The Only Exception (Book 3)

Time Waits For No One

Hello my beautiful readers!

We will be briefly be meeting Ben's family in this chapter and he's got a lot of siblings so I thought I'd lay them out a little more clearly here. I also better defined some of the concepts I'm using in my universe for this story and in my others in this series (True Nature, Ice Melts, When it's Hot) Please let me know if I should add these explanations to my other stories and if there's anything else I can expand upon. So, without further ado, for anyone who's interested:

Parents:
Father Allan Beta
Mother Alaina Beta

(Both parents are mentioned by first name only in True Nature, and Gabriel is the main healer that deals with Cain and runs the hospital and being that he's Ben's favorite, he's the one Benjamin refers to and trusts the most)

Siblings:
Sister Elsie Beta 30
Brother Gabriel Beta 29 (Ben's favorite)
Brother Titus Beta 27
Twin Sisters Aliska Beta and Bathilde Alpha 26
Benjamin Omega 23
Little Sister Liliana Omega 18

***In my universe, children do not typically move out from their parents home until they've mated, regardless of being of age. Especially omegas.

**Alphas and Betas can bond bite but they cannot mind connect.
**Alphas and Alphas can't mind connect or bond bite. Alphas can only mind connect with omegas.
**Omegas can mind connect and bond bite with Betas and Alphas (not Omegas) Most prefer Alphas
**Betas can bond bite and mind connect with each other and Omegas

Mind connection: To fully mind connect one partner must be in their cycle and both parties must bite their mate before completion. Bite must be on scent gland. Mind connection allows mates to feel each others feelings, it enhances their scent to each other over others, it gives mates, especially Alpha's, the ability to know where there mate is at all times and grants the ability to completely read the mind of their mate if the mate in question allows it (this can be controlled for personal privacy), offering the ability to have silent conversations between themselves and/or their wolves.

Mates: Royal families choose mates for their children and lock them in a royal contract, starting a bond attachment in the omega from birth and for the alpha when the omega comes of age. Royal families nearly always choose the perfect match for their child and usually base the final decision on strengthening relations with other packs but the alpha's can still choose to ignore the contract while the omega cannot. In the case of beta's, they aren't typically chosen as royal mates because of their inability to mind connect with other alpha's, not to mention most ruling alpha's want an omega.

**If a ruling alpha deliberately chooses a beta as their mate then it is done with the intention of not wanting to be fully connected to their mate**

**Everyone else in the pack either happens upon their true mate or they choose a mate for themselves based on mutual agreement, unless the pack royals choose to force bonds (which is is a popular choice with violent pack royals) Those struggling to find a mate on their own can request a mate evaluation.

Mate evaluation: When the king or queen of the pack selects several candidates from their own, and other packs, that wish to court omega's or beta's that haven't found their true match yet and do not wish to wait anymore for a chance fate. The omega or beta get to choose who they like or if they prefer a new set of choices before finally settling down. Very few omega's ever need to put in a request because they are so highly valued. Most alpha's and beta's want an omega.

Pregnancy: all male omegas and all females, aside from alphas, have from the time they come of age until age thirty to have pups. So, a fertility window of 12 years. Alpha's and male partners that are not omegas do not have a timeline for creating pups. Pregnancy lasts for six months.