“Abarai fukutaicho.” The sound of Hitsugaya’s voice startles Renji out of his little daydream and he lifts his head from the table, the slew of pamphlets spread out in front of him proclaiming everything he needs to know about pregnancy, the development of the pups, and how he can be a good, supportive alpha for Byakuya. “There are footsteps at the perimeter to the west. Aizen’s territory does not extend there.”

Renji feels something shift in his stomach and nods, standing and reaching for the fur he left on one of the other kitchen tables. “All right, show me. Just because I can’t run the perimeter doesn’t mean it’s not my job to make sure it stays secure.”

“Where are you going?” The voice makes him jump and he swears, turning to see Ichigo stepping in through the back door. “Byakuya wanted me to let you know something, so you can’t just run off right away to go do your dumb alpha bullshit.”

“Dumb alpha— This isn’t dumb or bullshit.” Renji reminds him.

Ichigo scoffs. “Anyway, Kira’s aftercare is all wrapped up and he’s got a shiny new mating mark to go with it, so Rangiku is going to come by after dinner so you can show her where she goes in the new running schedule. Aren’t I so helpful?”

Hitsugaya leans against the kitchen doorway, his eyes doing an up-down that makes Renji scowl at him. “You’re Ichigo, right? I haven’t seen much of you since you came to stay with our pack, and that was a couple of months ago. When did you move in with Taicho?”

“I’m staying with them while Chad and Uryu are busy.” Ichigo says, giving Hitsugaya a dismissive look. Renji leans back, winging up an eyebrow but content to watch the free show. “I don’t know your name. What, you’re, like, one of the alphas of the pack or something? Good for you. I heard a lot of alphas in this pack were dicks.”

Renji snorts and tips his head back while Hitsugaya only frowns. “Whoever said that must have been talking about the others. I’m nothing but a perfect gentleman.”

“Rukia said that actually, told me that when we were on the way here and said I should look out because it would be just like one of her brother’s alphas to bother me based on something shallow like appearance alone.” Ichigo fishes a can of soda out of the refrigerator, looking thoughtful as he cracks open the can and takes a sip of it. “Come to think of it, maybe Rukia mentioned a white-haired alpha who lost to her brother in less than five minutes one spring afternoon. Would that have been you?”

Hitsugaya has the good grace to flush. “The better man won. You know how that goes.”

“At least you know not to give excuses about your loss. Byakuya must have kicked your ass pretty good for you to blush like that.” Ichigo muses, and Renji has to cover his mouth.

“It would be wrong of me to act like I’m superior on the basis of being an alpha. The most we’re good for is taking care of pretty omegas like you.” Hitsugaya murmurs, his voice dropping a few octaves as he rests his head against the doorframe. “Bad opinion on us, huh? I’m not surprised. Not all alphas are decent men, after all.”

“You’d know all about that, Toshiro.” Renji agrees, clapping the younger man on the shoulder, ignoring the wounded noise Hitsugaya makes in his direction while Ichigo just snickers behind them. “Thanks for the news, Ichigo. I have to go check on some footsteps and see if they’re recognizable. Try not to get in any trouble while I’m gone.”

Ichigo heaves a sigh. “I don’t know. Burning the house down seems really tempting.”

“Hope you’re in the house when the roof caves in.” Renji quips. “Let’s go, idiot. Show me the footprints so we can figure out what’s going on and get this all over with.”

On the way out the door, Hitsugaya gives him a look. “You didn’t mean that, did you?”

“Don’t make me mean it.” Renji says, and Hitsugaya nods. He must think that’s fair.

They switch to their wolf forms to make the trip because the edge of their territory is far from the houses, partially to keep everyone as safe as possible and partially because this was the only real clearing in the territory and the only place to actually live that wouldn’t involve all sorts of issues with the trees around here. Hitsugaya’s fur is as white as the snow and he almost disappears between the trees, but Renji knows him well enough that he can keep up with him right up to where the footsteps begin.

Renji shifts back to his human form, studying the footsteps in the snow. They are on the other side of the line, at least, but hikers usually do not come this far in the winter. “They look fresh, but I can’t really detect a scent attached to them.”

“It was snowing just this morning but there’s no sign that there’s any gathered snow in the footprints.” Hitsugaya kneels down next to him, pointing to the edges of the heels. “Boots. Heavy boots, probably for the snow. Fresh prints. I should be able to smell someone on this alone, but there’s nothing. Do humans know how to use scent blockers?”

The question makes Renji’s stomach hurt. “Hunters might.” He admits, and Hitsugaya looks up at him silently. “There’s a lot of evidence pointing to them starting to understand us better. It wouldn’t be unlike them to know to block their scents this close to our place.”

