Orion unwound the bandage around his upper arm as he removed his shirt. He'd dropped Skylar off at the infirmary with Nana and Victoria before returning to the Big House; she'd be out of trouble there. He hoped. He never knew what shenanigans Nana would get into, or what she'd put into Skylar's head.

His father sat by the fire, mixing the paint for tonight. Normally, Victoria would help with this part, but she had been so tired lately with her advanced pregnancy, they'd insisted she rest before the festivities of the night. Percy and Zachariah were in the room as well, helping prepare for the evening.

"Where's Skylar?" Leo asked, turning to face him, his black eyes dancing with the reflection of the fire.

"With Nana and Victoria. They'll bring her to the ceremony while we get ready here," he told his father, who snorted.

"Better be careful, son, that's dangerous company."

Orion smirked. "She and Nana get along really well."

Leo chuckled. "Like I said, dangerous company. You know your Nana." He picked up bowl of paint and started mixing another color.

"I do, and she likes Skylar, so there's no way to keep them away from each other."

Leo grunted in agreement, studying the color of the paint in his hand by holding it closer to the fire. He twisted in a way that the scars stood out in deep contrast to his weathered skin. Although he was fifty-five, one would never guess it from looking at him. He was a born leader, ready to fight for his clan and win, even though his challengers would be years younger. He wasn't giving up the position of Alpha to Orion because he was no longer capable. No, he was passing on the title because he wanted to enjoy his wife and youngest child while he was still able. He would never tell Orion that, but Victoria would and had.

His father ran a hand over his scars and Orion was in awe once again at that fact that his father had survived that. The scars were from before Orion was born, shortly after he'd mated with Valerie, Orion's mother. He'd fought with a Wildling, and the creature had gotten in a good shot. Leo had almost died, because he'd been down after the beast had nearly taken off his face, and it had pounced. Zach had saved Leo, killing the Wildling, but Leo hadn't been the same. The scars were white and thin, but far from clean. The skin was jagged around the edges, and they were shocking to see if you weren't used to them. Orion was still impressed Skylar had managed to keep her cool when encountered with Leo for the first time.

Percy took a seat next to Orion and sighed, resting his hands on the back of his head.

"You ready for tonight, Alpha?" he asked in a teasing tone, but Orion knew he was serious. It would be his first time initiating the first-time shifters into the clan. It was the most important night of their lives, and it was up to him not to mess it up. He wasn't nervous at all, or at least he didn't think he was. He'd seen the ceremony once a year ever since he'd been born. He'd been a part of it one year. He knew the words, he knew how it worked, but that didn't mean he wouldn't mess it up.

Orion nodded once. "I think so."

"You'll do great, boy," Zach patted his shoulder as he stepped around him to take the paint from Leo. "You were born for this, just like your old man." A sea foam green winked as the Beta smiled encouragingly down at him.

"And next year, you'll do the whole ceremony," Leo added. "Since you'll be the official Alpha, you won't need me at all."

"As if you could stay out of it," Zach laughed, beginning to paint the beginning of the flames on his body with his first and middle finger, starting with his bicep and down his arm. Percy grabbed the yellow paint from the table and started as well. They'd switch when they were done, until they were nearly covered in paint. Orion had never really understood why they decorated themselves with flames, but it was some ancient tradition that they continued to embrace. The Alpha and Beta painted their bodies to perform the ceremony, but this year there were two Alphas and two Betas, since Orion and Percy were taking over control of the clan soon.

Orion stood up and moved over to the ceremonial chest piece Leo had brought out from his office. He lifted it up to admire the carefully constructed piece of jewelry. The scales of all the previous Alphas of the clan were overlapping over it, creating one of the greatest pieces of armor ever to exist. It would cover almost his entire chest, from shoulder to shoulder and most of his chest, since he would have the honor of wearing it that evening. He guessed it was the equivalent of the crown to a king.

