Weston smiled. "Of course."
A massive sigh of relief left me. "Okay. Thank you."
With Weston's updated lay of the land, we took a different route backwards, heading towards the grove that he had seen. I recognized it in the distance, although I had only seen it from a different angle before. Still, that distinct ring of trees was unmistakable.
As we approached, I felt strangely nervous. What if they didn't remember me? Worse, what if they didn't care? I was only in their lives for a few days and I hadn’t done much except be confused about my entire existence.
But when I looked to Weston and saw him confidently walking ahead without a care in the world, it made me feel better. If he could be so self-assured even though he had never even met any of these people, why couldn't I?
A few of the figures milling around in the grove perked up upon noticing us. I saw their shapes change as they transformed into their animal forms to rush towards us. I paused hesitantly, standing beside Weston.
"Is everything all right?" he asked.
"I'm just a bit nervous," I admitted.
Weston firmly touched my shoulder, grounding me. "Don't worry. Everything will be fine."
Weston didn't know these people at all, yet he was so confident that things would work out. For some reason, that calmed me down. It was like if Weston said everything would be okay, then it would; like there was no other option.
My heart began to race as a black wolf skidded to a halt a few yards ahead of us. His yellow eyes widened. "Nishiki?" he cried.
"Remington?" I asked.
Remington instantly shed his wolf form and threw his arms around me as a human. The relief in his expression was overwhelming. I gasped as he hugged me like he was greeting an old friend. I stood there awkwardly, then let myself pat him on the back in return.
I cast a sideways glance at Weston, who grinned as if to sayI told you so.
"Nishiki, where have you been?" Remington asked. "Nero has been losing his mind looking for you!"
My heart sank. I was a horrible twin brother. The whole time I had been living it up with Weston, Nero was worried sick about me.
"It was my fault," Weston said firmly.
Remington glanced at Weston, sizing him up. "Who are you?"
Before either of us could explain what had happened, other members of the pack showed up. It had been a while since I'd seen them, but they all looked as happy and healthy as ever—except for the fact that they seemed a little stressed, which was probably my fault.
"Hi, everyone," I said sheepishly. All of them wore the same expression of relief. As I scanned their faces, I noticed a few new ones. Very small new ones. Apparently, the pack had been popping out kids since I'd last visited. The last time I was here, I hadn't been the biggest fan of them—it wasn't that I didn’t like them, but more that I didn't know how to interact with them. I never really had the chance to while I was growing up. They were something I admired from afar. But the sight of them now made me smile.
To my surprise, a few of the familiar kids—who had gotten visibly larger since I'd last seen them—lit up when they saw me.
"Uncle Nishiki!" The oldest girl, Lupa, cried. Her twin brother Leverett was next to her, looking excited in his own way. I couldn't help but grin when I remembered how sad he'd been when he found out I didn't know my father, and how he wanted to find me a new one.
I kneeled automatically to get on eye level with the kids. "Hey, you guys."
I didn't know how you were supposed to greet kids. Was I supposed to ruffle their hair or something?
I tentatively reached out and patted each one of them on the head, which made them giggle.
There was one child I didn't recognize. When I'd first met the pack, there were only four kids; the twins, the younger fawn shifter, and a mountain lion kitten who was the daughter of Xander and Sage. Of course, I knew Zak since he was my nephew. He was currently headbutting my knee affectionately.
But now there was a little fox cub hanging around. I vaguely remembered a red-haired man hanging around the grove back when Xander and Remington rescued me. As I recalled, his name was Red (how fitting). Maybe they were related? Now that I thought about it, I did remember Nero mentioning a new couple in the pack at some point, but there were honestly so many of them that I had trouble keeping up.
Wait. Nero!I thought with a sudden gasp.
I shot up to my feet, frantically scanning the crowd for his familiar face. My heart sank when I didn't see him anywhere.
My chest clenched with guilt.
