POV - Kyas
A push came in from Papa, surprising me. I mean, it had been explained that this was possible, but no one had actually done it yet. I had communicated with Alpha, but pretty much cause he doesn't ask permission.
'Hello Papa?' I asked.
'Hey, son,' he said, 'I just wanted to let you know what the council decided.'
'Should I be worried that you're not in Alpha mode for this?' I asked.
He laughed. 'I have an Alpha mode?'
'Yeah, you detatch, distance personaly so you can do, Alpha things instead of...Papa things.' I said.
'Huh, I guess I never noticed that.' He said. 'So, they've sentenced you all to six months in pack service. You and Chaos will be doing chores for the pack, and Elias will be doing
kitchen and laundry duties.'
'Papa, I can do kitchen duties. That's what I did in my old pack, I know how to do almost everything in the kitchen.' I told him.
'Kyas, Chaos can't do kitchen work, but it's not about the work. It's about the lesson.'
He explained. 'The counsel feels that you need to face the people you disrespected when you made a fool of me. I represent them in all that I do the same as they represent me.
For Elias, that promise to lie was very selfish of him, and we can't have our future alpha behaving that way. Elias didn't consider YOU at all in his request, what it meant for you, he only thought about himself, and he never wavered from that decision. The Counsel feels that the kitchens will teach him team building skills and how to work together for a common goal.'
'Oh, I guess I get that.' I said.
'Kyas,' he hesitated. 'There's more.'
Uh oh. 'Yeah?'
'They are taking your full moons. You're not allowed to spend them with just us anymore. The Counsel says you owe that time to the pack. The pack needs to see YOU taking responsibility, not just Chaos being punished.' He explained. 'You'll be expected to make a formal apology to the pack, in person, on the next one. I'm telling you now so you can be prepared.'
'Whoa.' I said. Stunned for a few minutes.
'Yeah, I knew that was going to be a big one for you.' He said.
'Hence, 'Papa mode' huh?' I replied in a shaking tone.
He laughed. 'Yep.'
I thought for a second. 'So how will this work, Papa? The pack tells you or someone else what they need done,and you tell us?'
He laughed. 'Oh no, boy, not a chance, this is your punishment, not mine, they'll be contacting you.'
'Me?' I squeak.
'Uh, yeah, you're kind of in a great location.' He chuckled.
'But... I've never done that before. I don't know how.' I said.
'Sure you do, your Mama showed you on induction night. You'll do great.' He said.
'Okay.' I said, unsure.
I suddenly remembered something. 'Oh, Papa?'
'Yeah?' He asked.
'When can we go back to school?' I asked.
'What? School?' He sounded confused.
'Yeah, Mr. Robins does the new vocabulary words on Mondays, and we already missed last week, and we'll be lost if we can't see the next steps in math.' I said.
'Yeah,' Chaos spoke up, 'and I want to see if the apple tree we planted for earth science has sprouted. I wanna grow my own apples.'
I could sense his surprise. 'Wait, you two have been actually going to school? I thought you walked Elias there and hung out outside?'
'We do. We watch class through the windows. We're in fourth grade. With Ember. It's just that we usually bring Ember's lunch to school, and I'm worried that she's hungry.' I said.
'You never cease to amaze me, Kyas. How did I not know this in five years?' He wondered.
'Well... you never asked.' I said.
'Fair enough, son. I'll call the school tomorrow and see what I can work out.'
He said.
'Awesome!' I shouted, 'Oh, wait... I have a question?'
''What's that?' He asked.
'How do we do chores and go to school if you're commanding Chaos?' I questioned.
'Hmm, fair point. I guess we'll have to share him. How about you can have him for school and after school for chores, but he's all mine after supper. Weekends we go halfsies. Sound good?' He asked.
Chaos spoke up. 'You do know I can hear you, right?'
'Yep.' Papa said.
'Okay, Papa.' I agreed.
'Ok, good chat, but now I have to go handle Elias. You were first because you're easier.'
He laughed.
'Ok. Wait, Papa?' I said.
'Yeah?' He answered.
'Um... talking to you this way is nice.' I said.
'Kyas, say "I like". "I like talking to you this way." He said.
'I-I like talking you this way.' I repeated.
'Good, son, I like talking to you this way, too.' He said back.
His push faded out, but another asked right after, from Kevin.
'Hello, Kevin?' I said.
'Um...hi Kyas - wait, how do you know my name?' He asked.
'I know everybody's name.' I responded.
'O...k..., so, um, I need a favor and Alpha said I should ask you since it's something Chaos can do.' He said.
'Okay, what is it?' I said.
'Well, I'm out of town and Joel wants to mow my lawn, I don't know why, but the kids left their toys all over the yard. Could Chaos pick them up?' He asked.
'Oh, sure! Joel probably wants to test Taylor's lawn mower, he was supposed to fix it, but his yard is already mowed.' I told him.
'Makes sense, thanks Kyas.' Kevin said.
'Oh, wait!' I said.
'Yeah?' He asked.
'Dana gets upset when she can't find her red ball. Would you like us to put that separate so she can find it?' I asked.
'Uh, yeah. How did you know that about my daughter?' He asked a bit suspiciously.
I smiled. He was protective of her.
'We have helped her find it twice.' I said.
'Huh... Ok, well thanks again, Kyas.'
'You got it.' I said, and his push faded.
I... got a new bond. Maybe we can do this…