Rind.

"What's going on?? Is Adotre getting mated? Why does he get to sleep in our bed? Who is Iorir?! What happened with Dotre's dad!?! What do Nemel and Airu mean?!?!"
Kellan stared with open-mouthed surprise at his mate's unexpected outburst. Gustin poked him, and he recovered enough to respond.
"Yes, the Layer must be mated before we go. I am his Airu - his Alpha, and he cannot survive without one here in the Irion alone. He'll go mad."
Gus blinked.
"Layers go mad without an Alpha?"
Kellan nodded.
"But wolfes don't."
Kellan made a weird face.
"We are not the same, Human."
"But you look pretty - "
"Do not allow yourself to be deceived by superficial similarities. Layers and Wolfes are very different."
Gus absorbed this information and moved on.
"So you're mating him to the wolfe Iorir. Who's Iorir?!"
"He is our neighbor to the south and the west. His territory is amongst the largest in this part of the Irion. And his exile ends soon; he and Adotre may go back to his pack. He will be a good mate."
Gus gave Kellan a skeptical look.
"Why don't you let Adotre pick his own mate?"
Kellan shrugged as he turned his attention to the large block of wood, now half-hollow, on which he'd been carving for the past week.
"He can. But I am his Airu; it is expected of me that I do this for him."
Gus contemplated this for a moment, then, in a quieter voice, in case Adotre was in a position to overhear, he asked.
"What happened with Adotre's father?"
Kellan growled.
"Nothing. That's why the Layer left his clan. His father abused Adotre and his mother, and when he reported it to the elders, they did nothing for them. So he left. Tried to take his mother with him, but she wouldn't go. He was only 20 when he ran - a fine age for you or I, but still so vulnerable for his kind. Still a pup. When we came upon each other, he was starving, sick, and half-mad for lack of his Airu. He tried to make me mate him at first; he was so desperate for an Alpha. I took him to the caves north of here, fed him, kept him calm for a while.
When he was better, he was different - he began to repress his inclination. He doesn't want to lay-express. He is frightened of being back at the mercy of a corrupt Airu. But he cannot make his need for an Airu disappear, only sleep a little while. So he lives, most of the time, alone in his cave to the north. When the need becomes too great, he comes and stays here. He hates himself for this, but our arrangement has allowed him to maintain his distance and autonomy, and shield himself mentally in the way which he prefers."
Kellan took a piece of rough stone and began rubbing it along one side of the wood.
"But his delusion cannot persist. It is inevitable, and it is appropriate, that he learn to understand what his place is in this life, and the time for change is now."
Kellan looked up from his carving to meet Gustin's eyes.
"He must learn that there is no shame in being who the Moon has asked him to be."
Gus gathered that there was a message in Kellan's words, but he did his best to ignore it. As if to reinforce the implication, Kellan flicked his eyes down to Gustin's stomach.
"How are you feeling, little one?"
Gus felt a little heat rush to his face.
"Fine. I'm fine." he tried to change the topic.
"So...the word Nemel. You said that word, and it was like a switch. What does it mean?"
Kellan grunted.
"You will have to ask the Layer to explain that much to you, human. I am unclear on the intricacies of their vocabulary's meaning."
Gus noted this and filed it away for later. Then he contemplated his next question. Kellan set aside the stone and picked up the hollowing tool again.
"So if this all can be done so easily, why don't Wolfes mate Layers? Why humans instead? Layers aren't nearly so hard to find."
Kellan grunted and glanced towards the bathing rooms.
"It can be difficult for a wolfe and layer to breed. Likelihood of pregnancy is low during an encounter between freshly bonded pairs, and does not raise much with time. In the case of pregnancy, likelihood of fetal survival can be limited. Mating Layers would be an ineffective strategy." Kellan paused. "And there are some...emotional difficulties."
Gus was silent with disbelief.
"And there aren't emotional difficulties that result from the forced mating of humans?"
Kellan furrowed his brow.
"This is different, human. The Layer does not mature, emotionally, in the way that humans and wolfes do. He will never be much different than he is now; Layers are eternal youths. Many wolfes find this disturbing, even irritating in our old age. Iorir does not seem to mind."
Gus frowned.
"So is that why you chose him for Adotre's mate?"
Kellan shook his head, and if Gus had been looking at his mate's face rather than his back, he would have seen a hint of a smile play across those wolfish lips.
"No. I chose Iorir because he and Adotre are madly in love." A scoff. "Even if the Layer won't admit it yet."
Suddenly, Kellan turned and looked, very seriously, at Gustin.
"You must help him during this time."
Gus' eyes widened.
"Me?! Why me? I'm not the one who wants him mated."
Kellan shrugged.
"You are the only other beta he knows. You have a wolfe mate. Your actions will be his model of behavior."
Gus frowned. This seemed, already, like a bad idea. Kellan set down his tools and reached both hands out to Gustin, calling his mate into his arms. Gus went quietly. Kellan nuzzled his tummy, then pulled him down onto his lap and buried his nose in the side of his bondmate's neck. Gus shivered as Kellan whispered against his skin.
"Please. Just a small help, that's all he needs. Someone to talk to, now and then. It will ease his worry, make him feel more comfortable."
The vibrations of Kellan's mouth tickled him, made his skin feel sensitive. How long had it been since he and the wolfe had last mated? It felt like weeks. Gustin counted up in his head. OK, more like a few days. Eternity. He wondered if the wolfe was still frightened of hurting him. Gus tilted his head to allow Kellan better access to his neck.
"Can you help him, little one?" the wolfe persisted. Gus nodded.
"Sure. Help. Whatever. C'mere."
With a sudden rush of boldness, he turned, took Kellan's face in both his hands, and kissed the wolfe full-on. Kuskellanar grinned, pulled back from the kiss, and began to nip and lick his way down Gustin's neck to his collarbone, across to the Mark, then back down until his shirt stopped the progress. Kellan was just getting ready to take it off when the sound of footsteps alerted him to the fact that Adotre was done with his bath.
"Hi!" the sulk was gone, Gustin noticed, as the Layer bounded over to them, naked but for a drying sheet loosely tied around his waist, and in human form. "My bath was great. What are you guys doing?"

~:~