He touched the black scale, the only black scale, that hung at the bottom. His father's scale. Almost all colors were present on the garment, on the hundreds of scales that were weaved together there, but his father's was the only black one. Just as Orion's would be the only gold one. Two rare colors, so close together in time. He lifted another small scale, his grandfather's. The scales were from the snouts of the dragons, so they were no larger than Orion's thumb. They'd be the size of his hand if they were from anywhere else.

The dark blue scale of his grandfather caught the light of the fire, reflecting onto Orion's chest. He'd never the Alpha before Leo, he'd died before Orion was born, but he'd heard great stories. All of the Alpha's here were his ancestors; the Nogards were the longest line of Alphas of any of the clans. His family had started the Western Clan, and they'd been at the head of it ever since. He smiled and ran his hand over the scales. He felt his father move to stand behind him, looking over his shoulder at the garment.

"You'll add your scale to that soon," he rumbled. "Keeping the line going of great men who led the clan."

Orion nodded, knowing what an honor it was to be added to that list. It was something he was born for.

"And your son after you, and his son, and so on. The great Nogard men will add their scales to this until it turns into a cape."

Orion chuckled. "Or my daughter," he joked, knowing how his father would react.

He could sense Leo roll his eyes. "There hasn't been a female born into the Nogard line in eight generations. That's two hundred years, son. That's how I know Victoria is going to have a boy, even though she insists on arguing with me about it."

"I'd say we're overdue then, don't you think?"

Leo snorted again and clapped Orion on the shoulder. "Cassie'll give you sons, that I'm sure of." And then he walked away again, to take his turn with the paint. The thought of Cassie giving him sons, and what they'd have to do to get those sons filled Orion with anything but anticipation. He was surprised by the lurch his stomach gave. Normally his sense of duty overruled any other emotions he felt toward his impending mating, this was the first time he'd felt anything other than a sense of what he should do. And he wasn't sure why.

His dragon's irritation rose at the thought of his match with Cassie, which was also unusual. The beast was normally as impartial as Orion himself. Orion was ready to question it, until an image of a smiling Skylar popped into his head. Of course, his dragon's infatuation with the new female! That would be enough to put the dragon out of whack, which would influence Orion as well.

He'd nearly been unable to remove her from his arms earlier, she was so soft. His dragon had been so content having her that close. She'd fit perfectly in his grasp, and she was so exhausted from shifting.

He was so proud of her.

She was giving him the credit for helping destroy the cage, but he had a feeling that if she hadn't truly wanted it gone, it wouldn't have worked. He was proud of her for embracing something she couldn't change, for having the strength to overcome everything she'd ever thought about herself in a matter of days. He wanted to show off her accomplishment to everyone, but none of them knew about her situation, so her shift to tonight wouldn't be significant to them. He knew she would do great among the clan, that her dragon was more excited than nervous for tonight, but there was always that small chance that something would go wrong. And he couldn't control other people's dragons; they would be curious about the newcomer and could possibly overwhelm her. Luckily, he would be there to keep them at bay.

He wondered how she was doing with Nana and Victoria. She was likely doing just fine, enjoying herself, but he couldn't help but wonder. Nana and Victoria were two of the people he trusted most in the world, they would take care of Skylar. That thought there should have made him question why he was so worried about leaving Skylar with trustworthy people, but he didn't give it a second thought. It never even occurred to him to leave her with anyone else in the clan, because he didn't trust them to treat her, an outsider, well.

"You gonna get ready or what?" Percy asked, painting his chest with flames. "This does take some time, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Orion set the scaled garment on the table and took up the stool in front of Percy. He grabbed the bowl of red paint and scooped it onto his first and second finger to smear across his chest. He knew that it would dry and be extremely uncomfortable for the rest of the night, but that was the price of being an Alpha of an old, traditional clan. He peered at his father every once in a while to make sure he was applying the paint correctly. Leo worked in his usual stern silence, efficiently painting the intricate designs on himself. Victoria usually did it for him, so Orion was a little surprise that he did it with so little hesitation. Not that his father wasn't perfectly capable, he was probably too capable, but it would have been nice to see him stumble about something at least once. It would probably lessen Orion's nerves to see his father do something with less than practiced precision.

