That’s the hare?I thought, my eyes still wide as saucers. I watched as the little animal beat Dax’s chest with his tiny paws. It was comical and, unfortunately, adorable.
But my brain was still trying to solve the puzzle.If there’s only one hare here, then isn’t that Len? The so-called mate of the wolf Hugo?
I didn’t understand. Dax was smiling sheepishly as Len the hare continued to scold him. It was a completely different side of Dax, who was a snarling wolf when I’d first met him. Who the hell was this man who let a rabbit punch him?
A moment later, Len shifted back to human form. Angry, worried tears shone in his eyes and he wiped them away furiously. My eyes slipped to his midsection. There seemed to be some extra weight that didn’t match the rest of his slim body. I realized with a start that it was leftover baby weight from a recent pregnancy.
The other figures coming down the slope all but confirmed it. There were two men, each carrying a toddler. The kids, who thought this was a funny game, took turns shifting in the men’s arms—one became a wolf cub, and the other a hare kit.
This hare shifter, Len,hadgiven birth to a wolf’s babies.
Dax was telling the truth.
