Chapter Text
Shane Hollander was a very very simple child.
He rarely cried and if he disliked something he would frown in a way that his parents knew was an immediate no. He loved the days that he spent helping his father in the garden or helping his mother sew clothes that she loved to donate to the packs clothing store for families that may need it.
Shane was an only child that meant his parents' attention was evenly split between him and the pack that they were the leaders of.
At 8 years old Shane did not exactly know what it meant for his parents to be the leaders of the pack or what it meant for him to be the future Head Omega but he did enjoy the gifts other pack members will bring for him during celebrations. He was shy with all the attention but he was not one to turn down a cool toy that resembled the animals that roamed the woods they shared.
The Hollander pack was a growing and flourishing pack. It was always a well-known pack but when David and Yuna took over it prospered in ways nobody ever expected. They were a very rich pack that had the privilege of being near a populated forest so they were never lacking when it came to meats, their farming lands always grew the most nutrient foods that fed the pack well and when they had surpluses they made lots of money selling in the trading docks and to neighboring packs.
The Hollander pack was known for being peaceful they kept themselves out of wars other packs had and choose to be a peacekeeper and held neighboring packs around them whenever they had the chance. They did not have many enemies only those that did not like kindness would look down on the Hollander pack, there were a few close calls when packs farther North would get too close to their lands but nothing that was enough to start a full-blown war.
The only thing David and Yuna ever needed was an heir, they tried for years and were met with nothing over and over it was only after they were close to giving up did the Moon Goddess bless them with a pup of their own in the spring.
Yuna will never forget the first time she laid eyes on Shane. He was a small thing that loved to stay cuddled up to her scent gland, he didn't cry much and was such an easy baby she'll never forget the pack elders cooing over him and wishing their own pups were as good as Shane was. Shane was presented to the pack when he was 6 months old and everybody fell in love with him it was everything David and Yuna could wish for.
Shane grew to become a very smart kid. His teachers loved to gush to his parents about how well above his peers he was and that he aced all of his tests with ease.
Shane really was the perfect child for his parents; the only issue was Shane rarely spoke. At first his parents assumed that he was extremely shy, because while he did say his first words at the proper age market other things came slower like saying full sentences or he would rarely respond to his parents when they asked him a question. His parents thought he had a hearing impairment, so they took him to the pack doctor, but they were told time and time again that nothing was wrong and that Shane simply did not speak when he did not want to.
Shane was different than other wolves and Yuna and David did their best to accommodate him rather than force him to be like the other wolves around him. They loved Shane with all of their heart, he was their miracle baby, and they would do what they could to support him.
Shane did not have any objections to his daily life. His parents were extremely loving, and he had the privilege of being the future leader of the pack, nothing was out of the ordinary until one random fall day when an incident occurred.
The day of the incident had been a very normal morning in the Hollander household. Yuna got Shane fed and dressed while David walked him off to school kissing his forehead and telling him to have a good day like he did every single day.
Shane walked into school nodding at his teacher in acknowledgment when she welcomed him into the classroom. He placed his backpack in his cubby carefully taking out his small box that kept the supplies he used everyday for class. Shane took a seat at his assigned desk and sat straight up in a perfect manner while he waited for the rest of his classmates to walk in and for class to start.
What threw the day off was the arrival of a new student.
It was not every day that there was a new pup in the pack, Shane knew that his parents were always strict when it came to new additions, he will never forget the tension filled dinners at home when his parents weren’t agreeing about a decision. They took the future of the pack very seriously and never let just anybody in, especially nowadays as the stories he heard of feral rogues in the woods increased with each hunt their hunting group came back from.
Since Shane sat closer to the front of the room he got a good view of the new student. He looked to be the same height as Shane but skinnier, he had a bored expression on his face like he wished to be anywhere in the world except for in this classroom. Shane wondered what pack he came from, his hair was curly and he had eyes a shade of blue that Shane found nice to look at. When the new student—Ilya—spoke he had an accent that made Shane furrow his eyebrows, as he was the pack leaders son there have been times where he was introduced to wolves from all over which meant normally Shane could place accents and what pack they belonged too, but Ilya spoke with an accent that Shane has never heard before. Maybe he would ask his mother or father about it during dinner tonight.