A few minutes later, the front door to the Big House opened and Olly walked in followed by Fiona and Laura. Orion had noticed that wherever Olly was, Fiona was never far from him. He wondered absently if there was anything going on there, but wasn't all that interested. His brother's love life was his own, and Orion just wanted him to be happy. He'd have to be careful though; if Victoria caught wind of his suspicions about the two teenagers, she'd latch onto it like a dog with a bone.

Laura immediately came up to Percy and planted a sweet kiss on his lips, cradling his face in her hands. When would Percy finally ask her to be his mate? It had to be killing his dragon not to claim her. Until she was mated and her neck was marked by Percy, males would be sniffing around her. Laura was far from unattractive, and Percy wasn't the only one who had noticed. He was just the first to do anything about it. It was a good thing too, otherwise Orion's best friend would have been completely miserable watching Laura with someone else. He'd had a crush on her for years before he ever approached her.

"Good evening, big brother," Olly clapped Orion's shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"Am I ever not?" He would never admit to his goof of a brother that he was nervous. He'd never hear the end of it.

"Touche," Olly grinned. "By the way, you have something right here." Olly tapped his cheek, and Orion rolled his eyes. The entire right side of his face was covered with paint at this point.

"You think you're funny, don't you?"

"I know I am, dear brother," the young male chuckled, dodging a playful swipe from Orion.

"Oliver, that's enough," Leo barked, glancing up at his second son. "Have you made sure that everything's in place?"

Olly plopped down on the couch, Fiona sitting down next to him. Orion watched as his brother's arm came up to rest on the back of the couch, which was conveniently close to sweet Fiona's shoulders. Victoria would be very interested indeed.

"Of course, Dad. They're lighting to fires as we speak, and most of the food is already cooked. The children's mothers are chasing them around, trying to get them cleaned up for tonight. I'm relying on the moon to handle rising on its own, so cross your fingers that that works out. The cliffs are free of any debris, so everyone will be able to take off with ease."

"We flew up to check the weather, and there are no clouds for miles. By our best guess, it will be a clear night," Fiona added in her soft voice.

Leo nodded once. "Good job, both of you."

"Thanks, Dad," Olly smiled, flipping his shaggy hair off of his forehead. He turned his attention back to Orion. "Where's Skylar?"

It pleased Orion that everyone was so worried about Skylar; it helped soothe his fears that she would be forgotten in the excitement tonight. "With Nana and Victoria."

"Nana does like her, doesn't she? I don't think I've ever see her take to someone so quickly," Olly commented. "Even us," he added with a smile.

Orion agreed with a chuckle, looking down in the mirror to touch up his face paint before moving on to his arms.

"Am I allowed to ask her about the humans yet?"

Leo answered him without looking up. "No. You will not ask her about them."

Olly glared at his father. "Why not?"

"Because you don't need to worry about it," Leo snapped. "Humans are not your concern, you know that."

"Dad-"

"I said no, Oliver."

Olly growled softly. "Fine, I won't ask. Yet."

Leo didn't answer, but his gaze flicked to Olly, who was already getting ready to move on to the next topic. Orion wondered how his brother managed to let things go so quickly; if something upset him, it would only be for about thirty seconds before he moved on to the next thing.

"Skylar's coming tonight, isn't she?" Laura asked from her place in front of Percy. She had taken on the task of adding the paint, something she'd learned from watching Victoria apply it to Leo. Her fingers moved deftly over Percy's face and neck, making sure everything was sharp and clean. "I haven't seen her since you stole her away today. You have to let her get used to the clan you know."

He had to make sure she didn't kill herself or anyone else when she shifting during the full moon, too. But he didn't say that, because he hadn't told Laura. She wasn't technically the Beta Female yet, so he didn't have to tell her anything, and Percy couldn't either, not without permission from Orion or Leo.

