Dax
“Hungry, daddy.”
Len sighed as his daughter, Lupa, tugged on his hand and stared up at him with big puppy eyes.
“Already, sweetie?” Len asked. The two were sitting on the grassy slope and trying to read a book together.Tryingbeing the key word. “You and your brother ate a couple hours ago.”
Lupa frowned and tugged his hand harder. “Hungry.”
I chuckled at Lupa, who never seemed to be full no matter how much she ate. She and her brother, Leveret, were my niece and nephew. They’d only been born a few months ago, but because the omega who birthed them was a hare, they had accelerated maturity. They were already the equivalent of human one-year-olds. Their alpha father, my brother Hugo, was a wolf shifter. Lupa seemed to take after him with her wolfish—pun intended—appetite.
Meanwhile, Leveret—who was a hare shifter, like Len—was content munching away on stray dandelions. He sat in human form, getting grass stains on his butt, and snatching up every juicy yellow flower head in the area. But Lupa, being a wolf, preferred meat.
My brother Hugo was out on a patrol with our youngest brother, Sage, and the newest adult member of our pack, an omega wolf named Remington. The three of them periodically patrolled the perimeter of the wildlife reserve we lived on. When we first arrived a few months ago, we’d run into trouble with a squatting lone alpha named Klimt. He was long gone with no sign of returning, but Hugo liked to be safe, especially now that he had two small children to protect.
The thought filled me with pride, but also jealousy. I was the oldest brother, yet Hugo had found his fated mate before I did. I was happy for him, of course. I loved my brother-in-law Len, and he was part of the family now, but it did make me long for a mate of my own.
But for now, I was content enough being a good uncle. Since I was the best hunter, I was always the first to volunteer to provide food for the pack. It was something I enjoyed, and I was damn good at it.
Of course, since Len the hare joined our pack, his species was off the menu. Rabbits, too, since the resemblance was a little too close for comfort. That left mainly deer and wild gamebirds as our main courses. By the grace of the gods, the wildlife reserve was rich in flora and fauna, and prey was abundant.
As shifters, we didn’t eat other shifters, no matter if they were prey to us or not. Thankfully, we hadn’t run into any other shifters, only mute natural animals.
“Uncle Dax,” a tiny voice pipped.
Lupa’s hand tugging on me brought me out of my thoughts. She’d moved on from Len and was staring up at me now. Her big eyes were impossible to resist.
“Hungry,” she repeated.
Len laughed and crossed his arms in exasperation. “Oh, I see. I told you to wait so you’re gonna go bother Uncle Dax anyway?”
I grinned and lifted Lupa into the air, which made her cackle with joy. “You manipulative little pup. You know how to get your way, don’t you?” I tweaked her nose and she playfully batted me away. “Well, you know what? Good for you. You’re a smart girl.”
I twirled her around once in the air before setting her down. She stumbled and fell on her butt with a giggle. Len watched with a tender smile. He’d told me and Sage multiple times that he deeply appreciated how well we looked after the kids.
“I better get going, then,” I said to Len while stretching my muscles. “Wouldn’t wanna keep our princess waiting.”
“Dax, I’m sure she can wait,” Len said. “You don’t have to go out of your way like that.”
I grunted. “Nonsense. Does it look like I’m doing anything important right now except working on my tan?”
Len shot me aI-have-given-upsmile. “All right, if you say so. Don’t tire yourself out with something big, okay? She probably just wants a snack.”
“No,” Lupa cried. She lifted her arms. “Abigdeer.”
“Lupa, you can’t eat a whole deer,” Len chided her.
She growled with her tiny wolf’s voice. Both of us laughed.
“Hang on, pup. Uncle Dax will be back soon,” I promised her.
A ripple of ancient magic shot through my body as I shifted. Dark brown fur grew over skin and my hands became sturdy paws. I flicked Lupa playfully with my tail before taking off away from the grove, which was the main site of our territory.
If it’s a deer she wants, it’s a deer she’ll get. Besides, it’ll feed the rest of us for a couple days too.
Since the wildlife reserve stretched for miles and miles, none of us had fully explored the entire area. After the birth of the twins, the pack stuck close to our home base by the grove and only ventured out for food and patrols. The lure of exploration called to me, but the urge to protect my family was stronger.
But I would have been lying if I hadn’t spent countless nights wondering ifmyfated mate was somewhere beyond the boundary of our exploration.
