Atlas

After living away from my pack for the first year, I decided to travel the world. I backpacked through several countries. Spending time in different packs, learning about their cultures. I tried to gain some sort of control of myself or some sense of who I was. 

Gaining my identity, who I was, and what I felt was one of the best things I could have done for myself. 

I learned in the supernatural world, I was a non-binary shifter. I wasn’t the only one, and I found out when I had traveled to a shifter camp with different kinds of shifters, ranging from reptiles to bears. I had a bunch of fun learning from those who were somewhat like myself. But it was nice to know that I wasn’t alone in the world with my unique situation. 

I was glad that I was finally able to feel comfortable in my skin. I was glad that I had expanded my horizons. I couldn’t believe all of the lessons I had jam-packed into my life within the six years of being gone. 

It was fun until it wasn’t. 

Even though I was discovering myself, it didn’t stop the ever-present feeling of being alone. It would have been amazing to experience the things I had with someone, which is one of the reasons why I finally decided to come home. The other reason, I wanted to spend time with my family. I hadn’t seen them in what felt like forever. I was excited to talk to my dad about the things that I had discovered. 

I wondered if it would open doors for unmated pack members. To find a mate of a different shifter species. I had seen plenty of unique couples throughout the time I stayed at the camp. To see prey with predators was a new concept to me, but seeing those couples so in love was close to what I saw with my parents. 

When the plane landed, my phone buzzed with several text messages from my dad, practically updating me on every step they were taking to come and get me from the airport. I smiled at each of the messages and let him know that my plane had arrived. He sent three more messages telling me he had heard, and they were by the baggage claim area. 

When I exited the plane and got to the respective place to grab my bags, the overwhelming scent of my dad engulfed me, and he hugged me from behind. I patted his hands to make him loosen his hands from around me so I could hug him properly. He did as I silently asked, and I wrapped him in my embrace. I was only a few inches taller than my dad, but my papa absolutely towered over me, much like many of my cousins who were fully alpha. 

“I missed you so much.” My dad’s muffled voice said. I could tell he was about to cry from happiness. 

“I missed you too, Dad.” I looked up, seeing my papa standing behind my dad with his arms crossed and one of his eyebrows raised. 

“So he’s the only one that gets hugs?” He managed to say, and then he opened his arms as if he were waiting on me. 

“Oh, hush, Presley.” My dad pulled away for a couple of seconds to look at my papa. “I gave birth to him, so I always have first dibs.” He stuck his tongue out immaturely before turning his attention back to me. He ran his hand through my shoulder-length, half-black, half-white curly hair and smiled. “You let your hair grow out.” 

“Mhm,” I hummed, giving him a smile. I reached my hand up and ran my hand through my hair. “I thought it would look better.”

“It does. It’s really cute.” He smiled.  

“Alright, hand the kid over.” My papa pried me from my dad’s hands and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug. “I missed you, kid.” He kissed the top of my head. 

“I missed you too, papa,” I replied, kissing him on his cheek. 

“Let's get going, you two. The family is waiting for us to come back home!” My dad chirped. I could almost feel the happiness bursting from him. 

“What do you mean by that?” I asked. “Please don’t tell me everyone is waiting for me. What happened to it just being the three of us?” I whined, leaning my head back and looking up to the ceiling of the airport, begging for the goddess to swallow me whole. 

“Well, your grandparents haven’t seen you in forever. Your grandda misses you, and your grandpop too. Then your grandma and grandpa might be busy tending to my nieces and nephews, but that doesn’t mean they miss you any less than the rest of us.” My dad crossed his arms. 

“Why not tomorrow? Or even a week from now when I’m used to the timezone again?” I asked. 

“Because you’re coming home today.” My dad said as if it were the most obvious thing. 

“Dad, I love you, but I just wanted to catch you and Papa up on everything. There are things I didn’t talk to you guys about over the phone because they’re meant to be told in person.” I closed my eyes. 

“I’m sorry, baby,” My dad looked down at the ground and ran a hand through his stark white hair. 