"She'll be there, yes. And I just wanted to make sure she would be comfortable around the clan tonight. Tomorrow she'll be able to explore the clan. I'm sure she'd love it if you'd show her around." What, why did he say that? He wanted to be the one to show Skylar around his home. He almost took it back, but the way Laura's eyes lit up at the thought stopped him. Skylar would be in good hands with her. Besides... he had responsibilities that needed his attention. He had been gone for a month afterall, and he'd spent the last two days ignoring those responsibilities to help Skylar. Not that he minded spending time with her. She was charming, and enthusiastic. He'd met very few people so eager to learn, and she didn't complain, even when he knew she was miserable from shifting back and forth. There were dragons who'd been shifting much longer who couldn't manage that.

Laura clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh! I'd love that! I can introduce her to everyone. They're all so curious, you know. The only reason they haven't already bombarded her with questions is because they're afraid of you."

"Hmmph," Orion huffed, smearing more pain along his arm. "Good. They should know better than to overwhelm her anyway."

"You can't exactly blame them, Orion," Laura gave him a look out of the corner of her eye. "It's not everyday we get a newcomer, let alone one that the Alpha family has taken such an interest in."

"This lovely lady has a point," Percy piped up. "If Laura introduces her, not you, it will extinguish some of the interest around her."

"Tonight would be a good time too," Fiona added. "Everyone's already in one place, and she'll be shifting with us. They'll be so distracted by everything else, they won't bombard her with questions or anything like that."

Olly nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea, Fi."

The slightest amount of color rushed into Fiona's cheeks, but she kept her focus on Orion. "I like her, though. She's really sweet, even though she seems really confused and scared when I see her. Not many people would act the way she does in her situation among strange dragons."

"And you have enough to focus on tonight, big brother. You don't need to worry about Skylar, too."

The way Olly said it, like it was a chore to worry about Skylar, caused Orion to realize that he wanted to worry about Skylar. He'd been worrying about her, whether it was if she would run away while he was sleeping or if she would be able to shift, since he'd found her three days ago. Not worrying about her didn't sit quite right with him, because it implied she shouldn't matter tonight. She did.

But, he couldn't tell his brother that. He didn't even know what that feeling meant, so he certainly couldn't explain it to Olly. He simply nodded instead. He would find Skylar tonight. He didn't plan on letting her shift alone, not in front of all those people. He would be there in case something went wrong.

"It's been a couple of hours since I left her at the infirmary," he stated. "You three go get her, along with Nana and Victoria, and take them to the cliffs. Introduce her to people, let her get comfortable, feed her. We'll be along shortly."

Olly rose to his feet and saluted. "Yes, sir." Orion growled softly at his mocking tone, but it wasn't threatening. Simply a dragon irritated with his younger brother. He wondered how long Olly could hold off pestering Skylar about the humans. Likely not long, not if he thought about it for longer than thirty seconds at a time. Hopefully he didn't choose tonight to bring up that topic of conversation.

"I'll stay behind for a moment, help Percy finish getting ready," Laura said.

"No, you go too," Orion insisted. "Skylar needs as many friendly faces as she can get."

"But I need practice! I'm going to be-" She didn't finish her statement, simply blushed deeply and then wiped her hands on a cloth on the table next to the paint. "Never mind. Of course, I'll go be with Skylar. Let's go, you two."

If she'd moved any faster, what she had done could have been described as fleeing. Olly and Fiona exchanged a look, glanced at Percy, but then followed her out.

The three remaining men all looked at Percy, all of them well aware of what Laura had been about to say. The man in question seemed oblivious, simply staring after the object of his affection as she just about ran away from him. Zach finally reached forward and lightly smacked his son's head. "What is the matter with you, boy?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Everyone knows you're going to be mates, when are you going to ask her?"

"I'll ask her when I'm ready, don't you worry about it," Percy snarled softly, suddenly on the defensive.

"Well, the poor girl is getting self conscious about the whole situation. She thinks she's going to be Beta female, but the longer you take to ask, the more embarrassed she seems to get about it," Leo added. He was like a second father to Percy, just as Zach was like a second father to Orion, so he had no problem telling the young Beta something he didn't want to hear.

Percy spun to look at his Alpha. "I don't mean to make her feel like that. This is terrifying, asking her spend her life as my mate."

Orion couldn't be the only one without an opinion. "But you know she's going to say yes."