“If there are hunters, you know Taicho won’t want to do anything about them. Not that we can. They aren’t in our territory, but.” Hitsugaya shrugs and Renji bites down on his lower lip, dragging his teeth across it. Yeah, he knows. “What do we do? Do we just let this go?”

“Probably not a good idea for us to do this, but.” Renji debates with himself, then steps over the territory line. This part of the woods is no man’s land, so they should be able to proceed without having to worry about angering another pack. And now that he knows where Aizen’s territory is, everything is fine. “Let’s see where these take us.”

Hitsugaya beams and bounds up to his side. “Sounds like a plan. And if we run into any hunters on the walk, well, scaring them a little wouldn’t hurt, would it?”

Renji rolls his eyes. “No. No scaring them. We give them space. We just need to know.”

Tracking the footsteps of a possible hunter is far from a safe avenue to take, but Renji… Look, he needs to know. If there are hunters stalking their territory with the intent to hurt his pack or hurt his pack alpha, then he needs to be prepared for that instead of listening to Byakuya and Urahara insisting that there have been fewer hunter-related injuries in the last few years. Just because it’s taking them time to mobilize does not mean they aren’t going to be able to show up at a moment’s notice with dozens of guns.

They need to know what to prepare for, and Renji can hold his own in a fight. It was how he held the title of pack beta even if Yoruichi’s retirement meant he more or less had an easier time getting his hands on the title. If anything goes wrong, he can handle it.

They track the footsteps on foot, Renji’s nose twitching as he tries to pick up any scents on the cool air. There are wolves further west— Shinji, Renji thinks when he picks up the omega’s sweet scent on the air, strained through the distance— but nothing else even though the footsteps suggest this person— people?— would have come by not long ago.

“Hunters, you think?” Hitsugaya asks him after fifteen minutes or so, his own nose twitching in the cold air. “I can’t even pick up a sliver of silver, for that matter.”

Frowning, Renji shakes his head. “I don’t know. I can’t say for sure. They could use scent blockers, but would they come this close without bringing silver with them?”

“Doubt it. They’d have to know walking this close would catch our attention. Hey.” Hitsugaya lifts his arm, gesturing to the cropping of trees just in front of them where two people are visible, dark coats almost blending into the tree trunks. “There’s our answer.”

The wind must pick up his voice. One of the people turns around and stops, reaching out to stop the other. “Hello! We haven’t seen anyone else in this forest for hours. Maybe we aren’t as lost as we thought we were. Do you think you could help us?”

Renji frowns and takes Hitsugaya by the arm, and together they jog to make up the difference between them and the two obviously human hikers waiting for them.

A woman and a man, both of them petite and built slim. Maybe brother and sister? Renji would not doubt it. The woman looks up at him with wide, royal blue eyes, her glossy black hair dotted with snowflakes which means she’s probably been out in the woods since it was snowing. The man hovers just behind her, pale enough to make Renji think he might be will, his large black eyes fixed squarely on Hitsugaya while the bottom half of his face is hidden behind a black facemask. Maybe he is sick after all.

“Oh, I’m so glad to see someone else out here.” The woman laughs loudly, spreading her arms wide. “We were hiking and managed to slip off the trail when it started snowing. It covered it up and I guess we just wandered off on some smooth ground.”

Hitsugaya turns toward the way they came. “Which trail did you start at?”

“The one that loops around the base of the mountain and back,” the woman says, and Renji hums and nods thoughtfully. He knows which one she means. “There’s some walkways around here that almost seem like they could be trails.”

Renji sighs softly and nods. “Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s worse in winter because once the snow covers everything, you can’t tell between dirt and iced-over grass too easily.”

The woman beams and nods up at him. “Exactly! I’m so glad you understand. Part of me was afraid we’d come across someone who thought we were idiots for getting lost in the first place. Some people are just so unfairly cruel, you know.”

“Is your brother sick?” Hitsugaya asks when the man adjusts his mask.

The man freezes, and the woman nods solemnly. “He is. It’s made worse by pollen in the spring and summer, though, so we can’t hike then. Usually winter is easier on him. Isn’t that funny? Most people tend to get sick in the winter time.”

“My health has always been a very delicate matter to balance.” The man explains, and Renji nods slowly as he glances toward the man. “Can you show us back to the path?”

Hitsugaya tilts his head, peering through the trees. “I think we can. It might be hard to get through some of the rougher terrain, but we’re used to it. We won’t let you fall.”