After the new student was introduced class went by the same as usual. Shane’s teacher knew that he was not a big talker so she did not push him if he did not want to speak in class but she always checked in with him to make sure he was okay and following along well.
When it was time for the end of the day recess period Shane was relieved. They were wolves and as pups they had so much energy, the school thought it was smart to schedule two recess periods in their school day to help relieve some of that energy and so they weren't bouncing off of the walls when their parents or siblings came to pick them up at the end of the day.
The other kids in the classroom did not care too much for Shane because he did not speak much which they thought was weird and did not feel bad about saying this to his face. Shane was used to the whispers and weird looks he received from his classmates, some kids learned to just play around him instead of pestering him to speak to them. But he pushed through and found other things to do to pass the time before it was time for his mother to pick him up.
The Hollander pack was well protected; they did not have many unexpected attacks on them and the wolves stationed to guard the perimeters of the pack were well trained; nothing was getting past them. With recess time the pups were allowed to roam a good bit of land in the back of the schoolhouse, it wasn’t too far that the teachers couldn’t detect their scents and lose them, but it was also far enough away to give the pups some running room.
Shane pushed that limit and had an opening in a low tree he enjoyed resting in. It wasn’t too far that he couldn’t hear the chatter from his other classmates or teachers but it was far enough that he was not in their line of view.
The way to the tree was by a lake so the only reason he believed his teachers did not stop him was because he believed they assumed he was playing at the lake. Every wolf in the Hollander pack was thoroughly trained since they were pups how to swim so he knew they wouldn’t continuously come check to see if he was drowning or not.
Today, Shane quietly followed the other kids in his class out the backdoor of their schoolhouse where they had previously had late morning recess. He did not look back as he walked in the same direction he did everyday. First, he would walk towards the lake and then go on the left side past the yellow patch of flowers and dying patch of grass and then he would finally be at his safe space.
Today turned out to be a different day for Shane.
Shane walked towards the lake, and he walked on the left side of it but as he approached the yellow patch of flowers the wind blew and the smell of a new scent filled his nose. The scent was close. Too close. Shane stopped walking and that was when he noticed the footsteps behind him, he turned around and there was the boy from his class. The new boy with the accent that Shane could not place. He was looking at Shane like he had spooked an animal, his blue eyes wide and he had paused mid step.
Shane blinked at him once. Then again. There was silence for a moment before Shane turned around and started his walk back towards his tree. He could hear the boy walking behind him.
Shane did not know why he wasn’t telling the boy off for following him or why he didn’t stop walking towards his special tree place. Because that was his place and now this random boy he didn’t even remember the name of was going to know about it, but there was something in the back of Shane's mind telling him this boy was safe and that he needed to be in his special tree with him.
Once Shane reached his tree he took one second to glance back at the boy who was right behind him, before he crawled into the little opening of the tree. The boy followed after him. Surprisingly the tree had enough room for the both of them so they weren’t squished together.
Shane stared at the boy who stared at him back, but for some reason it did not feel awkward. “You..”The boy started but paused, eyebrows furrowing together as he seemed to be in deep thought. “You smell nice,”he finished. The words caused Shane to flush.
Shane knew he had a sweet scent; it was one of the basic things they taught kids earlier about their destinations. Omegas tended to have sweet scents. But it was not often that somebody outside of his mother or father commented on his scent.
“I’m Ilya”The boy, no Ilya, said moving closer to Shane, his eyes were so blue it reminded Shane of the ocean that his father would take him to during the summertime.
Shane shyly looked away from him squirming under the other's intense glaze.
“Whats your name?”Ilya said moving even closer to Shane so that they were now shoulder to shoulder. It was quiet for one moment. Normally this is where Shane would look away choosing to not speak to the person in front of him or he would speak but it would come out so low the person could barely hear him, but this time with Ilya was different.
