A Kink in the Tail

Chapter 18 - An Ogeneia Guardian

The image is Adam Fischer.

"I'll reject him it's simple. I have no other choice.  Luckily he's out of it and won't know what's happening?" Lewis and Constantine were sitting opposite Paul on the couch. They both looked at him in disgust, he ignored them. He sat back and straightened his tie and pulled his shirt cuffs over his wrists before folding his hands on his lap.

"He's your mate. Of course, you have a choice, and so does he for that matter.  Why are you thinking of rejecting him?" Constantine growled. The arrogant arsehole didn't deserve to be rejected on top of everything else that's happened. Wasn't it enough that his family disowned him, his lying in the next room riddled with silverburns, and now his mate wants to reject him as well? γαμημενο αρχίδι .

Paul didn't bother to answer him but he was annoyed by his friend's attitude.

"Don't give me that look, Lewis. Of all people you should know better." Lewis nodded, he was having visions of his own future. "This shouldn't come as a surprise to you. I'm an Ogeneia Guardian, for Goddess's sake. I can't have a mate. My sole purpose is to support the Alpha of the pack, that's why they make us the way we are."

"I'm sorry you're right, of course." Lewis relented, for the first time his future looked bleak. He knew the truth of it. "I'm not sure if it will affect him or not. You can't take that for granted. The bond may be stubborn about letting go without him accepting your rejection.  When he wakes he may feel differently, sense something has changed or something is missing."

Paul frowned.  He didn't need to hear that, it was taking all his control not to go back into the bedroom and be with his mate.

"Asleep, awake, whatever I have to reject him." He sighed, he didn't see this coming. In all the years since he came of age the possibility of finding a mate had hung over him like a dark cloud. As the years passed he assumed his mate had died young. He was lucky to have dodged that bullet, he never met them, never had to reject them.

 At 35, it was like being hit by a bolt of lightning on a clear, sunny day. Even with his libido diminished by more than two decades of taking drugs to dull his mating instincts he still felt the rush of heat as soon as he caught Adam's scent on Constantine.

"Why can't you have a mate? When I served the Fischer's they had Guardians come to dinner, they had mates. Is this about Adam's face or Wolf's ..." Constantine stopped himself from going further. 

"His face, why would I care about how he looked, my mate looked perfect. I don't lie." He said in his alpha voice. Constantine felt the powerful vibration in his bones. The force of it was stronger than Adam's.

"Why can't you have a mate?" He persisted, in a less aggressive tone. "I want to understand, for his sake. After all, I have taken a vow to stay by his side.  I am his bound wolf and he is my charge." It sounded like a challenge to Paul..."You may let him down but I never will."

Paul seldom got angry, it was a waste of energy. However, at that moment he wanted to punch Constantine, who was letting him know, not so subtly, that he had a claim on Adam, on his mate.  Damn it, remember your training, breathe.  Don't think of him as your mate.  He needed to relax and clear his mind.  

"Lewis I'll leave it to you to explain to Mr Rizzo.  I'm going for a walk. Fill him in on the vow we take to the pack and the alpha, give him all the gory details of what it means to be an Ogeneia." He grabbed his coat, slipped it on and smoothed it down.  Paul composed himself.  

"When I return we will get back to what's important..."  Paul put up one finger. "one...getting you and Adam as far from Thanos as possible and.."  Up came a second finger.  "two...find a safe hiding place for the human until the Lycans leave.  The Ascension Ceremony is coming up soon and Thanos will be forced to leave and present himself to the new King."

Paul looked at the two sitting in front of him, his quiet authority obvious, no one was going to be arguing.  "Are we on the same page?"  They both said yes and the Guardian left the apartment without another word. 

Constantine turned to Lewis.   "Explain."

"You must know the basics?"  Constantine nodded.  Lewis went on.

"Guardians have different specific roles to fulfil, they advise the Alpha in their special area, whether it be financial, sacred rites, security or education. The Ogeneia Guardian is different in that they are the right hand of the Alpha in all things."

Lewis gave Constantine a shaky smile. " We are the ultimate example of someone who has no life apart from their job."

"We?" Constantine narrowed his eyes and scanned Lewis's calm face, only the tiniest twitch of his eyebrow gave away the awkwardness he was feeling.

"Yes. I've been prepared to eventually take over from the Guardian. It takes years of study and training to be prepared for everything that is required of an Ogeneia. You have to be knowledgeable about everything to do with running the pack. In reality, we probably know more about it than the Alpha himself."

"Another difference between us and the other Guardians is that we don't have a mate. Mates need to be caredfor, nurtured and loved, we don't have time for any of that.  We are at the beck and call of the Alpha 24/7."

Lewis wriggled in his seat. This was so awkward. "Protocol says that even if we find a mate we have to reject them. It's a little easier than it is for a normal Lycan or werewolf because we are trained mentally from day one to control our emotions." Lewis looked down at his hands. 

"We take very strong suppressants, similar to the ones unmated Lycans and werewolves take to control ruts and heats.  We take them from the time we hit puberty, they dull that part of us."

Constantine didn't like the sound of this at all. Fuuuuck! he suddenly felt sorry for Lewis and The Guardian. They appeared to be as trapped in their role as he was in his.

"However,  if you do find your mate and the bond kicks in, it's still overwhelming. It's painful for both parties to go through a rejection."  Lewis stood up and started pacing the room.  "Don't think that the Boss is getting off lightly when he rejects Adam."

Lewis stood looking out of the window, his back to Constantine.  "The suppressants help with all that but to make sure we are useless as mates we're....neutered very early on." Lewis could feel his face heat up and kept looking out at the view.   It had been 10 years since he'd had the procedure and just saying the word still made him cringe. He told himself that it was an honour to be chosen as an Oegenia, an honour.

"Do you understand now?" Lewis turned around and looked defiantly at Constantine. He was proud to be a future Ogeneia Guardian.  He didn't like the pity he saw in his eyes.  It was a small sacrifice for the well-being of the pack.

"What choice has he got...this has been his life since he was 13."  Lewis went to the kitchen.  He needed a strong coffee.