Everyone cried out in excitement. They rushed forward to congratulate us. To be on the receiving end of such genuine affection was overwhelming, but also kind of pleasant. Maybe being the centre of attention once in a while wasn't so bad after all.
When the pack was done doting on me, they began greeting Nero in earnest, chatting with him like he was a long-time member of the pack even though most of them had only just met him. My chest was warm with fondness. Where else could I find such an accepting, compassionate group of misfits?
As everyone else talked to Nero, Red tapped me on the shoulder. His long red hair glinted in the sunlight. It was odd to see him in human form, since he spent most of his time as a fox. I assumed he shifted out of politeness to Nero and me, which I appreciated.
"You're back earlier than I thought you'd be,” Red said. “And by the looks of it, your little spiritual journey went well. Actually, maybe it wasn't so spiritual." He nodded towards Nero with a teasing grin. "I have a feeling it was a little morephysical."
I smirked. "And what if it was?"
"Proud of you, kid," Red said. “You put your mind to it, and you did it. Lot of folks can’t make the same claim.”
I regarded Red curiously. He’d always been a little cagey, but there was a distinct hint of regret in his voice. “Did you?”
“Who knows.” Red winked. His expression was shifty, as always, but unreadable. He clearly wouldn’t be spilling any secrets to me today. “Now, go and show off your shiny new mate.”
Before I could ask him anything else, Red slunk away. Slippery fox.
A second later, Nero announced, "Okay, but I still haven't been introduced to the most important people here.”
Each of the parents rounded up their kids so Nero could meet them one by one. They all popped into their human forms, which we’d taught them was more polite when speaking to another shifter in human form, but we didn’t pressure Leveret to change out of his hare form.
“I’m Lupa!”
“Nice to meet you, Lupa,” Nero said. “Your teeth are really scary.”
She flashed a giant, tooth-baring grin. “Don’t worry, I won’t bite you with them. That’s my brother, Leveret, over there. He’s my twin. Like how you got a twin.”
I smiled, amused at Lupa’s feeling of kinship with Nero.
“Hello. I’m Ashe,” said a tall boy with white spots in his dark hair. He extended a hand to shake with Nero. Morgan beamed proudly behind him.
“Wow, all those lessons about manners you taught him finally kicked in, eh?” Dax said.
“I do what I can,” Morgan said.
Sage and Xander stood behind a tiny girl, smaller than the rest of the kids. She had big blue eyes, wide with curiosity and totally fearless.
“And this,” Xander announced, scooping up his daughter, “is Starry. Can you say hi to Nero?”
She was only just learning to speak and wasn’t great at it yet, so she let out a catlike yowl and swiped at his extended hand with her fingers.
Nero laughed. “Nice to meet you too, kitten.”
“Now’s not the time to go fishing, Starry!” Sage said with a giggle. “Besides, a shark is too big for you to catch.”
“Wow, a shark!” Lupa called out. “I wanna see!”
“Me too!” Ashe said.
Starry chimed in with an excited cry.
Too excited to hold back anymore, Leveret hopped out of his dad’s arms and joined the rest of the kids, shifting to human form. “Me too!”
“Guess I don’t have much of a choice,” Nero said, grinning. “Is there any water around here? I’ve never tried to shift on dry land but I’m guessing I’d just flop around for a while before turning back.”
The kids giggled at the silly mental image.
“There’s a river just over there,” Hugo told him, then glanced to Dax, Xander and Red. “Why don’t we alphas go with Nero and the kids while the omegas catch up?”