“Shane.. I’m Shane”Shane replied, voice still shy but not as quiet as it would be if he was speaking to anybody else. Hearing his accent again after this morning made Shane's stomach do a funny thing, he liked it and wanted to hear him talk more. Shane wanted to ask him where he was from but the words just wouldn't come to him.
Ilya grinned like he just killed the biggest kill of a hunt.
They were quiet for a moment simply enjoying the presence of each other. Ilya shifted even closer to him, the wolf seemed to have no sense of personal space as he was almost all the way onto Shane's lap, but Shane did not mind normally he would be turning away if anybody got all in his personal space like this, but he liked this wolf. “Smell me too?”Ilya said, pushing his wrist towards Shane's nose. Shane didn’t have time to react before his nose was filled with the scent of something like never before.
Shane had gotten a whiff of his scent earlier but this was like nothing before. It felt like he had been zapped by something in a good way. “You smell good”Shane commented, cheeks turning flush at having smelled something that good so intensely.
Ilya hummed, nodding, leaning back a bit keeping his eyes on Shane. “You are.. pretty”Ilya said, hands coming up touching the freckles that dusted across Shane’s nose and cheeks causing Shane to squirm but not push him away.
Shane knew that Ilya was an alpha he could tell it from the undertones in his scent. He did not know much about alphas as he spent most of his time too embarrassed to learn about the differences in their designation and everything he learned about omegas made him too anxious to even glance at what alphas experienced.
But Shane had never knew an alpha that smelled this good. Sure, his dad had a nice scent but all the other alphas he came across did not smell like this. It made Shane's insides feel weird in a good way like when he knew his mom was making his favorites for dinner. He wanted to smell more of it it had easily became the best scent Shane had ever smelled before.
The space they were in was starting to fill with their scents. Shane felt drowsy like he could take a nap even though a part of him knew it was not a good idea so close to time for school to let out. Against his better judgment he still laid down on the grass floor of the inside of the tree. Ilya getting down along with him, he looked halfway asleep already.
Ilya curled around him, nuzzling in his neck drinking in his scent with every breath. As the area grew heavier with their scents mixing together Shane found himself floating towards that cozy darkness that was sleep as the seconds passed. He felt like he did on days when his mom would make hot chocolate for all of them and they'd all lay in her nest after a long day spent running through the woods before falling into a deep sleep. Shane typically was not comfortable in spaces that was his home especially his room where he had a small beginner nest, but here he was cuddled up to a wolf he had only met today.
Unknowing to the two boys that were so wrapped up in each other. The world around them still moved and when parents came to pick up their pups two people were left confused as to where the two they were supposed to pick up where at. Alexei knew he was supposed to pick up Ilya from school while Irina was working in the kitchens Irina had went over everything the night before and just this morning before she dropped both of the boys off, but his brother was nowhere to be seen and the teacher had no idea where he was. He was trying to remain calm but that was hard to do when you are in a new pack and you barely know your way around, Ilya didn't even leave the house if their mama wasn't with him. He had no idea how to get home on his own so where could he be.
Shane's mother was standing close to him also confused as to where her own pup could have walked off too. They had a routine and Shane never broke that routine, Shane never broke any of his routines. The pack was safe and everybody was trustworthy so she wasn't panicked at the moment because would hurt Shane.
The teachers had looked all over the area where the pups normally play and still did not find them. Somebody had run off to gather David and Irina and once they arrived the sun was just starting to set which made everybody's anxieties worsen. They wanted to find these pups fast. Yuna was starting to panic, Shane was missing along with another pup who was new to the pack she had no idea where they could have gone off to. Shane knew this pack like the back of his hand he was raised here there was nowhere he could be right now that nobody would see and not alert Yuna or David.
Flashlights were handed off to everybody and they started searching deeper into the woods. Hope was starting to be lost until David let out a loud shout about finding Shane's scenta ways away from where the pups were suppose to be during recess.
The next thing Shane knew was he was being jerked awake by a bunch of loud voices around him. Shane heard a faint growl from the chest he was resting his back against vibrating. He recognized one of the voices outside as his mother but he did not feel the urge to seek her out he wanted to stay in the warmth that Ilya’s scent was providing for him, he tried to snuggle closer towards the other but suddenly they were ripped apart, violently pulling him out of the dreamland he was in.
