“I guess that means he’s not exactly a threat,” Dax muttered.
I noticed my mate had a conflicted expression. I asked, “What’s up, Xander?”
“I don’t think Nishiki is dangerous, but… his brother was the man at Remington’s manor, the night we met.”
I blinked. Was that the familiarity I saw in his face? I wondered if there was more to it than that…
“And?” I said.
Xander blinked. “That doesn’t bother you?”
“Not really.”
“But they’re twins. Fraternal twins, but—”
“They’re not the same person,” I stated bluntly. “By that argument, that’s like saying Lupa and Leveret are the same person.”
As I spoke I gestured to the twins, who were as different as could be. They perked up at my mentioning them.
“Yeah!” Lupa added, though I doubted she’d actually been paying attention until this point.
“Uh huh,” Leveret said too.
There was a thoughtful silence broken by Red saying, “I mean, Sage isn’t wrong. If Nishiki isn’t the same guy you met that night, then that’s the end of that, right?”
“Hah, you rhymed,” I said with a grin.
Xander sighed at my total nonchalance. He turned to my alpha brothers. “What would you two do?”
Dax glanced over his shoulder to look at Nishiki, who was combing knots out of his long hair with his fingers. “Honestly, I don’t pick up any danger from him.”
“Xander,” Hugo began, his voice serious and dreamy the way it always got when he was talking about mystical things, “the night you met Sage, you sensed something was wrong, didn’t you?”
My mate paused, deep in thought, then nodded. “Yes. It was like tangible tension in the air. I didn’t know how to describe it at the time, but in hindsight, I realized it must have been my alpha instincts leading me to Sage. To protect him.” Xander met my gaze, unwavering. “My fated mate.”
“Aw,” I said, blushing deeply. Every time he said it my heart fluttered like a butterfly in the wind.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, Xander sighed. “I suppose you’re right. I don’t feel that intense negative reaction to Nishiki. He’s just… a confused man. I feel sympathy for him. Not having any knowledge of who or what you are must be difficult.”
“Let’s teach him!” Lupa cried out.
Without waiting for anyone else’s input, she grabbed Ashe and Leveret and shot towards Nishiki. Their childish curiosity got to me, and I went with them. I heard Xander slap his forehead in exasperation before he ultimately trailed behind me.
I sat cross-legged in front of Nishiki with Starry still sleeping in my lap.
“Hi!” I said. “My name’s Sage. I’m a wolf shifter and an omega. Nice to meet you, Nishiki!”
Nishiki blinked, then smiled in relief. “Nice to meet you too, Sage. I’m er, apparently a koi… shifter, is it?”
I nodded. “Yup. It just means you can change between the form of a human and creature.”
“And you can do this… at will?”
“Yeah! Well, that’s how it’ssupposedto work.”
Xander joined us, sitting with one hand on a propped-up knee in a masculine gesture. “But you were stuck, weren’t you? You couldn’t change back.”
“That’s right.” Nishiki sighed dramatically, which immediately made me like him. He seemed like the type of person to have fun in every situation, even if he was lost and confused. “I don’t know what happened! I was travelling with my brother when I suddenly fainted… and when I woke up, I was a fish! In a river! Can you imagine?”
