“Yes,” Hugo said, deep in thought. “That’s another thing on my mind. I spent so long refusing Red’s adoption into the pack when it wasn’t warranted, like a tyrant. I don’t want to make that mistake again.”
“We’re notadoptingXander into the pack,” Dax argued. “We’re letting him stay until he heals.”
I hated being bad at words. I hated standing by and listening while my family argued about Xander. I wished I was better at speaking, like Morgan, or good at saying nice things that everyone agreed with, like Len. Instead all I knew was how to make jokes.
How could I convince the pack IneededXander to stay for reasons I didn’t even understand myself?
It also annoyed me that I hadn’t had a chance to talk to the other omegas about my heat. My fluctuating temperature and sweats had gone, but that couldn’t be right. Heat cycles were supposed to last for a week or so, unless the omega got pregnant, and I definitely wasn’t. Maybe first heats were different? Argh, why was my body soweird?
“How about this?” Hugo said, catching everyone’s attention. “Xander stays until he’s healed enough to go on his own. Until then, unmated omegas and the kids will sleep protected by a guard.”
Frustrated, I raised a brow. “Is that necessary, bro? Xander saved me, like Remmy said. He’s not a bad guy.”
“He’s a stranger to us, Sage—”
I couldn’t control myself anymore. My temper blew up. “So was Len! So was Morgan, and Remmy!”
A sympathetic but firm expression crossed Hugo’s face. “Their situations were different. They were all omegas.”
“What about Red?” I shot back. “He’s an alpha and you didn’t trust him either!”
Red fidgeted awkwardly in silence as my brother and I argued about him.
“Red is different,” Hugo said. “He proved himself over time.”
I grew so frustrated that I wanted to howl. My temper boiled over and I cried out, “So it’s okay for everyone except me to have someone?”
Everyone went quiet. I saw a strange, unreadable emotion on everyone’s face. It occurred to me a second later that I’d probably blurted out way too much info with my fat mouth. I blushed, my face going hot with embarrassment.
Red’s slightly panicked voice cut through the silence. “Uh, this is probably a bad time to point this out, but the kids appear to have vanished.”
Everyone shouted at once: “What!?”
Lupa, Leveret, and Ashe, who had been huddled in the center of the circle for the group talk, weren’t there anymore.
Everyone freaked, including me. I was so frantic my brain was barely working. I ran towards Xander, about to ask him if he’d seen the kids when—
I skidded to a halt.
Xander—big, proud Xander—was sheepishly pressed up against the tree where we’d left him, looking both meek and affectionate. Sitting around him like a mini gang were the three kids.
“Guys, over here!” I called.
Remington, who was always ready to die fighting for a child’s sake, growled as he ran, “If that cat touched the kids I’m gonna—” Seeing the same scene that I did, he stumbled into me, his eyes wide in surprise. “Oh.”
The pack’s momentary panic dissipated when we saw what happened. The kids had secretly slipped away during our group argument, and curiously approached the exciting new stranger.
“Are you a lion?” Lupa demanded. She was sitting cross-legged in front of him, completely unafraid.
“Yes,” Xander replied.
“But you didn’t have big hair,” Lupa argued. “Are you a girl lion?”
“Amane,” Ashe said, proud that he knew a word she didn’t even though he was younger than her.
“N-no, I’m not a female lion,” Xander said. “I’m a mountain lion. We don’t have manes, in any gender.”
“Ooh! A mounty lion!” Lupa cried.
