By now the rest of the pack had noticed the commotion. They ran towards us in various animals forms until they shifted at the last second to match our human forms. My mate seemed a bit overwhelmed at the sudden influx of people so I went over to him and held his hand. I noted the surprised but excited recognition on Xander's face when he saw Nero.
"Hey, Nero. Haven't seen you in a while," Xander said with stoic affection.
"Remington!" Hugo said, a wide smile in his face. "You're back!"
His mate Len hugged me wordlessly, tears already shining in his eyes. All these crying omegas were about to make me start crying too.
"I’m so glad you’re back safe," Len murmured in my ear. His hare scent tickled my nose, bringing with it fond memories of the grove and all our times together.
"Come on, you guys are acting like he's been gone for years," Dax said, but he was smiling too. Beside him, his mate Morgan looked pleased and proud to see me. He gave me a friendly clap on the shoulder. I didn't know for sure, but the knowing expression on Morgan's face made me think he already knew what was happening. He was good at intuiting that sort of thing.
We were missing someone. In fact, quite a few little someones. But when I caught whiff of fox, I knew they weren't far behind. A moment later, a bundle of pint-sized animals came bumbling towards us like a furry whirlwind. They slammed into my legs, but thankfully, unlike Sage, their combined weight wasn't enough to push me over.
My heart swelled with affection as the kids hugged me. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed them. From the corner of my eye, I saw Nero's face light up with a huge grin, and he laughed as they all clambered for my attention. The air filled with high-pitched cries of "UNCLE REMMY!"
"Hi, kids," I said, trying to pet each of them at once.
"Now, hang on," Len said, gently prying the mass of baby animals off my legs. "Let's let Uncle Remmy talk, okay?"
"No," Lupa growled, pouting. "Uncle Remmy's been gone forever, I want to talk to him!"
I kneeled down to her level and pet her hair. "I'll tell you all about it later, okay? Right now, there's someone very special I want you to meet."
Taking this new information, stared at the stranger with wide, curious eyes. As soon as she looked at Nero, the rest of the kids did too, instantly getting over their excitement to see me as they noticed Nero for the first time.
Lupa's twin brother, Leveret, frowned and hid behind Len's legs, peering out at Nero with less enthusiasm than the others. He had always been a bit shy but I wanted him to know that Nero was a good person. Since I was already kneeling, I held out my hands to summon Leveret closer. He glanced between Nero and I, then decided that hugging me was more important than hiding from a stranger. Leveret darted into my arms and buried his face in my chest. I smiled and patted his hair.
Everyone went quiet, listening as I spoke to him. "Lev, I know you haven't met Nero before, but he's very important to me. Do you know why?"
"Why?" Leveret asked softly, staring up at me with his wide eyes.
"He's my fated mate, just like how your dads are fated mates," I explained.
He nodded, seeming to grasp this.
At the mention of ‘fated mate’, Sage gasped and clapped his hands over his mouth. I notice the ripple of shock over some of the pack members, but like I suspected, some of them had already realized what Nero's presence meant. Or maybe they noticed the difference in my demeanour, like the happiness inside me was radiating outward.
"Your fated mate?" Len said excitedly as he scooped up his son.
I stood back up to be by Nero's side. His shoulders were less tense, indicating he was more comfortable with the situation now, even though there were still nine people for him to officially meet. I glanced to him.
"Do you want to do the honours or should I?" I asked.
Nero grinned. "You should be the one to do it, since they're your pack."
I took a deep breath and scanned the faces of each member of the pack. Our family had grown a lot since the beginning, when it was just the three wolf brothers and me on a journey to find a new territory. Back then, I never expected them to accept me as part of the pack, but now I couldn't imagine coming home to anyone else.
I linked my fingers with Nero's, reassured by his closeness and warmth.
"Everyone, this is Nero Pine,” I announced.
Nero smiled and raised a hand. "Hi."
"Some of you already know him," I mentioned, looking to Xander and Sage, "but to everyone who doesn't, he's an alpha shark shifter. He’s Dr. Pine son and Nishiki's fraternal twin."
"Wow, just like me and Leveret!" Lupa said happily.
"That's right." I smiled. "And, um... That's not all." I stared at the grass, my heart racing. By now they already knew the truth about our relationship, since I’d just told Leveret about it, but they all waited politely and patiently for the official confirmation. "Nero’s also my fated mate."