Percy sneered at him. "You three shouldn't even been talking." He pointed at Orion. "Arranged mating." His finger shifting to Zach. "Arranged mating." On to Leo, which was a dangerous move, but Percy was on a role. "First time, arranged mating. Second time, you're Alpha, so you didn't need to be scared of anything."

Leo was silent for a moment, staring at the defiant Percy, his black eyes as cold as obsidian, but then a small smile broke out on his scarred face.

"Alright, you have a point there. The three of us don't understand your situation. But we're just letting you know that you're hurting the female you love because you're afraid."

"I'm going to ask her soon. I'm going to take her to the falls after the full moon, and I'm going to ask her. You guys seemed to be under the impression that I don't have a plan. I very much do. I've been planning this since I was fifteen years old," he laughed, added the finishing touches to his paint job.

They were all three painted up and ready to go. Leo stood up first and lifted the chest piece up and motioned for Orion to step forward. Pride filled the Alpha's eyes as he lowered the garment over Orion's head. It was the first of many times Orion would adorn the scaled piece of clan history. It was heavy, resting with a solid weight on his shoulders and chest. The scales, though small, were far from light when all connected in such a way. He couldn't imagine how uncomfortable this would be in a few more centuries, when more of scales had been added to it. He grimaced, pitying the poor Alpha who would have to wear it.

"You look like a true Nogard now, son," Leo told him, patting his cheek gently. "You'll do great tonight, of that I'm sure."

Orion lowered his gaze in an acknowledgement of his Alpha's praise. The act of submission was difficult for him, him being such a strong Alpha, but this was a time unlike any before. His father and Alpha was proud him, and it was a good feeling. He always knew that Leo was proud, that he loved him, but the Alpha wasn't a sentimental man. To tell Orion that he was sure he would do great, that was something to be remembered and cherished.

"Thank you, Dad," Orion said to him, and Leo cracked another small smile.

"Ready?"

"Of course."

"Well they're all waiting, so let's go."

In true Alpha form, Leo walked to the front door and Orion, Zach, and Percy followed him without question. Darkness had fallen over the Valley, so it was easy enough to see the huge fires at the cliffs. The wind was blowing off the ocean as it usually did, sending the scents of the wonderful food to bombard the nostrils of the four hungry men. After making their entrance, they would be able to eat and mingle until just before midnight, when they would induct the young dragons into the clan.

The sounds of enthusiastic voices reached their ears as they approached the clan. High spirits were contagious during the full moon, especially the summer solstice, when new dragons would be joining the clan. The sound of his clan's joy, it was one of the greatest sounds in the world. It filled him with joy and pride, knowing that he and his father were doing their jobs, taking care of them. The clan was the most important thing to him, he would do anything to make sure they were safe and well cared for. Their needs came before his own, always.

As soon as someone saw them approaching, the news spread in the blink of an eye. Silence fell over the clan and they all turned to watch their leaders approaching. A quick sweep of the crowd and he had zoned in on Skylar, who he was oddly attuned to. Her red hair caused her to stand out in the crowd, but he'd been drawn to her immediately. Her blue eyes were focused directly on him, and awe shown on her face. Of course, she was an open book, and she wore her heart on her sleeve. Knowing that he caused that sort of reaction, that she was impressed by him, sent a wash of pride pouring through him.

He watched over his clan as they moved as one unit, slowly sinking to one knee, bowing to their Alpha and Beta , and their future leaders. Even Skylar rose slowly, following along with the clan, although she had no obligation to do so. She wasn't technically a part of the clan, she didn't have to bow to them, but he supposed she wouldn't know that. Either way, he quite enjoyed seeing her kneel for him.

When the clan rose again, his eyes caught Skylar's, and he gave her the smallest of smiles. She smiled back, and nodded slightly. From the look on her face, he'd done something right in this display, something she could relate to and greatly respected. He wasn't sure what it was, but he enjoyed her approving attention. His family was gathered around her, creating a small barrier between her and the clan, but she appeared to be at more ease than before. He hoped she'd gotten a chance to greet people, and that they hadn't asked too many questions to which she couldn't give them answers.

