Weston
We tookour time on the return trip to the grove, since we weren't in a rush anymore. Nishiki and I enjoyed the sights, sounds and scents of the wildlife reserve--but of course, we enjoyed each other the most. There were a couple times we had to stop to indulge our sensual urges, like being fated also increased our libidos a hundredfold.
Nishiki didn't appear to be as nervous this time, which pleased me. He was even less of a stranger in the pack's eyes than I was, and judging by their warm greeting of me, I was no stranger either. Their welcoming atmosphere, even during a time of stress, was something I appreciated.
I realized that maybe I'd been too haughty about my connections in the past. I'd spent so much time dwelling on the fact that no alpha wanted me for a partner that I'd neglected my need for friends, too. I didn't have many in my adult life; but perhaps now that was all going to change. If I could be friends with anyone, it was definitely the kind, generous members of the pack.
A sudden, softshhmade me stop walking. I strained my ears to listen for the source of the sound, which was followed by a few soft giggles. A smile broke out over my lips. The noises were coming from a very conspicuous bush nearby.
Nishiki hadn't noticed. He kept walking ahead, stopping only when I lagged behind. "Something wrong, Weston?"
"Not at all." I smiled. "Just enjoying the view."
Nishiki glanced towards the distinct ring of trees ahead, then grinned, twirling his hair on one finger. "Do you mean the grove, or me?"
"Both. Now keep walking so I can keep seeing you from this angle."
Nishiki sauntered ahead, oblivious to the bush concealing a yet-unknown number of troublemaking kids.
I kneeled beside the bush. "I know you're in there," I said quietly. "But if you're planning an ambush, I won't tell anyone."
"Hi, Uncle Weston!" a confident girl said, popping her head out of the leaves.
Uncle Weston.My heart swelled.
A twig was caught in the girl's wild, bushy hair. If I recalled the kids' introductions, her name was Lupa. She turned inside the bush with a scowl. "Nice going, Ash! You were so loud."
"Youwere the loud one, shushing us!" Ashe shot back.
I chuckled. "How many of you are in there?"
"Uh, lemme count," Lupa said. "Hope we didn't lose anyone..."
She disappeared, then a moment later, six heads popped out of the leaves. Most of them were in human form, except for a fuzzy mountain lion kitten.
"In case you forgot, I'm Lupa, and that's my brother Leveret," Lupa explained, pointing to a boy with a neutral expression. "Beside him is Ash, the loudmouth." The boy with white flecks in his dark hair frowned, about to object to being a loudmouth when Lupa cut him off. "And the kitten's Starry. Don't mind her, she doesn't like being in human form much. That one is Zak," she added, pointing to a black-haired boy with one yellow eye and one dark one. “And the littlest one—” Lupa pointed to a small boy with dark red hair and night-black eyes. “That’s Quinn.”
I smiled at them. Each one was cuter than the last.
"Do your parents know where you are?" I asked.
Lupa nodded vigorously. "Uh huh. Uncle Orpheus was flying around earlier and saw you two coming towards the grove. So I thought it would be fun to sneak up on you."
I chuckled. "Well? Are you having fun?"
"Yeah!"
"But we haven't even snuck up on anyone yet," Ash grumbled.
"Yeah, because you were being so loud," Lupa said.
"Was not."
"Was too."
To interrupt their argument, I transformed into my osprey form. They quickly fell quiet in awe.
"Sorry, but it's very hard to sneak up on an osprey," I said, winking.