Shane whined loudly as he and Ilya were separated- it was a bucket of cold water was dunked on him out of nowhere. Yuna was holding Shane while David was holding Ilya. When Shane whined it made Ilya growl again while trying to jerk out of David's hold, but the man was holding the boy tight so he wouldn’t go anywhere.
Shane’s mother pulled Shane to her chest pushing his head to her scent gland. She smelled off and not her usual sweet scent that Shane always seeked out. Shane started trembling as everything grew overwhelming, everything was happening too fast he couldn't properly process anything. He lifted his head seeing another woman that resembled Ilya and a boy that looked a little older than the both of them but also not an adult standing near his father.
“Shane?! Shane! Oh, my baby. Are you alright?”His mother cried, holding him tightly and kissing his forehead, Shane could feel tears filling up in his eyes. He wanted to free himself from his mother's arms and go back to Ilya. Everything felt entirely too much and not enough. “Ilya”Shane whined trying to turn his head around to find the boy, but his father was handing him off to a woman and turned back to Shane blocking his view of him. The scent that Shane wanted to smell was not his moms at the moment and everybody was keeping him away from Ilya and he did not like that, he did not like anything about this and felt like he was not in his body. Everything was feeling fuzzy and he wanted to go back to when Ilya was curled around him and they were surrounded by each other's scents in the tree.
Shane squirmed some more trying to free himself from his mother's grip, but she was not budging. He turned back to his mother looking at her with pleading eyes tears trailing down his cheeks he didn't even know when he had started crying, he opened his mouth to call for Ilya again but his mother just pushed his head back into her scent gland and held his head there causing his body to go slack.
There was movement and voices that Shane could not bring himself to listen too. The next thing Shane knew he was home.
Once they got home the next hour was all a blur to Shane. Yuna had made him a light dinner, but Shane did not have an appetite and took small bites and pushed everything around his plate which he knew made his mom frown. Shane felt weird, he did not know what it was but he hoped that it was not a bug of any kind Shane did not enjoy getting sick. Even when he showered, he couldn’t help the tears that fell from his eyes, too overwhelmed by feelings he had never experienced before and did not know how to handle. Something inside of him was not happy and it was expecting him all over. Nothing his parents did was enough and the only scent he wanted to be around was Ilyas. Whenever his mom or dad would bring him a blanket with their scent on it, he would whine and push it away. He could tell they were panicking and didn’t know what to do but every time he muttered the other boys name, they either ignored it or shared a weird look that Shane did not know what it meant but it only stressed him out more. The only thing Shane wanted to do at this point was curl under his furs and fall asleep so he could go to school tomorrow and see Ilya again.
A knock at the door came after Shane had settled himself down in the living room planning on staying there until he could calm down. He was starting to grow hot, and the living room was always the cooler area in the house. Shane perked his head up hoping that it would be Ilya, he was about to make his way over to open the door when he was ushered in to his room by his father. “Try and get some rest buddy "David said before leaving the room, closing the door behind him which Shane knew meant that whoever was at the door was somebody important and that they were about to have an adult conversation.
He recognized the scent of one of the people at the door belonging to the pack nurse and the other voice he could not place but it was also another woman. Normally Shane didn't bother to listen in on adult conversations, but something was pulling at him, he cracked open his door and poked his head out to get shot of hearing things. As the conversation started, he immediately knew the conversation was about him and Ilya which made him grow nervous. He knew they should have been with the other kids but he didn't believe what they did was that bad. They were talking too fast for him to pick up anything. His father had looked at him with a weird look on his face when he walked Shane to his room to calm down and it all made Shane’s tummy turn. Was he in trouble? He knew he and Ilya should not have fallen asleep and made their teacher panic like that, but he did not think it would land him in this much trouble.
The conversation his mother was having was getting intense and as Shane continued to listen, he grew even more nervous and upset. It was only when the word soulmate was uttered did Shane freeze.
It sent a trickle down his spine. What was a soulmate?