POV - Kyas
"Kyas," Alpha said, "I'm not going to lie, I'm still very hurt, resentful and angry, and I can't promise that I won't try to do something about that, but I'm also going to try to understand you. This mess isn't an easy one to figure out. We've all made some pretty wrong decisions. We need to figure out where we go from here."
I nodded.
"You need to understand, though, that your life changed tonight. You are part of a pack. We can all see you, and even trapped inside Chaos, you're not invisible anymore. " He reminded me.
He continued. "Add to that, you decided, instead of handling this privately, you revealed yourself publicly, in front of the whole pack, with no way to prepare them, or your mother and me.
"Our entire pack is very aware that their beloved Alpha has a hang-up over his dead son. They think I don't know that behind closed doors, they're proud of my progress, but put up with my very public belief that his ghost visits me every full moon. They are aware of what you've done Kyas. While they are glad you're home, they are not happy with you fooling me, fooling everyone, like you did. There must be consequences."
I straightened up my back and faced forward. "I understand, Alpha. I am willing to accept any punishment you decide."
He shook his head. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Commanding you in public is a clear display that I'm not ok with you. As Alpha, this is serious, I can't allow this to go unaddressed. I'm going to tell you right now, that I'm not done doing that. The pack needs to see you punished, and that's going to mean Chaos is going to be dealing with me a lot, because they can't just see you punished once a month. That would lessen the impact."
He moved to sit behind his desk.
"Unfortunately for you, I won't be deciding your ultimate punishment. I can't. I'm too close to you, you're my son. You're my missing son finally returned home. No one will believe that I can be impartial and not go easy on you when I'm not angry anymore.
In cases like this, a Counsel of Elders will meet to decide what must be done about it. I can speak on your behalf - which I will not be doing - but their decision is out of my hands, and that is what will be enforced."
"Oh." I said.
"I may be allowed to decide Elias' punishment, because, while he asked you to make that promise, regardless of the reasons, you carried it out. And you kept carrying it out every single month, when you could have chosen at any time to stop it. You didn't. However, Elias never came forward with the truth either, neither did he stop it, so that's going to be a counsel decision too." He said.
I nodded. I can't deny any of that. I don't think I could have stopped it. Stopping would have broken the promise, but maybe I could have asked Elias to let me out of it. I don't think he would have. I don't feel like I could or should say that though.
He asked me how much time I had left tonight so I went to the window. "Soon. The moon is setting."
"Come here, and stand still." He said. I obeyed.
I felt the block from Chaos come down.
'Chaos." I heard Alpha's voice in my head. He was startled.
'Yes, Alpha?' Chaos responded.
'I need to know your role in this promise.' He said.
'I supported it, Alpha. I believed our reasoning was sound at the time.' Chaos answered.
Alpha continued. 'Did you, at any time, counsel Kyas to stop?'
'Not once, Alpha.' Chaos said.
'Did you assist him in his deception?' Alpha asked.
'I did, Alpha.' Chaos responded.
'In what way?' Alpha questioned.
'I made sure that you never saw us shift, either way, so that the illusion that he was a ghost continued. Every time.' Chaos confessed.
'Then you will accept all the consequences at the same severity that Kyas does.' Alpha decreed.
'I will, Alpha.' Chaos said.
'Chaos, you need to understand that this means you will bear an exceedingly unfair balance of the punishment. It's not your fault that you're bound the way you are, but the pack needs to see you both pay atonement for this, and you're the one that's the visual representation of you both.' Alpha warned.
'I understand and accept that, Alpha.' Chaos acknowledged. 'Kyas and I didn't fully consider how wrong what we did was, but we understand now. We, mostly I, agree that we deserve to pay the price for it.'
'Very well." Alpha said. 'For what it's worth, I'm proud of you both for this attitude.'
"We want to fix it, Alpha," I said. "Just as badly now as we did then. This time, we broke the bonds. We should be the ones to fix it."
Alpha then visibly dropped "Alpha mode", and came around the desk and put his hands on mine and Elias' shoulders.
"I want you both to know that I don't regret a single moment I had with any of you, Chaos included. " Papa said. "I just wish you didn't feel you had to lie, in such a horrible way, to get them."
"I'm sorry, Papa." That's all I could think to say. Honestly, I now knew it wasn't the best thing to do, but a small part of me still felt good that I had kept my promise to Elias, even though it turned out to be a bad promise.
He pulled us both into a fierce hug. "This is the first time I have hugged both my sons since you were three years old." He said emotionally.
Then he stepped back. "Elias, go to bed. Kyas and I will be waiting for Chaos. He won't be sleeping with you tonight."
Elias locked hands with me. "I really am sorry, Kyas. I didn't think."
"Neither of us did, but we can fix this. It will be hard, but we can do it." I said.
He nodded and left.