Inducting new members into the pack is a traditional enough affair that everything runs smoothly even though it was last minute. Everyone is gathered outside in the common area, sitting and standing, eating and talking with one another. Renji makes it a point to walk right up to their new group of pack members, slinging an arm around Orihime’s shoulders and giving her an affectionate squeeze when she squeaks and then laughs nervously up at him.

“I’m glad Taicho let all of you join the pack.” He says seriously, before he offers his hand to each of them in turn. “I’m Abarai Renji, your pack beta. If Taicho isn’t around, you answer to me. And if you need help adjusting to pack life at all, I’m the man to help you.”

Chad squeezes his hand the tightest but Ichigo is close, giving him a curious updown before meeting his eyes directly. “You spoke on our behalf. We really owe you one for that.”

“You don’t owe me anything. If Rukia says all of you are safe, then you’re safe. I wouldn’t think for a second she’d betray us.” If he also spoke up for them because he knew it was what Byakuya wanted, saw it written all over the lines of his face as he held his composure before the entire pack, then so be it. It’s hard to read those beautiful grey eyes, but Renji is learning.

“It’s good to see everyone is still fine. I was worried even while I was gone.” Rukia squares her shoulders and sighs before bowing at the waist, startling Renji. “I need to thank you, just the same, for taking care of my brother while I was gone. I could smell you on his skin.”

Renji scoffs and shakes his head at her. “You know you don’t. The fact he felt safe coming to me at all was all I needed. But just know you don’t have to worry about him if it’s me.”

“I know that. It’s why I’m thanking you. I know you’ll take care of him.” Rukia meets his gaze directly and Renji is always impressed at her stature, at her aura even with her small height. There had been others in the pack who ridiculed her, but Rukia can more than hold her own in a fight and every part of her screams alpha. “Byakuya might not ever say it out loud, but I think what happened with Hisana hit him a lot harder than anyone can see.”

The thought is sobering and Renji nods. He’d come to a similar conclusion himself. “Yeah, I could see it when I was with him. He opened up about it a little, too.”

“That’s good to hear.” Rukia laughs softly, hand slipping behind her head to rub the back of her neck. “It’s so dreary to talk about such things when we should all be celebrating! Thank you again, and thank you for welcoming us all home. I’m glad to be back for sure.”

Renji grabs her around the shoulders and ruffles her hair, grinning when Rukia sputters and smacks at his arm. “I’m glad to have you back! And your soon-to-be mate, definitely.”

“Abarai-san?” Orihime tugs gently on his sleeve and Renji turns to her, mouth open to correct her to just Renji , but she speaks before he can. “You and the pack alpha, are the two of you together? I received the distinct impression. He looked to you during the meeting.”

If a stranger has noticed, Renji wonders if the pack has or if they’re all a little too close to home to see what Orihime has. “We aren’t together… Yet. I just haven’t declared my intentions in any formal way. For the time being, we just share our heats and ruts together. We made that decision recently. But I have every intention of courting Byakuya officially.”

Rukia perks up when Byakuya drifts across the common area, punching Renji’s arm. “You should probably go with him now. It looks like it’s time for the welcome introduction.”

“Welcome introduction?” Ichigo asks, winging up one pale eyebrow.

“Taicho will say some things about how he’s glad to have you hear and we’ll run together. Running with pack means you’re part of us now. Guests and strangers aren’t allowed and get chased away.” Renji gives Ichigo’s hair a ruffle and has to admit to himself that Ichigo smells awfully sweet. it’s gonna be hell to keep some of the pack away from him. “No worries, you just gotta keep up with us and it’ll be fine. But I gotta go join our alpha now.”

When it comes to running with the pack, Byakuya always changes to something more relaxed, something he doesn’t mind getting dirty should he need to turn back suddenly. Something he can fight in, because sudden changes only come under certain circumstances and he’s always prepared for it. The loose fabric of his pants hides the shapely curves of his hips and thighs while the sleeveless shirt leaves his arms on display, the collar hitting just low enough on his collarbone that a hint of a bruise peeks above the top of it.

Renji knows that mark well. He’d left it there with his own mouth, and it makes him sit up and take notice when he realizes Byakuya has left it on display on purpose.

He also has his hair tied back out of his face for a change, his throat just begging for someone’s lips and teeth to slide against it. But all at the same time he radiates commanding energy and Renji loves falling in next to him, chest puffed up as he comes to remain at his pack alpha’s side. There is no one whose right hand he would rather be, and when Yoruichi comes to join him, she arches her brows up at him and shakes her head, a smile tugging at her lips.

“What is it?” he asks, bumping his shoulder up against hers.

With a bright little smile, Yoruichi leans up to whisper directly into his ear. “The entire pack is going to be able to smell who put that on his throat. I hope you realize that.”

“Oh, I do, and I’m not even a little bit ashamed about it. They should know.” Renji winks at her and Yoruichi throws her head back and laughs, the sound echoing in the night.

