1
Sage
Hangingout with Remington was usually fun, since he’s really easy to poke fun at, but this time he was being b-o-r-i-n-g. BORING.
The whole situation went like this. We left the grove a couple hours ago, just around midafternoon. My brother-in-law—well, not reallyin law,because we’re shifters who live in the wild, so we don’t get legally married or any weird human stuff like that, but it’s just fun to say, y’know?—Len asked Remmy if he didn’t mind going down into the human town to grab some stuff.
Cue re-enactment music.
Ashe, my brother Dax’s son, was starting to learn how to talk. He was born earlier this summer but since he’s a deer shifter, like his omega dad Morgan, he grows like a weed. He’s already starting to catch up with my niece and nephew, Lupa and Leveret, twins who ended up being two different species—a wolf and a hare. They belong to my other brother Dax, a wolf shifter like me, and his mate Len, a hare.
Yeah, it’s a lot to remember, I know. Hell, my brothers Dax and Hugo keep screwing up my name, accidentally calling me by their kids’ names and vice versa. I guess being a parent fries your brain or something. Good thing I’m not one.
And I dunno if I ever will be, on account of my never-having-a-heat situation.
I pushed that thought out of my head and thought back to what Len said. (Hey, I rhymed without meaning to!)
“Hugo,” Len had said to his mate with a smile, “I think we’re running out of books.”
I was also sitting around for story time, which I liked to do because it reminded me of being a kid again. Lupa and Leveret, Len’s twins, sat around his legs with eager eyes. Beside them was their cousin, Ashe. He was younger but almost as big as they were, probably since his dad Morgan was a big guy for an omega. It wasn’t just his body, but his mind, too. He had almost caught up to the twins in their reading level. That was a big deal for Len—he never learned to read as a kid, since he was from some backwards-ass place, so he insisted that the kids would be literate. It was honestly really nice of him.
“Are we?” Hugo replied, returning Len’s smile with that I’d-do-anything-for-you mushy expression they always had when they spoke to each other. “Then we’ll need to fix that problem.”
“I agree.” Len called Remmy over. “Remington, are you busy?”
Remington had a sort of special fondness for Len, who was the first person to give him a chance when we first met him. He was a lone wolf, scared and cautious, but since then he’s grown close to all of us and we kind of consider him a fourth brother.
“What is it?” Remmy asked.
“The kids are tired of re-reading the books we have,” Len told him with a sympathetic face. “Would you mind heading into town and fetching some new ones?”
“Book old!” Ashe cried.
“Yeah, I wanna new one,” Lupa chimed in.
Leveret didn’t talk as much as the other two, but he nodded frantically as he clutched one of the so-called old books to his chest like a comfort item.
A wry smile worked its way onto Remmy’s face. “Guess I don’t have a choice. I don’t want to disappoint.”
“No dis-point,” Ashe agreed.
“I’m not doing anything else. I can go now.”
Hugo glanced at the sky. “The sun’s been setting lower each night, so I’m not sure if you’ll be back before dark.”
Remington huffed. “I’ll be fine. I used to live there.”
I understood both of them. Ever since he got injured by a buck named Rock, I didn’t like the idea of Remmy going by himself. He’d recovered since then but watching him trying to act tough while he was hurting made me feel bad. On the other hand, Remmy was an omega like me, and being told what to do by alphas was, frankly, annoying.
“Why don’t I come with you?” I suggested.
Remington made a face. “I can go alone.”
“But if you’re bringing back a bunch of books, won’t it help to have another person?”
He opened his mouth to argue but realized he couldn’t. He sighed. “Fine. Let’s go.”
“Yay! This is gonna be fun.” I put my arm around his shoulder and ruffled his black hair. “Just the two of us, two wolf omegas on an epic journey—”
