She began to make more of an effort to seek him out, just to watch him work. Maybe, she wasn't sure, if she watched him do what he had been doing since the start of his adult senescence, she would be more inclined to be...nice to him.

Nice wasn't a word she particularly liked, but it was a much better word than vulnerable. That was something she wasn't too keen on being even on her death bed. And she certainly wouldn't take kindly to the word being applied to her.

She greeted the members of her pack, as she passed the line of Hunters making their way towards the forest line. She was heading closer to the Home Makers domain, knowing that Jongdae should be weaving at this point in the day.

As she approached the variously ranked members of the pack, her eyes immediately found Jongdae. He was sitting off to the side, a young girl next to him, not yet manifested. She was watching his fingers as they intertwined leaves around thinly cut branches, and trying to imitate him.

He reached a hand out to her, giving her a gentle smile as he situated her hands, so she could hold the leaves properly. He did the same thing six times, never showing signs of frustration.

Ji'Heiv knew, had that been her, she would have thrown the materials aside because of exasperation. She was suddenly thankful she had skill elsewhere, because sitting and weaving did not look like something she would ever be able to do.

The way the weavers fingers turned the leaves over and over, how they shaved down branches to thinly lined pieces of wood, the way they crafted a whole roof out of such small things, was amazing, but tedious. Especially - as she took a step closer to admire the progress - Jongdae's method of weaving.

It was fast paced, and perfect in quality.

"Head Alpha," an older wolf greeted her. She snatched her eyes from his work, noting in her peripheral vision, that he was now looking at her. She moved closer to the Home Makers now that she was spotted,nodding her head in acknowledgment of those who were greeting her and patting the heads of the older pups who were learning the trade. It was admirable to see.

"Are you here for your mate?" a young pup asked, voice terribly high pitched and missing a front tooth.

"Nita!" a woman, Ji'Heiv assumed was the young girl's mother, quickly started to correct the girl. "They are not yet mated. Do not disrespect the Head Alpha with such a statement."

The girl lowered her head, and unfortunately, Ji'Heiv noted that Jongdae did as well.

"All we need is the ceremony, young pup," Ji'Heiv smiled, stooping to the girls level and lifting her head. Her statement quickly caught the attention of the other Home Makers, some even dropping their tools. Her eyes dashed to Jongdae, who still had his head lowered. She cleared , hoping to catch his attention. It worked, as he gazed at her from under his lashes, catching the look she was giving him.

"Head Alpha," he greeted. He had to force himself to raise his head, to seem unfazed, though he already knew she knew it wasn't true.

He was fazed by both the lack of belief of some of his pack mates, and the statement Ji'Heiv gave.

The fact that she was so quickly making it known that Jongdae was indeed going to be her mate, made the situation all the more serious. It didn't take her long to decide to exclusively give him a chance, and it certainly didn't take much longer for her to decide that he was the one she was going to mate with.

It baffled him.

Especially considering, just earlier that week, she seemed to be unconsciously aroused. She had been around him many times, but he had never smelt such a scent on her. She usually only smelled like dominance, like he was in shackles and it made no sense to fight, but he'd do it any way - just cause. She smelled completely unarousing, despite her attractiveness, her presence was, in every way, a mood killer.

Until he smelled her that evening so many suns ago.

Now he had a whole new reason to be uncomfortable around her.

Yes, he knew she was testing him as a potential mate, and yes, he knew what two mated individuals engaged in. And yes, he was aware that after the ceremony she was looking to get pregnant as soon as her body allowed.

He was so terribly aware, yet his brain never actually computed that the woman who he physically had to fight himself over, just to stand up straight in her presence, was also the same woman who he would...

His eyes became comically wide as images filtered through his mind. Images that were causing an internal bodily reaction he wasn't too happy about.

"Are you alright?" the Head Alpha asked, tilting her head to the side in wonderment.

There was never a time Jongdae was happy that he had a weak scent, if not in that moment. Everyone would have been sure to know exactly what was wrong with him otherwise, "I'm fine. I just suddenly thought of something very important I had to do, soon."