“Pack.” Byakuya calls out, the sharp tone of his voice drawing everyone’s attention to him. Renji’s spine snaps straight at the sound of his voice. “It is with a joyous heart that I welcome back into our home Kurosaki Ichigo and Kuchiki Rukia. It is also with great happiness that I welcome Sado Yasutora, Inoue Orihime, and Ishida Uryu into our home. While pack is the family we all grow up with, many of us know that pack can cease being the warmth and security it should always be. Let us be the foundation upon which you build your new lives.”

He spreads his arms wide and Renji is cloaked in sweet cherry blossom scent as Byakuya projects across the clearing, the scent all of them should know by heart. The most comforting scent there can be in a pack: the scent of the alpha. “This pack has gone through turbulent changes but I reassure all of you that as your alpha, we are still a pack. We are still a family. No matter what happens, we will not be divided and we will not fall. If you view this place as your home, it will continue to be your home, and I will keep it safe.”

One graceful hand rises toward the sky, toward where the moon hangs fat and heavy in a mantle of stars against the velvet navy blue of the night sky. “Tonight, we run as a pack. We run with our new members and our returning members. We run together as a family because in a pack, there are no lines and no distinctions. We are one moving body. Run with me! Scatter! ”

The command has everyone’s bodies running with fur, limbs and joints contorting. Byakuya howls and they all howl with him, and Renji can feel the energy wrapped around all of them, the power they have as a group. And immediately Byakuya turns and sprints, all sleek black fur, and the pack falls in behind him like they always do. It’s as easy as breathing to follow their pack alpha, his speed creating an interesting challenge for the pack members determined to catch up with him. No one has ever caught him that Renji remembers.

Renji doesn’t bother trying to catch up with him, veering off to the right so he falls in with Hisagi, bumping against him just enough that Hisagi snaps at him. He’s all bristled dark fur in the night, lunging forward with every step, half-bounding across the grass. It’s only a matter of time until a fluffy golden wolf and a smaller brown one join in with them, Kira and Hinamori locating them even in the darkness when the pack is all together. Renji gives Kira a playful nip and then bounds ahead of him, barking laughter when Kira hurries to catch up with him.

The four of them had fallen together shortly after Renji joined the pack and Renji found himself the comforting shoulder for all three of them when Aizen left the pack after his loss at Byakuya’s hands. Hinamori had adored Aizen, always had. Hisagi had been close friends with Tosen, who defected to follow Aizen, while Kira had been in love with Gin, who vanished with them. If what Renji had overheard about Aizen’s growing pack nearby is true, and if those two are with him, his friends’ lives are about to become even harder for all of them.

But Renji will be here for all of them and he will protect the pack at Byakuya’s side, serving as the barrier between him and anyone who tries to take him down.

The moment they return home, exhausted from the run but laughing, collapsing into a pile of warm skin and rumpled dirty clothes, Renji leans over to give Hisagi’s head a shove into the grass. “So you just weren’t going to tell me about Kensei, huh?”

The beta’s eyes fly open and he sits up, half-crawling over Hinamori to shove his hands over Renji’s mouth. “Shut up! It’s new, okay? He just started courting me last week. You’ll jinx it.”

Renji bites his fingers and Hisagi yelps, yanking them away. “So what? You should be celebrating. You should have told all of us the minute it happened. This is exciting news. It’s not everyday that one of your closest friends gets a courting gift— Oh shit. Sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Hinamori sits up, picking stray leaves out of her hair. “Don’t ever apologize, Renji. It’s… In the past, and it’s going to stay there. And that’s fine. I’d rather be happy for Hisagi now than dwelling on someone who didn’t love me. I just feel foolish, he doesn’t even like women.”

Kira shrugs, falling onto his back, staring up at the sky above them. “That’s what Gin told me. I only told you because I thought maybe it’d make you feel better. It wasn’t that you weren’t good at trying to woo him, it’s just that he would have never read it that way.”

“What about you?” Renji nudges Kira’s foot with his own. “How are you holding up?”

Kira is quiet for a long time before he answers, propped up on his forearms, the fringe in front of his face even messier than usual. “I’m still sad, you know, like… I guess I really did think he loved me. He acted like he did. Maybe it was more private than public but I told myself it was because people already thought badly of him and he didn’t want to draw attention.”

“That’s fair.” Hisagi says quietly, stretching out a hand to squeeze Kira’s shoulder. “I know a lot of our pack never liked him much, so you had every reason to suspect that.”

“But in the end, he didn’t love me at all. He probably just wanted someone to spend time with before he and Aizen and Tosen all left.” Kira lays back on the grass and Renji feels his heart climb up into his throat, dragging himself across the grass so he can wrap an arm around Kira’s waist. It’s just that Kira always smells so upset when he talks about Gin now, and Kira always smells at least a little sad, a decaying scent around his natural marigold one. “It’s fine, Renji, I’ll be okay. I guess I just got my hopes up for something stupid after all.”