“Oh, are you…” The woman trails off, her eyes having fallen to the wrap around Renji’s shoulders. “Did we wander onto your territory? I’m so sorry! Our father always raised us to be as respectful as possible and yet we’ve gone and walked right into someone’s home without even asking. Please accept our most sincere apologies.”

“You didn’t ” Renji reassures her. “You just got close. Here, take my arm.”

The woman takes Hitsugaya’s arm— no surprise there— and the man takes Renji’s, and he realizes up close that the man does have a scent, but it’s faint and he realizes that it must be their clothes muffling their scents, not to mention the fact they’ve been lost out here. The elements can errode scents after a while and thick human clothing is excellent at muffling when needed, something about the fibers and the design. The type of breathable clothing that lets their scents flow free is bad for winter.

“I want to apologize again.” The man says, his soft and high-pitched voice drawing Renji’s eyes down to him. From this angle, he can make out the shape of a small nose tenting the mask covering his mouth. “For asking you to do this and for worrying you. If you’ve come out of your territory to look for us, it must have concerned you?”

Renji smiles and pats him gently on the hand. “No worries, really. We were concerned about who might be up here, but it’s not abnormal for humans to get lost.”

“That’s unfortunate. These woods are so beautiful. We’ll have to be more careful next time.” The man smiles up at him— or what must be a smile, because Renji can hardly see any shape of his mouth beneath the fabric. It’s mostly the way his eyes narrow into little crescents that gives away the expression beneath.

Something about it makes the hairs on the back of Renji’s neck stand up.

They make it back to the trail and Renji jumps when a woman yells out. “Giselle! There you are. Where the fuck did you wander off to? We were— Oh.”

Renji’s head swivels to the side and he sees a trio of young women standing on the actual path— The speaker is a brunette who stops halfway between the two groups when she seems to realize Renji and Hitsugaya are there. Then she shakes it off and marches up to the woman, taking her by the shoulders and pulling her away from Hitsugaya’s side to stand in front of her. Her dark eyes meet the woman’s— Giselle, Renji thinks— and relief spreads across her pretty features a moment before she hugs her.

“I was worried about you.” He can hear her soft murmur even from here.

“Sorry about that.” The man steps away from Renji’s side, spreading his arms wide. “We must have gotten separated when Giselle and I stopped to rest. Are you all well?”

A pink-haired young woman sighs and walks up to him, dusting snow off of his shoulders and from the long length of his hair. “Of course we’re fine. We were worried about you two. Where did you wander off to? Who are your two companions here?”

“Werewolves!” Giselle says cheerfully, patting the woman hugging her on the back. “We were close to their territory and they offered to bring us back to the trail. Wasn’t that nice of him? Oh, I wonder if we have anything to repay them with.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Hitsugaya says, and of course he’s soaking in the way the girls look at him while Renji keeps his eyes pinned on the man. “We were just happy to help, weren’t we, Renji? And now that you’re all together, we’re just going to go back home.”

Renji nods, looking at the quartet of women and the man. “That’s right. It’s probably best to head home if you can. There’s a blizzard on the way soon.”

“Thank you for telling us!” Giselle waves to them happily. “And thanks again!”

Before Hitsugaya can do something stupid like transform right in front of them, Renji takes him by the arm and turns him around, dragging him back into the trees and the snow toward where they came from. Hitsugaya makes a noise at him but allows him to do it, bowing to his authority for the first time. Once Renji can no longer see the humans behind them, he gives Hitsugaya a sharp look that has the other alpha straightening up.

“Something was weird about that man.” He says. “He gave me a really bad feeling.”

Hitsugaya snorts at him. “Can you believe how lucky he is? Gets to spend all of his time with his sister’s friends apparently. That one girl was all over him.”

“You’re a fucking idiot, Toshiro. This is why you’re never going to be able to defeat Byakuya no matter how many times you try.” Renji stops and rubs a hand over the back of his neck, making sure they are following their own footprints. “There was something about him that was really off. It made me uneasy, and you know how much it takes to make me uneasy.”

“What do you think he was, then? A hunter?” Hitsugaya asks him.

Instead of answering, Renji just shakes his head. Not a hunter, but maybe he felt worse than that. They take to their wolf forms to get back to their territory, Hitsugaya trying to outrun him and easily losing when Renji puts the muscle into it and powers himself forward to the edge of their territory and beyond to the edge of the clearing. By the time Hitsugaya catches up with him, huffing snow out of his nose and glowering, Renji is in better spirits. Whatever that man was, it doesn’t matter. He was gone now.

And the women seemed perfectly harmless. He didn’t get hunter vibes from any of them.