She squinted her eyes at his statement, not sure she believed him, but she couldn't be sure unless she walked right up to him and sniffed him to see if something was actually physically ailing the Omega.

She decided not to put the boy through that public display just yet, opting to accept his answer and move on with her agenda.

"When you are done here, Jongdae, come see me in the Alpha's Den. I have some matters to discuss with you."

She really didn't have anything to discuss with him, she just wanted to meet him up close. Now that he was more comfortable talking, she found that it was easier to not purposefully intimidate him. He wasn't talkative, not in the slightest, but their was a quiet comfort level. He wasn't constantly in the fight or flight stance.

Besides, she realized something.

If he could find it in himself to stand up to her, then what enemy would he ever cower in front of?

His building a resistance to her domineering ways, was only something that would help them in the future. As long as he maintained the respect he should have for her, then all would be well.

All would be better than well.

Quietly, she turned to leave the Home Makers, smiling to herself.

While trying to breed an heir, she might just breed the perfect mate.

~~~

Jongdae walked alongside Lau, who had taken to escorting him random places. The Omega wasn't sure, but he got a feeling that Lau was supposed to watch him. There was no way the Alpha just happened to be everywhere Jongdae was.

He wasn't complaining though, he found he enjoyed the Alpha's character. It was a rare day that someone with an obvious higher rank, showed Jongdae the respect of an equal.

As they approached the Alpha's Den, Hiru immerged, smiling at the Omega and signaling Lau not to follow Jongdae in.

"She wants you all to herself," Hiru whispered to him as he passed, a mischievous grin decorating the man's face.

Jongdae smiled back a strained grimace, not completely comfortable with the revelation he had earlier. When he entered, he noticed the female laying out a dark cloth, smoothing the fabric out on some furs.

"Head Alpha," he greeted, hands clasp in front of him and back straight.

Immediate improvement in stature, Ji'Heiv noted once she looked up.

"Omega Leader," she returned the acknowledgement. "I see why they call you that now."

"You've been tailing me all day," he answered.

She smiled looking down at the fabric again, "I haven't been exactly inconspicuous, now have I?"

Raising her hand, she motioned for him to come closer, "this is yours. I want you to wear it for the mating ceremony."

Jongdae looked at the fabric, then at the Head Alpha, eyebrows slanting in worry, "you, I didn't think, I mean-,"

Ji'Heiv scoffed playfully, rolling her eyes at the flabbergasted Omega. If she'd known doing simple things like getting fabric for him would have made him this flustered, she might have tried it earlier.

He certainly could do with new tunics, instead of the dusty, patched up ones he wore constantly.

"Another thing," she motioned for him to sit down. "I've taken notice of your hut. It's becoming colder outside and that disaster of a home shouldn't hold up with the type of weather winter brings."

"It's been holding up fine for six senescences now."

"Don't be difficult, Omega."

She looked at him, watching as he looked down briefly before rising his head again, "I'm not asking you to make it better. You can tear it down, for all I care."

"Where would I stay if I did that?"

"Are you being difficult on purpose?"

"I'm not," he shook his head, pursing his lips and widening his eyes. "I just don't understand."

"What about the fact that you are going to be my mate, don't you understand? We will be living together, eating together, sleeping together. We will have pups together."

"I didn't, I wasn't aware, that you'd want to be that...intimate?"

He was embarrassing himself again, but he honestly thought he would continue living separately and she would call him when he was needed for, the pup making part.

"I want us to be friends-,"

"But you don't want me to forget my place?" he interrupted.

"Correct," her smile was approving, pleased once again despite his interruption. "Your place is near me. Not in front, not on side, but slightly behind. Hovering in the vicinity, if you will."

He shot her a sarcastic smile in return, remembering that she told him he wasn't her equal. He was still trying to figure out how that computed with him demanding and receiving her respect, as Lau pointed out. He guessed it was a balance, a precarious one that only came with trust.

She would have to trust him, and that was something he could only gain with time.

"I guess I can hover," he muttered.

That wasn't the reaction she was hoping for, expecting or craving his defiance instead. She needed him to fight for a spot in her life, and he wasn't. That sarcastic smile he sent her way should have been followed by a daring comment, if she was reading him correctly. He told her that he wanted to be himself, but she could tell that he only agreed with her cause she was Head Alpha, not because that was something he would naturally do. He still had a long way to go, she supposed.

She let out a sigh, looking out the entrance of the Den as the sun fell in the sky, "sometimes you're compliant, and other times you are defiant."

Jongdae kept quiet, trying to think of a way to explain why he was so bewildered when it came to his situation with her.

It wasn't like she was welcoming him with even semi opened arms, so he didn't want to take it upon himself, and assume his future with her. She very well could have his role in her life, planned out from beginning to end.

All he was sure of, was his fathering her future heirs, his offspring.

