[[Wedding]]

[survivesitall]

Christmas Eve had seemed the perfect time to get married. Elena loved Christmas, a holiday she'd only come to celebrate as an adult and part of the Pack. This would be her first away from them; away from all of the effort Jeremy would go to, making sure Stonehaven was absolutely perfect. Here it was just Clayton and her, her hand drifting to her already curving belly at that thought. It would be their last Christmas alone, that was definite. But without the Pack, without Jeremy, it had made sense to them both that they try and make it as much a celebration as they could.

They'd decided to have the wedding at the house, clearing out the living room to make room for their friends. A crackling fire gave the room warmth, and the tree they had felled together stood proudly in the corner, covered with little lights but nothing else in the way of decoration. On the mantle there was a snow globe with two wolves in it, their only other Christmas decoration and a recent acquisition.

Elena wore the same dress that she'd worn to Hermione's wedding. Beaded and off-white, it didn't fit as well as it had then. By their count she was ten weeks pregnant, but already she looked closer to four months. She didn't care about that, she would have been happy getting married in jeans. The celebrant spoke of simple things; committment and love. Elena knew that they had that already. She knew that in the nearly thirteen years since they'd first come together they'd been through more than most couples could ever dream of. Being turned into a wolf, kidnapping, magic attacks, killer mutts... The list went on and on and that didn't include the things that they'd done together.

When she said I do she could feel the tears welling, and for once she didn't care about that either. She'd grown up needing to be strong and tough, and finally she could let another side of herself show. The side that was scared for what they were getting into, but loved Clayton completely and wouldn't want to have her life without him.

She kissed him and heard the cheers of their friends. It was done. They were now Mr and Mrs Danvers.

Comments

[triskehale]

"I didn't mean right now," Derek says with a slight roll of his eyes. It's more out of fond exasperation than anything. He looks at Luke with a curious expression, eyes narrowing a bit. "I meant in general. I have never even seen you shift myself."

It's a personal thing, he knows. Shifting is a big deal. Derek hasn't had the full shift for long, but it's a very precious thing. It's like carrying on his mother's legacy. He feels close to her when he's on four feet. He feels free. "We should run sometime. If you'd like."

[notaretriever]

"I spent ten years in Manhattan hiding what I was from every person I knew," Luke answers, looking away briefly. "Habits are sometimes hard to break." It isn't that he's embarrassed by what he is or that he's ashamed. He's long since accepted what has happened to him and the complications of such, but he's also never lived in a world where it's acceptable.

Even in Idris, the wolves had had to keep to themselves.

"But I would like that," he continues, looking over at Derek. "I might need it.

[triskehale]

"I spent time in New York. This was before I had the full shift, but still. It felt... really small sometimes. Nowhere to run." He smiles a little when Luke says he'd like to run and nods. "It feels like you do. Let me know if you'd like some company. I know the woods pretty well by now."

He should. He's been living in them for months. The thought of having another wolf to run with is exciting. It makes him miss Hayley, but even she wasn't all mentally there when she shifted. Even though she knew enough to not see Derek as a threat, she was still lost to the wolf. "Do you keep your mind when you shift? I mean, is it you in there, or is the wolf in charge?"

[notaretriever]

"On the full moon I'm gone," he says, his voice soft. It's the one night that will always be out of reach for him, the one night where all the wolves he'd known back in his world were exactly the same. "But I have control the rest of the time. I'm still me."

There have been wolves who've spent their lives trying to gain the control it takes to still be themselves during the full moon, but Luke has studied the history and there's no record of anyone having ever managed it. Not in his world.

[triskehale]

"It's a gift. Being able to shift at will, I mean. Not many wolves in my world can achieve it." Derek swallows hard and thinks of his mother and his sister. "It means a lot to me."

He shakes off the sudden wave of emotion and looks up at Luke, eyes flickering like embers in the low light until he blinks. "Let me know when you want to run. I think it'll be good for you. For both of us, maybe."