Hisagi crawls on top of him a moment later, pressing his forehead down against Kira’s own, a determined look in his eye. “Izuru, you deserve to be loved by someone capable of adoring you just as much as you deserve to be. Don’t be so gloomy. You will find someone, I’m sure of it.”

Kira’s scent mellows out just a little and he rubs his cheek against Hisagi’s, laughing when Hisagi nuzzles the side of his neck. “Stop, tickles. It tickles, Hisagi, stop that!”

“Care if I join you?” Ichigo drops down next to their little group, his orange hair a riot of twigs and leaves that he seems not to mind. “Thought I’d give the couples a little space to themselves.”

“Couples?” Hinamori picks her head up, and Renji tries to pick out the visual direction Ichigo had just come from to see what he’s talking about.

“Oh.” he says when he spots Orihime curled up on top of Rukia, Chad and Uryu not far away in a similar position. “I didn’t realize it was like that with the guys you brought with you. Does that make you the lone wolf of the pack, then, or what?”

“Pretty much. Not that I mind, I’m not gonna shove my way into something or somewhere if I don’t have feelings for the people involved. They’re my friends and my family, nothing more.” Ichigo smiles and Renji could honestly believe he means it. Maybe he does. Renji doesn’t know him well enough to know if he’s just good at lying or if he truly does not mind. “Thought I should get to know you better. Rukia says you’re a good guy and if she trusts you with her brother, then she must be serious. Also helps if I ever get into any more trouble.”

Renji snorts and stretches out on the grass, hands tucked behind his head as he stares up at the sky above them. “I’ll watch your back, no worries. Taicho’s not so bad when it comes right down to it. He comes off that way and he’s way harder on the alphas than anyone else.”

“As he should be.” Hinamori chirps. “With the way they treat him, it’s what they deserve.”

Renji’s lip curls at the thought. “That’s accurate. The way they talk to him and treat him pisses me off so much. He’s pack alpha and he won the title fair and square and he defends it just the same. If they don’t like it, they can always leave. They’re free to go.”

“When Rukia said your pack alpha was an omega, I got so excited. Omegas, you know, looked down on, weak, all that shit. But Byakuya’s… Not weak at all.” Ichigo picks his head up, then nudges Renji with his foot. “Speaking of, what’s going on right now?”

Renji half-rolls over to see what he’s asking about, grinning when he sees Ukitake and Kyoraku bracketing Byakuya, their heads bowed. He can’t hear the whispered words from here but he’s unsurprised when Byakuya wraps an arm around both of their shoulders, letting them settle in closer to him. Ukitake even presses their faces together, white hair against black, the strands mixing together so that Renji almost can’t tell where one of them ends and the other begins, and it never fails to take his breath away just a little at the sight.

“He’s forgiving them in a more intimate way.” He explains, plucking a few pieces of grass out of the ground. “They’re friends, not just pack mates. Taicho respects them both a lot and he would have asked for their opinions if they didn’t put you guys up while we were busy. But he had to be fair and they were biased opinions. Now that that’s over, everything’s fine again.”

Ichigo pulls a knee up to his chest, staring off at them as he rests his chin on top of his knee. “He’s amazing. I want to learn to be just like that. He’s so… Cool under pressure, he didn’t sweat at all during the meeting. But he’s not totally closed off, I saw him with Rukia and Orihime. That’s the kind of omega I want to be when I’m older.”

“He’s our treasure.” Kira agrees, and Renji ducks his head, splaying a hand over his eyes. “Not that I’m against alphas entirely but it helps to have an omega as our pack alpha. He’s a lot more sensitive to issues than an alpha would be, it’s just a fact.”

“Yeah.” Ichigo shifts a little and Renji glances at him. “Orihime left her pack ‘cause her pack alpha wouldn’t put his foot down and tell the alpha chasing her to leave to her alone. Orihime kept telling her no and she wouldn’t listen, and he just… Let it happen. I’d have kicked his ass but I met her after all was said and done.”

Hinamori clicks her tongue and sighs. “It’s like that in a lot of packs. Byakuya’s not like that, though. He listens. He takes everything seriously. So we all feel safe here with him.”

Hisagi pats Ichigo on the shoulder. “You could pick someone a hell of a lot worse to look up to. Spend some time with him around, if you want. He doesn’t keep himself away from the pack like I know some alphas do, so you’ve got the option.”

Ichigo beams at him. “I definitely will. He’s so fucking cool.”

“Speaking of our dear pack alpha.” Kira rolls over, pushes his face against Renji’s shoulder. “You’re going to do it, aren’t you? Ask him to be yours.”

Renji doesn’t even hesitate. He looks at Byakuya, and his lips pull up in a grin. “Yeah.” he says. “I’m gonna make him mine.”