He shifted into a man, soaking wet.
The same man we’d run into at the manor that fateful night.
“Yay! We did it!” Sage called. As soon as Sage cheered, the light in the house went on, followed by confused human voices. “Oh, crap.”
Nishiki helped his twin to his feet and we took off running, not stopping until we hit the river behind the manor. All of us took a break to catch our breath. As soon as they caught theirs, Nishiki and Nero gave each other a brotherly hug.
“I was so worried!” Nishiki cried. “I had no idea where you were, or what happened to you!”
“Me too,” Nero said, not bothering to wipe the water trickling down his face. “When you suddenly changed into a fish, I had no idea what to do. I panicked and put you in this river, and that was the last time I saw you.” Water rimmed his eyes, but it wasn’t from the pond—they were tears. “I thought I’d lost you the same way we lost mom…”
“Oh, please don’t cry. I’m here now. And it’s all thanks to them! These are the people saved me,” Nishiki told him, gesturing to us.
Nero glanced over, then paused. He scented the air. I suddenly realized that with his shift into a shark, his overall sense of smell must’ve increased tenfold.
“Wait a second,” he muttered. “I know you.”
I had no defense, and I didn’t want one. I owed Nero an apology. I bowed my head, then shifted into my mountain lion form to confirm his suspicion. “Yes. We do.”
Nero backed up, but his brother caught him.
“No, no, it’s okay,” Nishiki reassured him. “Xander’s not dangerous.”
“Um, this damnmountain lionknocked me the hell out months ago!”
“He did do that,” Sage agreed with a sympathetic nod. He shifted to human form, just as he’d been in that night, so Nero could see his human form, and when he did, recognition flickered in his confused eyes.
“You… you’re the omega, right?” Nero asked quietly.
“Yup!”
I changed back to become a man so as not to be rude while speaking to him. “I’m sorry, Nero. What happened that night was a huge misunderstanding on my part. I was rash and overly aggressive when I didn’t need to be.”
Nero blinked at me. To say he was confused was an understatement. “Um, I don’t really get it, but thanks, I guess? By the way, why are you sometimes a cat?”
Sage laughed. “The same reason you’re sometimes a shark! You’re a shifter, just like Nishiki, and all of us.” He pulled Starry into his lap so Nero knew our daughter was included as well.
“I have a headache,” Nero said with a groan. “After you knocked me out, I don’t remember anything except waking up in that pond. Which was disgusting, by the way.”
“Since Nishiki’s first shift happened earlier, yours must have followed soon after. Someone in town must have found you shifted as a shark and decided to keep you as a pet,” Remington mused. “Which is ironic, since you would’ve just changed back if they kept you out of the water.”
Nero sighed. “None of this makes any sense to me, but I’m sure it will once my head’s not pounding…”
“Then you’re not mad at us?” Sage asked hopefully.
“Not really, but…” Nero raised a brow at me. “Why did you attack me, anyway?”
Shame made me hang my head. “I thought you were going to hurt my fated mate. I’m sorry.”
“Fated…?” Nero shook his head, deciding not to think about it too hard right now. “Anyway, I wasn’t. I was looking for information on changing into animals, or werewolves, or anything like that.”
“So that’s why you were in the library,” Remington said.
Nero nodded. “That was right after I had to put Nishiki, who randomly became a fish, in the river. So I was panicking. I didn’t know what to do. And then this naked man shows up out of nowhere, and he smelled… good? For some reason? It was like someone cranked my scent sense up to 100.”
I put my arm proudly around Sage, who chuckled at my overly alpha-ish behavior.
“These people can explain all that to you,” Nishiki told his brother. He was nearly bursting with excitement from what he wanted to say next. “But that’s not everything. Nero, theyfoundher!”