He listened to her even breathing, she wasn't speaking anymore, only looking at him with mild interest. It was amazing to him, how she could openly look at him without feeling some form of shame. He had yet to truly study her features while she knew he was staring. He always had to do so slyly, knowing that if she noticed, she would make sure she knew what he was doing.

Disconcerting.

Yet, as - and he hated to suggest it - shy as it made him feel, sometimes her challenging him, egged him on.

That's why he couldn't explain himself to her, he didn't even understand it. Sometimes her challenges made him defiant, made him want to face her head on. But then, during the same breath, he'd give in immediately to her challenges. He wouldn't even try to fight them.

That bothered her.

Jongdae met her eyes, chanting to himself, don't look away, do not look away, do not.

Ji'Heiv froze. It was brief, not even lasting a second, but her breath hitched and her limbs seized. A feeling shooting through her that she never had the liberty to experience. He was boldly looking at her, for once, not in a combative manner, not because she commanded him, not because her presence demanded it, no. He just looked and held her gaze for a reason she could not comprehend. It shocked her initially.

She suddenly had the urge again, to bury her nose in his skin, hating that she couldn't smell the changes in his scent from a distance, the way she could of those whom she trusted with her life.

It made it harder to depend on someone who could so easily hide what they really were.

But she was determined, as determined as his stare was on every section of her face.

She consciously straightened her back, elongating her neck, and holding her head higher as he continued his study of her features.

His stare wasn't giving anything away. She couldn't tell if he was simply curious, if he had some hidden longing, or if he was looking for a completely unbiased reason. She needed to smell him, his intentions, yet she didn't want him to take his eyes off of her. He had beautiful eyes, a dark chocolate brown, deep and honest. If she couldn't rely on his scent, his eyes were always an unveiled window.

Suddenly, she wished she knew him better, for these small matters. If she did, she was sure she would already know the reason he had for confidently and so unexpectedly looking at her.

She bit at her bottom lip, canines applying intense pressure to the flesh, as she noted the quickness of Jongdae's eyes being drawn to the action. It was funny how he unconsciously mimicked her, his bottom left canine softly digging into the corner of his upper lip.

A small smile found its way to her, an endearing feeling wrapping slowly around her heart, as her hand reached out to his exposed forearms and latched on, pulling him closer to her. Jongdae had a feeling that he knew what she was about to do, and certainly she did it, laying her nose atop his shoulder. He felt her chest expand, faintly touching his own covered chest, and the warm air that left her as she breath out.

His skin prickled at the sensation. For once, not caught off guard at her sudden actions to touch him. She kept his forearms in his grasp, as he kept his frame still. He didn't need to lean closer to her, to appreciate the scent that was wafting from her pores. Though he usually only smelled the threat on her skin, and that one time, arousal, right at that moment he only scented an underlying feeling of ease.

She had never told him to relax in her presence, never encouraged him to actually be at ease, so he wasn't going to do so in response to her. Instead, he would bask in the ambience of a seemingly relaxed Head Alpha. His heart was calm, his breathing even, and his stature - though not completely relaxed - was open.

Ji'Heiv continued to breath in his scent. It still had that spiciness, but it was subtle, calming. The realization that the position she was in, and the warmth of his scent going directly into her system was putting her to sleep, made her blink her eyes rapidly.

She was far too relaxed.

Quickly, she sat up, retracting her hands from off of him and leaning away. She blinked her eyes multiple times, trying to seem aware. When, she finally looked up at him, she saw that he wasn't looking at her, rather his gaze was on the entrance of the Den, looking outside like he was intentionally giving her privacy.

She wondered briefly if he knew what he was doing to her. Her mind was telling her to show her dominance, to make sure he knew his place despite the fact that she was doing just what she didn't want to do in front of him. Then she quickly erased those thoughts. Being dominate did not always mean that she had to terrify others. Biga had taught her, soon after they had battled for Head Alpha of their home pack, that she could still be the young she wolf she was. Asserting dominance wasn't something she had to wear like a tunic, it was only a dagger she needed to pull out and wield when it was actually needed.

Things like resting, eating, playing around, those were normal things, they didn't make her vulnerable, and they shouldn't make her seem weak in front of the person who was to be as close to her as emotionally, mentally, and physically possible.

She regretted jerking from off of him so quickly, not knowing what kind of message she had sent him from doing so. So she let her left hand settle back onto his forearm, trying to send a quiet message of comfort. That she was OK with being in such a setting with him.

"You're not obligated to stay here," she murmured. "The moon will be shining fully, soon. So you should probably head to your hut."

The Omega made a low sound in his throat, eyes still focused on the Den's entrance, "will Lau suddenly appear to me home?"

"You've noticed that, huh?" She yawned and stretched, obnoxiously pronouncing her words.

He only scoffed, a teasing smile fitting on his lips as he rose to leave her alone. He tilted his head to the side, as if he wanted to turn back and look at her, but decided against it. Instead, saying his proper farewells, he exited the Alpha's den.

