Dax
It wasa sleepless night for me, but I didn’t care. I spent the hours watching Ashe and Morgan sleep. Both of them were exhausted from their ordeals—Morgan from giving birth, and Ashe from being born.
As a human newborn, Ashe was tiny. He had a shock of thick dark hair on his head, just like both of us. In his hair were intriguing streaks of white. I wondered if those would fade the same way a fawn’s spots did.
As dawn broke over the land, Morgan roused from his sleep. I smiled at him. “So much for a short nap, huh?”
He yawned and shifted back to human form. “You try pushing a baby out of your body and see how much energy you have.” His eyes lit up when he gazed at Ashe. His whole expression turned warm and goopy. “How was he?”
“Perfect. He was fussy at first but fell asleep soon after.” I grinned. “He’s probably gonna raise hell as soon as he wakes up.”
Everyone else was waking up too. After Hugo stretched, he came over and asked, “If Morgan’s feeling up to it, shall we head back? I want to check on Remmy and the twins.”
“I’m fine to walk,” Morgan said. “Ashe might be, too.”
Sage froze mid-yawn with his jaw open. “Huh? But he was just born!”
Morgan chuckled. “He’s a fawn as well as a human baby, remember? When deer are born, we’re up and walking within hours.”
“Not like wolves,” I told Sage. “We’re useless lumps of fur for a few weeks.”
“Whoa,” Sage murmured, eyes wide. “Prey animals are so cool.”
Morgan and Len laughed.
A tiny grumbling drew my attention. Ashe had woken up, blinking his dark eyes. Morgan came over and shifted to buck form before nuzzling Ashe with his velvety soft muzzle. Ashe’s face lit up with recognition. It amazed me that shifter babies always knew their parents, no matter what form they took.
“Can you change for me, Ashe?” Morgan asked.
Even if Ashe didn’t understand his words, there was a magical bond between parent and child. I suspected Ashe would have comprehended Morgan’s wish even if he hadn’t spoken. In a familiar twist all shifters were accustomed to, I watched the baby in my arms change shape until a fawn had taken his place. His gangly limbs were awkward as I held him so I gently placed him on the ground. Immediately Ashe put one trembling leg in front of the other.
Right in front of our eyes, he took his first steps.
“Wow!” Sage cried. “He’s really doing it!”
Morgan raised his head proudly and pawed at the ground. “That’s it, Ashe. Come here.”
Bleating in a small voice, the fawn stumbled over to Morgan and leaned against his strong legs. My heart melted. I couldn’t believe my baby wasn’t even 24 hours old and could already walk.
I beamed. “That’s my boy!”
“I guess we wolves aren’t that special after all,” Hugo teased me.
“That’s right.” I grinned. “If Morgan had given birth to a wolf instead, he’d be a little helpless furball for a month.”
Morgan called playfully from up ahead, “If you’re all done chatting, Ashe and I are ready to go home.”
We all got our tails in gear and followed, letting the two deer lead the pack.
* * *
When we were halfway home,Ashe got tired and shifted to human form. He was conveniently smaller in that shape so I carried him the rest of the way. His first walk and tired him out so he slept the whole time. I smiled every time I felt his tiny chest inhale and exhale against me.
The grove wasn’t quiet like I expected, but instead filled with the twins’ laughter. We found Remington in his wolf form laying flat and helplessly in the grass while Lupa and Leveret braided his fur with little human hands.
“Help,” Remington mumbled when he saw us.
Hugo laughed. “The braids look good on you.”