Sui-Feng meets him at the edge of the clearing in her human shape, arms folded over her chest. “Hitsugaya, you’re supposed to run perimeter with me now, so don’t even think about changing back. I want to get this over with so we can get back home.”

Hitsugaya huffs at her but sits back on his haunches, waiting patiently.

Renji does shift back, shaking snow out of his hair, and Sui-Feng scowls at him. “And what were you doing? Taicho was looking for you. Were you out running in the woods?”

“Some humans wandered off the path. They were hiking with their friends, so we walked them back to it.” Renji says, and Sui-Feng hums thoughtfully. “Where’s Taicho?”

“Home.” Sui-Feng takes him by the shoulders, turning him toward the building she specified. “Go home and attend to him. I’m going to run perimeter now.”

Byakuya is waiting on the porch for him, wrapped in one of the furs Renji gave him, the fine white-furred one that looks so beautiful on his slender frame. He’s standing with Ukitake, who has one hand on his stomach and the other wrapped around a steaming mug. Whatever Byakuya says makes Ukitake laugh, his head falling back with the force of it. Kyoraku is not far, of course, sitting on a chair with his hat pulled over his eyes.

“There you are.” Byakuya smiles softly at him as Renji pulls himself up the steps, wrapping his arms around Byakuya from behind and nuzzling the side of his neck. “You’re cold. I was looking for you, but Ichigo said Hitsugaya took you off somewhere?”

“He also said Hitsugaya hit on him.” Ukitake adds with a small, secretive little smile.

Renji rolls his eyes. “Yeah, he was real awful and obvious about it, too. Doesn’t have any charm, that one. But there were footsteps near our territory, so we went into the woods to see where they led. Turns out there were just humans who wandered off the path.”

“You went into the woods?” Byakuya turns to frown at him. “What did we tell you? You have to stay out of unnecessary danger. What if they had been hunters?”

“I know, I know, but it wasn’t, and we would have smelled the silver.” Renji kisses him behind the ear and Byakuya softens into a smile, nodding and leaning into him.

Kyoraku heaves a sigh and pushes himself to his feet, pulling Ukitake back into his chest and kissing the side of his neck, a loud and exaggerated noise that makes Ukitake squirm and giggle in his arms. “He was just taking care of his pregnant mate, Taicho. Cut him some slack. ‘Sides, it sounds like he did a good deed after all.”

Renji drags his teeth along the side of Byakuya’s neck, huffing in laughter when Byakuya squirms and tries to bite him back. “Yeah, nothing happened. Just a brother and sister who wandered off the path. We took ‘em back to their friends and came home.”

“Well, I’m glad nothing bad happened.” Byakuya says. “We do need to sit down and talk about something inside, though. Just the two of us, if you don’t mind.”

“That’s our cue.” Ukitake turns to Kyoraku, who leans over to kiss the corner of his mouth. “Let’s go home, darling. You can wrap me up and take care of me for the rest of the day.”

“You and Nanao-chan.” Kyoraku says, and Ukitake beams up at him.

“Me and Nanao-chan.” he agrees. “I promised I’d read with her today, anyway. We’ll sit and read together while you take care of us. You two, don’t get too wild now. Have a good day.”

“No promises.” Renji says, and Byakuya smacks him on the shoulder playfully.

After Ukitake and Kyoraku start home, Byakuya takes Renji by the wrist and leads him into the house, bypassing all of the common rooms and taking him straight to the bedroom and shutting the door behind him. Renji opens his mouth to ask what’s wrong but Byakuya sits him down on the futon instead, sitting down next to him with his knees folded beneath him, wrapping the heavy fur around his shoulders tighter as he sighs softly. Whatever he wants to talk about, Renji can feel how heavy the weight of it is on his shoulders.

“You know my grandfather passed away when I was a teenager, not long before my parents were killed.” Byakuya is quiet, hands folded neatly in his lap, and he doesn’t meet Renji’s eyes. “Hisana passed not longer after they did, and then it was just Rukia and myself. Or at least, that’s what I’ve told you where my family is concerned.”

Renji nods slowly. The rest of the pack has said similar things, which makes him wonder where the rest of the Kuchiki family is supposed to be. “Is that… Not true?”

“Not entirely. I have an uncle who went into exile when I was still a child. I remember him somewhat, but not as well as I’d like to.” Byakuya shrugs a shoulder, tucking a few strands of hair back behind his ear. “I was thinking about attempting to contact him to see if he would want to come back here and meet his grand nieces or nephews.”

“I don’t see why not.” Renji says, relieved it’s not somehow worse. “What did he go into exile for? Seems like something that’s pretty common of this pack.”