~~~

True to his thoughts, Lau appeared, walking next to him in quiet contemplation. Jongdae was thankful for the silence, mind thinking back on the moment he just shared with the Head Alpha.

"I can smell you," Lau said randomly, a slight chuckle in his throat. "You smell similar to our Head Alpha."

Jongdae didn't have a reaction outwardly, but internally his organs shook. He couldn't place if it was out of some insecurity or apprehension, or something completely unrelated. Scent marking someone was a sure sign of possession, and no matter how many times Ji'Heiv says that Jongdae will be her mate, it's the actions that scream louder than the words.

He wouldn't go as far to say that she was completely comfortable with him, because that wouldn't be true, but she was confident. Her confidence lead to her doing what she wanted, when she wanted. That included how and when she touched Jongdae.

He knew she would go in to sniff him, that seemed to be her one consistent action, but he wasn't expecting to feel her muscle's physically relax against his frame. For there to be sudden weight leaning into his side, as if she was sleeping. He almost wished he could say it made him uncomfortable to feel her against him, but it didn't. Though he wasn't used to the sensation, he found that he could learn to be, quickly.

"You don't have to walk me all the way back to my hut, Lau. You have to be at the pack dinner, you sit in the front."

"And you should start attending pack dinner's," Lau reprimanded. "You're soon to be Head Alpha's mate before winter really sets in. That's in, what? Fifteen Suns?"

"I'm still an Omega," he mumbled in return. "And I'm not hungry."

Lau didn't say anything to that. The Omega could do what he wanted while he still had some semblance of freedom to do so. After the mating ceremony, Jongdae will belong to Ji'Heiv. If her temporarily scent marking him, wasn't an obvious enough claim, then permanently doing so after mating him would be the end call.

Lau shook his head, hoping that Jongdae's transition from the low of the low to something more substantial, won't be too difficult for Ji'Heiv to handle. He knew she could pull even the most dire of situations under her control, but her mate - someone so intimate - that might prove to be more of a challenge.

"Omega, once you're mated to our Ji'Heiv, you will be apart of us. Don't shy away from your duties once that happens, or I'll be forced to find you."

