“Sorry we trapped you in a cage,” Xander said with a wince. “We weren’t sure if you were a mute animal or not.”
“That’s what we call animals who aren’t shifters, by the way,” I explained. “And humans are, obviously, humans.”
“But Iama human,” Nishiki objected. “Or at least… I thought I was until this happened.”
“Your parents weren’t shifters?” Xander asked.
“Our mother was definitely a human. She was a strange woman, certainly, but I can say without a doubt she had no shifting ability.” He paused and tilted his head. “Now that I think about it, she would mentionwantingto be an animal, though…”
Xander and I exchanged a curious glance.
“Anyways,” Nishiki went on, “we never knew our father. Our mother raised us alone.” He threw his hair back angrily. “And to be quite honest, I’m not sure if I everwantto meet my father except to tell him what a—” Nishiki suddenly realized the children were all listening to his story with bated breath and decided not to swear. “A bad man he was, to leave my mother alone with newborn twins.”
A sniffle caught my attention. Leveret was crying quietly.
Since my arms were full with Starry, Xander reached over to pick him up. “Lev, what’s wrong?” he asked gently.
“Uncle Nishiki doesn’t have a daddy,” Leveret whimpered.
“It’s okay, Lev,” Lupa said brightly. “We can share our daddy with him!”
My heart melted into a big puddle of goo.
Xander stifled a small huff of laughter. He said to me under his breath, “Do they just think every new man they meet is their Uncle?”
“Shut up, it’s cute,” I replied in a hushed whisper.
“Oh, my. What’s your name, little one?” Nishiki asked.
“Lupa!”
He smiled. “Lupa, my dear, I appreciate the offer. But I’ll be okay without a daddy, I promise.”
“Oh. Okay!”
“Why don’t you guys go find Uncle Red and ask him to play with you?” I suggested.
At the thought of getting to pester their favorite fox, they all took off running. Nishiki watched them go with a smile.
“Do you like kids, Nishiki?” I asked.
“Ah, yes. I don’t have a lot of experience with them, though.” He twirled a strand of hair in his fingers. “I guess it’s ironic that I think of them the same way people think of koi fish. Something beautiful you appreciate from a distance, but you don’t pick it up or hold it.” He was eyeing Starry with a curious expression. “You said she was your… daughter?”
“Yup.” I scratched her tummy briefly and she grumble-mewled in her sleep. “Is all that confusing to you?”
“Yes,” he admitted. “You’re both men, and yet…?”
“I’m an omega, so I have different biology than Xander, whose an alpha,” I explained. “I can get pregnant, while alphas can impregnate. I’ve heard that it’s linked to the ability to shift, that it’s part of the same ancient magic or something. That might be a myth, though.”
“Fascinating,” Nishiki murmured.
“Then you didn’t know you were an alpha, either?” Xander asked.
“No, I had no idea until you mentioned it,” Nishiki said, rubbing his arm self-consciously.
“You’ve never smelled an omega in heat? Never reacted to it?”
Nishiki shook his head.