Byakuya huffs at him. “What a wonderful vote of confidence in your pack alpha.”

“Not what I meant at all.” Renji says, raising his hands, but Byakuya gives him a small, playful little smile to show he wasn’t taking it seriously in the first place. “So, this uncle of yours. I don’t think I’ve heard anyone else in the pack talk about him before.”

The small smile on Byakuya’s face drops. “He and my grandfather got into it quite a lot.”

“Oh.” That… Is not a surprise, given what Renji has heard about the old man. Kuchiki Ginrei was a hard man to please and a stern alpha, far worse than Byakuya has ever been. “So I’m guessing he left because of that? I mean, stranger things have happened, but—”

Byakuya shakes his head, and Renji stops speaking. “He was a part of my family because he was mated to my father’s sister, but that… Came to an end, and the resulting argument was what led him to leave eventually. No one talks about it because broken mating marks are not something to be gossipped about. Also, Father expressly forbid them to discuss it.”

Renji nods slowly. He doesn’t really see the point in not talking about it, but if the Kuchikis were in power, then it makes sense. He and his siblings used to gossip constantly, but their pack was a lot different than this one. “Any reason that it broke down?”

“Oh yes.” This time, Byakuya grimaces. “He found another mate. I don’t know that I believe in soulmates in the most accepted way of speaking, but that was what they claimed to be. The relationship itself ended amicably, as I believe she knew he didn’t love her, but Grandfather… From what I understand, it was a complicated situation.”

“Sounds like if he’d stayed around, your grandfather might’ve made it hard for him and his new mate.” Renji muses, and he sees Byakuya grimace before giving a quick nod.

Instead of snapping at him like Renji expects, Byakuya leans into him, resting his head against Renji’s shoulder. “Much as I loved my grandfather, he is exactly that spiteful, and from what I understand, the other person involved in this was already something of a quiet outcast among our pack. So leaving was better for both of them. And now…”

“Now your grandfather is dead and so are your parents, so all of the people whose authority you might have leaned to are gone.” Renji says, and Byakuya nods against his shoulder. “If you want to contact him, then go ahead. I won’t stop you. I’ll welcome him and his mate with open arms if that’s what you want. You have my word.”

“You’re a good man, Abarai Renji.” Byakuya wraps a hand around the back of his neck. “Now give me a kiss. Being alpha means I have so many responsibilities to the rest of the pack and it means I have to run around for most of the day. I want to enjoy your touch.”

Renji lets himself be pulled down onto the futon, catching his weight on his forearms so Byakuya gets nothing but heat and warmth. Their mouths brush together in an almost-kiss before Renji kisses his omega properly, teeth dragging lightly over Byakuya’s lower lip until he can pull his mouth open. Byakuya’s tongue meets his and Renji growls softly into his mouth, brushing his long hair back out of his face so he can press kisses all over it, his eyelids and nose and cheeks until Byakuya is giggling beneath him. And then he trails his kisses lower, over Byakuya’s shirt until he can push the bottom of it up.

“For the love of all that is holy, Renji, you can’t see them yet.” Byakuya reminds him.

“Yeah, but who cares?” Renji presses his cheek against Byakuya’s bare skin, scrubbing his cheek against Byakuya’s stomach. “I still know they’re there. All three of them.”

Byakuya’s fingers wind in his hair and hold him in place, and Renji presses a kiss against his stomach and lays his head back down, just drinking in the fact that the two of them are here. Kuchiki Byakuya is beneath him, playing with his hair while Renji lets himself just be close with the three pups the two of them are going to welcome into the world in late summer. Nothing could possibly make this moment mean any less to him, and anything that happens in the future— He’ll deal with it for these four.

“Alpha.” Byakuya says playfully, and Renji laughs, leaning up to give him another kiss. “Just think. In a few more weeks, you’ll be able to put the mating mark on me.”

Renji’s arms nearly go out beneath him at the realization. “I’m going to make it as special for you as humanly possible. I want you to be able to remember it for the rest of your life, and I’m going to make sure I’m there beside you for every day of it.”

“I hope so.” Byakuya wraps a leg around his waist, rolling his hips up against Renji’s own. “Why don’t we practice, hmm? Make sure we have everything down when the time comes.”

“Absolutely.” Renji leans up to pull his own shirt off, shrugging off his fur and letting it lay across his back. He can keep Byakuya warm this way. “I’ll show you practice makes perfect.”

They don’t leave Byakuya’s room until Rukia nearly beats the door down to tell them Orihime has dinner on the table.