“It’s okay, Dad. I guess we’ll catch up tomorrow or something.” I replied, just agreeing to avoid an argument. I didn’t want to start my time back home with a sour note. 

“I’m sorry.” He said again. I knew he felt bad, but it sucked that I wasn’t even asked. 

“It’s okay.” I gave him a weak smile and pulled him into another hug. 

— — — 

To say the least, coming home was an overwhelming adventure within itself. Especially since I had been gone so long, my cousins were older, and for some reason, I thought they’d still be their young selves when I had seen them last. Alicent was only a few months older than me, but she now had a husband and two rugrats. 

Emilio was a stoic fucker who grunted like a caveman when someone tried to even talk to him. It made me feel bad for his husband because the alpha seemed to be an unfeeling butthead. I was closer to them than the rest of my cousins, mainly because there were so many on my dad's side. I probably could name a few of them, but that was too much. 

I sat on the back porch drinking a beer and listening to nature. I needed a breather. I was overwhelmed and tired from my travels. After a few hours of socializing with my family, they finally started to taper off and return to their own houses. 

The door creaked behind me, making my head turn back toward the house. I rested the cold beer on my knee and looked back to my papa, who was carrying a beer between his fingers in the doorway. He sat down next to me, and we sat in comfortable silence for a few moments. 

“So–” My papa began.  “I wanted to talk to you without your dad around.” He took a few gulps of his beer. I looked at my papa, his hair had thin gray streaks in it, and his skin had weathered with time. 

I nodded, beckoning him to continue what he wanted to talk about. 

“Well, I wanted to ask if you wanted to be the alpha of this pack or not?” He asked. 

For the first time in a long time, I was asked what I wanted to do versus told what I had to do. We sat silently for a few moments, and I went through all my thoughts. I knew I didn’t want to be in charge of a pack that thought of me as less than and as a freak of nature. On the other hand, up until I had my first heat, I had been trained to take care of my pack. It caused an internal battle within myself that I hadn’t realized I needed to fight within. 

“I know you’ve been away for a while, and of course, opinions and outlooks have changed within the pack. But I know you’ve probably explored the wonders of the supernatural world while you were out. I bet it’s something that would be hard to get rid of yourself.” My papa laid down on the porch, and I could almost hear his bones cracking on the wood. He sat his beer down and laid his head on his arms. “Once you taste that freedom, I’m sure it’s like a drug.” 

I chuckled lightly and tucked one of my curls behind my ear. “You can say that again.” I smiled, remembering all of the friends I had made at the shifter camp. “I honestly came back home because I wanted to find my mate. Or mates? Whichever one comes first? I dunno?” I shook my head in confusion. 

“Do you think there’s two?” He raised a brow. 

I took another gulp of my beer before answering that. “Possibly,” I said once I had swallowed it down. “I think it’s because I’m both alpha and omega. Do you think I sound like some crazy conspiracy theorist?” 

My papa shook his head. “Honestly, after your uncle Erin, Karsen, and Rowan were mated after all three lost their mates in one way or another. And we accepted rogues into our pack and a bunch of other shit. I can’t say you’re crazy for thinking something like that, son.” He reached his hand out and patted my back. “I think anything is possible when the goddess comes into play.”

“You’re right.” I hummed, nodding my head. “Papa, would you be mad if I didn’t want to take over the pack?” 

He genuinely smiled. “If it means you’ll stay here for the most part to give your dad some ease of mind? I’ll damned near do anything.” He nodded his head. 

“Who would you think if I do say I don’t want to be alpha?” I asked. 

“I was thinking about your cousin Emilio. If the pack protests since they’re not of our bloodline, I’ll have to remind them that they are a true alpha-omega pair. If that falls through, the next in line would be Adam and Mary’s kid Joel.” I cringed at the thought of Joel running the pack. He was always a snot-nosed brat who thought he was too good to be associated with me in school. It made it weird because my uncle and aunt weren’t like him, making me think that he played innocent around them and other adults. 

“If I had a say, I think Emilio would be the better choice.” I nodded my head. 

“Agreed,” My papa sat up straight and held his beer out for me to tap with my own. “Cheers.” 

“Cheers.” I smiled.