyn, who stirs her cup of ice water with her straw. She curiously glances over at Cyrus.

"You... made all of this?" Cyrus gulps.

Rudy answers for her, "She not only made all of it, she even caught the damn pig herself. Hell of an omega, eh?" He elbows Carolyn playfully.

"Shut up." She hisses, and a few of the other pack members laugh heartily. A hint of a smile appears on Carolyn's usually stoic face as her fellow pack members continue to boast of her cooking skills.

Meanwhile, Lance grabs Cyrus's plate and gathers the food for him, toppling it. He places it back down in front of Cyrus, sending him an encouraging smile, before gathering a plate for himself. Cyrus mutters a thanks and picks up a fork to begin eating, only to notice that none of the other pack members have begun eating yet. It was almost as if they were waiting for something. Cyrus soon understood what they were waiting for, the Alpha's nod to start. Lance wanted to be sure he grabbed a plate for Cyrus before he allowed the others to begin feasting. Satisfied, Lance gave a small nod of the head, and in a lightning fast movement, everybody began reaching to eagerly fill their plates to the brim. Cyrus watched as some didn't even bother using forks, they just used their hands to stuff their face endlessly. The roasted pig that previously sat in the center of the table was torn apart by the ravenous wolves. There wasn't a speck of conversation as everybody was too focused on filling their stomachs.

Cyrus looked over at Lance to only see that he hadn't started eating yet, he seemed to be waiting for Cyrus to start before he did. Cyrus quickly picked up his fork and dug into his food. As soon as the food entered his mouth, he became no better than those surrounding him. He stuffed his mouth, barely chewing before he swallowed. He was licking his plate clean when he realized - that there was no doubt about it - he was most definitely a wolf. He now had the appetite of one.

He looked over at Lance to see him watching Cyrus with an amused smirk. Cyrus could feel his face grow red with embarrassment. Lance simply raised a hand and used his thumb to wipe at the corner of Cyrus's mouth. Only then did Lance begin eating, at a much more... civilized rate.

-

After dinner Carolyn forced a few of her pack members to help with the dishes, including Rudy, who attempted to sneak away only to fail miserably. Watching their antics, it was almost like watching a family. A family that he was now apart of. Soon everybody at the table left the house to go back to their own homes or to go upstairs and head to bed. It was already dark outside, surprisingly. The day had gone by fast. 

Lance stood from his chair, "You ready?"

Cyrus stood up as well, making sure to push his chair in. He nodded towards Lance and followed him out of the dining room and out of the front door. They stepped down the stairs and towards the now empty field. The cool air was refreshing. The moon was bright and full, the sky clear and bright, just as it was the night before. He had never seen the stars more clearly than he had right now.

He slowed to a stop about a foot away from Lance as he stopped walking. Lance turned to face Cyrus, the moonlight reflected off his skin, just as it had the night before. The wind, the crickets, the trees - it was all comfortingly familiar.

Lance took a deep breath, "Okay. How to shift..." He thought for a moment, "First things first, relax your body. And then, you make a mutual agreement with your wolf that you give him control over your body. In your case, your wolf is asleep, but he should still get the message if you try sending it hard enough. If your wolf senses a vulnerable body, it will naturally take control. You just need to trust, and relax. And that's all there really is to it."

"Right..." Cyrus mumbles. He makes it sound so easy.

"Just take a deep breath, Cy," Lance approaches Cyrus, "Close your eyes and relax."

Cyrus does as he says and closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. But upon taking each and every breath, all he can smell is that intoxicating scent. All he can smell is Lance, close to him. And that makes it impossible for Cyrus to relax. That scent... it makes his heart race. It makes his thoughts run rampant.

Cyrus quickly shakes his head and opens his eyes, "Can you show me?"

Lance nods, stepping back, "I'm not going to hurt you, Cy. But if you feel unsafe at any moment... tell me, okay? I'll shift back."

"I know you're not going to hurt me... I trust you."

Lance blinks, then smiles warmly, "That's good. Okay..." Lance closes his eyes, taking a few deep breaths. Cyrus watches closely.