Jongdae's hackles raised slightly, recognizing a threat when he heard one. It would be Ji'Heiv that would force Lau to come for him, so it would be pointless for him to defend himself, though the urge would be there. Besides, Lau was right. He would have further obligations other than being a Gatherer and Homemaker. He could play like an idiot and shirk his duties, but that wouldn't only infuriate the Head Alpha, but it would also bring shame upon himself. He enjoyed having responsibilities and doing well with them, it was one of the things no member in his pack would be able to complain about.

"Not possible," he finally answered Lau, meeting his eyes arrogantly while grounding himself. He could see that the action took Lau by surprise, especially since it was an action no Omega should do to an Alpha.

Lau turned his body to fully face Jongdae, walking up to him, naturally using his height to try and intimidate the Omega. Jongdae had to crane his head up when his mental conditioning was telling him to look down, to submit, but he was determined to hold his ground.

"You think you're cute, don't you?" Lau was breathing deeply, chest visibly rising and falling as he looked down on Jongdae.

The Omega knew he was out of his jurisdiction, even if he wasn't labeled Omega, he was still only a Beta who had no right to challenge an Alpha.

He could feel the slight watering behind his eyes, taking one deep breath in defiance before blinking and lowering his eyes, then his head. He was careful with his actions, only lowering his head until he was eye level with the Alpha's chest instead of looking down at the ground.

"Unbelievable," the Alpha scoffed. "You want to practice your dominance on me? You think I would allow that?"

Jongdae could hear the tease in his voice, but it was surrounded with the authoritative tone of someone in charge, someone who was secure in his position. Even still, he did not feel fear, if anything he felt his hackles rising to the challenge. He could feel a scuffle coming on if he said the wrong thing, and it excited him. He hadn't felt that way since he first manifested, bottom canines there since the beginning, letting him know that whatever rank he was, he would be the fiercest. That never left his mind, even when the Lead Alpha at that time made him Omega. When anyone he was fundamentally ranked higher than, looked down on him, he always fought them until blood, usually only stopping when an Alpha commanded him to do so.

He blinked again, clenching and unclenching his fist to calm the rush of adrenaline he felt coursing through his veins, "I don't know what you're talking about."

He quickly shot the Alpha a smile, eyes squinting with the force of his cheeks, and then bowing his head lower to show more submission. He could feel the tension fading, though he'd be a fool to think that Lau was simmering down because he believed Jongdae meant no harm. He already knew what Jongdae was doing, and he clearly let the Omega know he would not be alright with it.

"Sure Omega," he shot the shorter a smile, stepping back to promote peace, something Lau was good at. "But I suggest you don't try that again, I take pleasure in digging my nails into flesh."

The threat was by no mean an empty one, so Jongdae nodded, a sheepish smile fitting his lips. Lau nodded in return and then pushed him away, before turning and making his way towards the place the village had dinner.

"Thank you, Lau!" Jongdae shouted at the retreating Alpha who only raised his hand behind him, not turning around.

He shouldn't push it, he know he shouldn't, but at the same time - the naturally insubordinate part of him - wanted to rear its ugly head. Being alloted the freedom to stretch his muscles, to use them for more than domestic pack fare, was enticing and exhilarating to him. It made him want to test his limits in all aspects.

But it was imperative he remembered his place. Picking fights with Alpha's was far out of it. It was bad enough he talked down to Yixing, and the weaker Beta took it. That shouldn't be a habit he fell back into, not when the older was always looking out for his best interest.

The Omega shook his head, walking towards his hut. He had so much to learn, so much to prove of himself. It was best he stayed humble.

A/N: Some of you were excited by the mention of arousal lol I think I was excited by something completely different...anywho! Here was the next update, we are slowly progressing there to the pinnacle, whatever that may be...

Big thank you to everyone who has SUBSCRIBED to keep up with this story. Huge thank you to those of you who UPVOTED because you are invested in this story. And a ginormous thank you to those who are taking the time out to entertain me with their COMMENTS. And anyone who are acknowledging the comment section by hitting the arrows facing up (though there are some technical difficulties) I really appreciate you all for participating with me!

Talk to some of you in the comments...for the rest of you lovely readers, till next time!