Although Blue's words hadn't seemed to move Sieger at all, Synnove and Alaric were stubbornly on his and Eivind's side, much to Sieger's chagrin. Synnove was especially fierce, laying out only two options for Sieger: let Eivind and Blue stay in the pack, or let them leave. Together. She was in no mood to entertain Sieger's idea that Blue should simply be killed and hidden away where no one could find him, and for that Blue was immensely grateful. He felt somewhat guilty for the way he had snapped at her and for the rant he had fallen into, making a mental note that he would have to apologize to her once all of this was said and done. Synnove had an energy about her that commanded the room, much different from the one Sieger used to demand attention from his pack. She was rigid in her words, and although Sieger didn't agree with her at all, the alpha bowed do her will. Blue realized at the moment of Sieger's reluctant acquiescence that he had himself a powerful ally in Synnove, though how or why she liked him and wanted him around when it seemed her mate was staunchly against the idea he couldn't say. Perhaps, after he had made that apology, he would have to ask about that, too.<br/><br/>Blue heaved a sigh of relief when Sieger grunted that he could stay, but once the alpha began to list his conditions, the boy's heart fell. He couldn't leave the settlement. Ever. He had half expected that, especially with Sieger's fear that Blue would go blabbing about the pack to the first human he encountered, but it was the second condition that darkened his mood the most. "Mating ritual?" he whispered, his eyes darting to Eivind. This was what Freyr had meant about them fucking before seeing the pack. Eivind claiming Blue, marking him with his scent and officially making him his mate. The boy swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat at the thought of forced sex. The idea that their first time was going to be a requirement by the pack, something that he had to do in order to keep his life and stay with Eivind was horrific, and at its core not so different from how things were with Lofgren's pack. Sex in exchange for life.<br/><br/>Eivind seemed to be having none of it, and aggressively argued against Sieger's wishes. Blue felt his heart swell in his chest as Eivind traded harsh declarations with the alpha. He was grateful for what the wolf was doing, but he wanted this to be over. All of it. He wanted to take Eivind and go somewhere deep in the woods, where they could be alone, away from all of these judgmental eyes and demands. But when Sieger suggested that Eivind should fuck Blue whether the boy wanted it or not and be done with it, that "one more time" wasn't going to make a difference to Blue's damaged psyche, Eivind snapped. For one brief moment, the world seemed to move in slow motion as Blue watched Eivind's face turn dark and violent, his body tense and ready for a fight. He stood up from his chair as his wolf attacked Sieger, looking as if he wanted to murder the alpha.<br/><br/>"Eivind! Stop!" Blue yelled, but the wolf didn't seem to hear him, and Synnove was pulling him back, blocking him from the two older males as their fists beat one another into bloody pulps. The look on Synnove's face was telling. She didn't seem too concerned about the two males, but she did have her eyes locked onto the broken chair. The other wolves in the room all cleared space for the two brawling males, but no one stepped in to stop them. This was apparently a way of life for wolves, and Blue was forced to watch as the alpha beat his mate bloody, though Eivind was more than enough of a match for him and gave it as good as he got. Eventually the two wolves wore themselves out, and they ceased fighting without intervention from any of the others, though both men looked like they had been put through the ringer, covered in one another's blood with swollen faces and bruises already forming underneath the skin.<br/><br/>Blue reached for Eivind and clutched at his arm when he approached, and the two stomped out of Sieger and Synnove's home, Eivind spitting words over his shoulder as they left. Blue looked back to see a truculent look on Sieger's mangled face, and a he felt an intense anxiety grip him as they stumbled together out into the morning sun.<br/><br/>The two rushed back together to Eivind's home in silence, though Blue could hear his wolf fuming and huffing as they made their way. What was Eivind thinking, attacking Sieger like that? It wasn't the first time the two had come to blows over him, and he suspected that them fighting had happened many times, long before Blue ever came into the picture. His mind raced as they pushed through the front door to Eivind's home, and Blue pulled back on the wolf's arm.<br/><br/>"Eivind, stop, please," he begged, pulling Eivind to him and sighing as he looked at his beaten face. "What's wrong with you? Losing it like that? You can't . . . he said we could stay. That he wasn't going to kill me. You shouldn't have done that." Blue was chastising the wolf, but only mildly, his voice soft and concerned instead of harsh and condemning. He knew why Eivind had done it, and perhaps if he had been the wolf's shoes he would have done something similar. He sighed once more, throwing his arms around Eivind's shoulders and hugging him tightly, his heart beating furiously against his chest, so violently he was sure Eivind could feel it, too.<br/><br/>"You're so stupid," Blue laughed, bringing up a hand and clutching at Eivind's hair. "We . . . we should get you cleaned up. You're covered in so many different kinds of blood I can hardly stand to touch you. You're filthy and you stink." The boy pulled away and interlaced his fingers with Eivind's, directing the wolf to the stairs and leading him up toward the bedroom.<br/><br/>Blue gave a passing glance to the dresser, still sitting askance and on the bed sheet Blue had used cover the floor. "My project," Blue said dismissively, waving his fingers at the piece of furniture before dropping Eivind's hand and moving into the bathroom to start up the shower. "Come here," Blue said gently, turning the nozzles of the shower and listening as the water came rushing through the pipes.<br/><br/>"Maybe . . . maybe we should just do it," Blue said abruptly, his back to the bathroom door. "If that's what it takes to get Sieger off of our backs, and to prove that I'm serious about you, then we should just get it over with." Blue's voice choked a bit as he spoke to Eivind. He hated the thought that their first time was going to be<i>this</i>, an awkward, forced mating that didn't reflect the couple's true desire for one another. He wondered if maybe he should have just let Eivind go through with it the other two times they had been close. If all of this could have been avoided if he had just let it happen.<br/><br/>Blue stripped off his t-shirt and tossed it onto the bathroom floor, shortly followed by his jeans and underwear. He turned to the wolf and looked at him with glassy eyes, making his way over and began to fumble with the button to Eivind's pants.<br/><br/>"We can make it nice," he said, though it didn't seem that there was much conviction in Blue's voice. "And we both want it, right? I mean, I do. I didn't think it would be quite like this, but sometimes you just have to suck it up, right?" He undid Eivind's pants and unzipped them slowly, but he didn't move to pull anything down. He looked up into Eivind's eyes and stared for a long, quiet moment, then leaned forward to press a gentle kiss against the wolf's lips, but there was a trepidation to Blue's movements that was hard to ignore.