In a matter of seconds, Lance shifts, and now standing before him is a wolf. A very big wolf, that he met earlier today. The eyes open, and Cyrus is met with a pair of striking golden eyes. Under the moonlight, his silver fur shines and dances with the wind that brushes past them. Cyrus feels the urge to get closer to him. He takes a step forward, and Lance stays footed, watching him intently. Cyrus swallows the lump in his throat. He isn't scared, more... anxious. The closer he moves towards Lance, the more his heart does somersaults inside his chest. Each steps towards Lance fulfills the unmistakable bond between them, the bond Cyrus can't seem to deny.

He stops inches away from Lance. He's much bigger up close. Cyrus is eye to eye with the magnificent creature. Cyrus holds his breath as he raises a hand to brush through his fur. It's soft. Really soft, and warm. Lance simply stands there and allows Cyrus to touch him. The feeling of Cyrus's hands running through his fur was comforting. His touch was gentle. Cyrus moves his hand to his face, and the wolf's eyes close as he leans into the warm hand. Cyrus takes a deep breath and raises his other hand to cradle the wolf's face within his small, soft hands.

Cyrus thought it ridiculous that he was once afraid of Lance's wolf. How could he of possibly have been afraid of such a beautiful and kind soul? Whether wolf or man, Lance was still the same in soul. Kind, and gentle. How was it possible for someone to have such a beautiful soul? How was it possible for someone like Lance to exist? He wasn't pretending. He was real. And was right here, Cyrus was holding his face between his hands. And Lance was his. Lance was his mate - and at that thought, something inside of Cyrus stirred.

With Lance still held between his hands, Lance shifted back into a man. He opened his eyes again, to face Cyrus. Cyrus didn't take his hands away, only used them to caress his face even more. Lance placed his hands over Cyrus's, basking in his warmth.

Lance's golden eyes fluttered, hidden underneath dark lashes. Lance gazed at Cyrus's lips intensely, his eyes shining with a golden hunger. Cyrus noticed this, and his eyebrows furrowed together as Lance slowly leaned down towards him. Lance was slowly beginning to close the distance between them, his eyes rolling back into his head as he was intent on capturing Cyrus's lips. Time seemed to slow, the moonlight peeked through the small gap between them. Cyrus could feel his heart pound, almost painfully so. He so desperately wanted to stand perfectly still and let Lance finally close the distance between them. He wanted whatever bond between them to be real - so that he could be allowed fo feel this way, without feeling an ounce of guilt.

But it wasn't real. The love Lance had for Cyrus was for the original Cyrus, not Ethan. Ethan didn't have a right to pretend that he was the one Lance was in love with, that Lance shared a mate bond with. It wasn't right. He didn't want to break Lance's heart. He didn't want to cause him any pain, it was far too cruel. He had to stop this before it went too far, before the pain couldn't be reversed.

Tears streamed down Cyrus's cheeks as he pulled away, turning on his heel and running away. Because he felt it was all he could do. Run. Up the stairs and into the house. Run. Past the kitchen and the dining room. Run. Run into his room and close the door behind him. Run, and cry. Cry as he slid down the door and pulled his legs to his chest, sobbing into his knees.

It would be okay. Everything would be okay. It was okay if he had to feel all the pain. It was easier this way, anyway. What could would come out of all this, anyway? In two months he would have to move onto the next world anyway, and he would just have to bring all the pain and regret with him, he would have to live all of the memories he shared with Lance knowing he could never return to him. So the easiest way, to avoid all of this pain, was to not create any memories at all.

Thinking ahead, that was his smartest possible choice. He didn't know Lance. Just like he once fell for a certain high school heartthrobs charms, his naivety cost him his life. Was Lance really who he appeared to be? Could he truly... trust him? He was one of his rivals, wasn't he? In one way or another he would get in the way of Cyrus's plans.

Lance Greywolf... perhaps the reason why he couldn't immediately distrust him was because he was reminded him of... no... that was ridiculous, not to think impossible. God, my head. What am I thinking?