Leo's arms rose high into the air. Although Orion was performing the ceremony tonight, Leo was still the Alpha, so it was his place to greet the clan on this oh-so important night.

"My clan." His voice boomed, projecting over the entire clan. They were silent, and Leo knew exactly what volume his voice needed to be at to be heard by everyone. Of course, it helped that they all had hyper-sensitive hearing. "Tonight is the night of our people, the Full Moon. We are gathered here to celebrate our heritage, and our kind, as we do once a month. But tonight is a special one, for it is the first full moon after the summer solstice. The next group of young dragons are ready to join us as members of the clan by shifting for the very first time. They are ready to be inducted into the clan, to meet the other half of their soul for the first time, to learn what it truly means to be a dragon. And I'm proud to announce that my son, Orion, will be performing the induction. As you all know, I'm stepping down from the roll of Alpha soon, to let my son take over. I've had my time, and now it is his."

Leo nodded down at Orion, whose chest puffed up proudly as he faced his clan. He hadn't expected it, but he recognized the queue his father gave him to say something.

"I'm honored to become your Alpha. Without you, there would be no clan, there would be no Alpha. I'm nothing with you, my family. To welcome the new dragons isn't something I take likely, just as I don't take becoming your Alpha lightly, as I'm sure you've all figured out. In a few hours we will shift together as a clan to celebrate who we are, but for now, it's time to eat, drink, and be a clan. For how often are we all in one place? Please enjoy it. And thank you." Orion bowed to his clan, who erupted into encouraging cheers. A grin broke out on his face. Yeah, he would be just fine tonight.

With that, clan members stepped forward to offer them food and drink. They talked and chatted, wondering how the new dragons would react to shifting for the first time, congratulating Orion and giving him words of encouragement. His clans approval was so important to him, but it didn't fill him with the same warmth that Skylar's had. He wondered where she was, and he hoped that Nana was still with her. Victoria had found Leo quickly, and Laura had found Percy. Olly and Fiona were no where in sight, so they were either off together or with Nana and Skylar. Orion knew that Nana wouldn't leave Skylar's side, not when everyone else had. He was so grateful that his grandmother had immediately claimed Skylar for herself. No one would double-cross Nana by being rude to Skylar. Pissing off the best healer in town, and the mother of the Alpha Female, wasn't a good idea for anyone.

Orion sipped his wine and bit into a piece of chicken, listening to one of the herders tell an amusing story about an encounter with a human during one of the trading seasons. He laughed when appropriate, but otherwise he wasn't really listening. The words he needed for the ceremony echoed in his head, and he was still wondering about Skylar. It had been almost an hour since they'd arrived, and he still hadn't seen her. He couldn't go looking for her, he was the Alpha, but he had hoped she would maybe find him. He wanted to check in with her, and his dragon was restless.

Finally the herder stopped talking and stepped away to have a word with a fellow herder about something sheep-related, and Orion was free for the moment. He turned around just as there was a break in the crowd, revealing a flash of a red braid to him. His dragon growled happily at finally locating Skylar and Orion was powerless to stop his feet from going after the female. When he broke through the small crowd, not without ignoring some people who desired his attention, he froze in his tracks.

Skylar was there alright, and Nana was nowhere in sight, nor was anyone else he'd left her with. Instead, she stood incredibly close to a young, un-mated male, who was leaning down to whisper something in her ear. The male's eyes flashed with lust as he stood up straight to look down at Skylar, whose back was to Orion. The young male peered confidently down his nose at Skylar, radiating arrogance and disrespect. He reached up and had the audacity to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, smiling down at with an almost predatory appearance.

Orion couldn't see her face, but he could see the blush creeping up her neck and she looked down at her boots while twisting her fingers together the way she did when she was nervous.

Before he could stop it, a snarl rumbled through his chest and something that could only be described as a protective possessiveness shot through him. His feet moved of their own accord toward Skylar and the young male, and Orion had no intention of stopping them. His dragon was out for blood, and he-- well he and his dragon were on the same page.