The Full Moon [boyxboy]

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen (Zaid's POV)

I didn't tell Scythe about what happened in town the other day.

I had no right to violate Kyler's privacy like that. I could tell that the thing with Ash had upset him. When we got home, he went straight to the guest room and slammed the door shut. It was now Saturday and he still hadn't come out, even for dinner. I noticed Trisha leaving meals outside his door, though, so he was eating, he just didn't want to be around people.

I didn't bother him about it. Although, I didn't have time, even if I wanted to.

Today was the day.

I sat on the end of my bed, staring straight ahead and trying to contemplate how fast things were moving. Today was the day I was going to take the mating ritual- Goddess help me if I get sick halfway through. After that was the alpha rite, which was definitely going to put a strain on me. All my energy was going to be used up in one night. I'll be bedridden for days, I thought miserably, burying my face in my hands.

I peered past my fingers to look at my stomach. It wasn't large- after all, it had only been a couple weeks, but the small mound there was a reminder of what was happening to me. I squeezed my eyes shut, tipping my head back and taking a deep breath.

Suck it up, Zaid.

This isn't about you anymore. Nothing is about you anymore.

It's about the pack.

It's about Scythe.

It's about the pups.

Time to quit being selfish. I sighed, nodding to myself and repeating those things in my mind as I rose to my feet, changing into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before I went downstairs. Everyone was working hard to clean the house, cleansing it.

It was tradition.

The day a new alpha comes into place, everything must be cleansed. The house should be cleaned down to the smallest corner- which was going to take quite a while seeing how big the plantation house was. The old food would need to be thrown out, replaced with fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, and fresh meat. The cars and bikes would need to be scrubbed down. The backyard would need to be trimmed, but the woods left alone. That was the domain of the Goddess and She would cleanse it Herself.

As for the pack itself, we would do our own cleansing an hour before the ritual.

Part of me wanted to make it a little more authentic and head to the lake to cleanse, but there'd be no way I'd make it there and back without getting sick. Not to mention, I was still weary of the woods after the run-in with Jack. Who knows? He might be hiding out there again. Or Ash could be camping out in the woods during his stay here.

I shuddered at the thought and went to the kitchen to start cleaning there. Trisha was already piling the old and rotten food into boxes that she would toss to the animals in the woods. Xina was scrubbing the table, her black hair pulled back into a loose flying bun. She looked up and smiled at me

"Hey, Zaid. Come to join the party?" She asked, putting a hand on her hip. I nodded.

"What do you need me to do?" I asked. Xina hummed, scanning the kitchen before her eyes landed on the key rack.

"Ah. There we go. How about you go wash down the bikes? Alek and Kylan were supposed to, but for some reason, Alek detested and went to work in the basement with Ugo." She mused. I didn't mention anything about the relationship between Alek and Kylan and just nodded, taking the keys off the hook and heading out to the barn.

Thalia was cleaning off the deck, washing down the swing there. I saw Ivy splashing soapy water on the Raptor that sat in the driveway. I wondered where Scythe was, but no doubt he was probably doing something that was a little more tedious, like moving the furniture around.