Pops and Dad grinned at each other, no doubt reminiscing over their memories. Pops put his hands on Dad's waist and pulled him into an embrace while Dad threw his arms around him. I couldn't even roll my eyes this time. Even though they were over-the-top and mushy sometimes, I had to admit it was sweet. It was clear my parents loved each other deeply.
Knowing I was an alpha made me relieved. Now Ihadto be able to find an omega mate. As long as I had a mate, I'd be happy, just like my parents. Without one, I'd be lonely forever. I nearly shuddered. No way. Someone as cool and good looking as me couldn't be alone. That would be pathetic.
No, I wouldn't think about that. Even though it probably wouldn't happen for a long time, I'd find him one day. My fated mate.
I had to.
* * *
"Guess what,"I announced to my cousins as I sauntered into the shared living space. Since it was spring, there were perpetual muddy paw prints all over the floor (they weren't all mine this time) and scraps of molted fur littered on the couch. Our parents were always getting annoyed at us but cleaning sucked and was boring so whatever. Besides, this was the designated kids’ room--well, it had been called that, but we were all teenagers now, sokids’ roomsounded childish. It was just our hang-out spot.
"What?" Lupa called. She was lounging upside-down on the couch, her long tangle of hair touching the floor. I don't think she cut it once in all her sixteen years.
I puffed out my chest. "I'm an alpha."
"Really? Cool," she replied.
That was all she said and my other cousins didn't say anything at all. I frowned, instantly deflated. "Um, hello? Isaid--"
A hand waved, trying to get my attention. Starry was smiling at me from the couch. She had long hair too, but unlike Lupa, she actually let her dads and the rest of the family brush and braid it. She wore it now in twin braids that fell down her shoulders, interlaced with tiny white flowers.
Starry was mute. Her dads, my uncles Sage and Xander, tried teaching her how to speak for a long time but she never quite took to it. It became clear as she got older that she didn't care for it, so nobody forced her. Besides, we communicated with her just fine. She knew a modified version of sign language--one that she could perform in both human and mountain lion form with her dextrous paws. Since none of our parents knew sign language, we all learned from books and a little of our own improvisation. It never once hindered our ability to connect with her.
Starry also generally preferred to be in her mountain lion form, so seeing her cute human hairstyle was a nice surprise.
"That's cool!" Starry signed. "Congrats!"
I grinned. "Thanks, Star. At least someone appreciates my awesome announcement around here."
"Nice alliteration," Leveret remarked, not lifting his face from the book he was reading. He sat on the other side of the couch, opposite his twin Lupa while Starry was sandwiched between them.
I put my hand on my hip. "Oh, I get a compliment for that but not the fact that I'm an alpha? Thanks, Lev."
"Why would I congratulate you for a biological response?" Leveret asked, still not looking up.
"Uh, because it's sick as hell?"
That finally made Leveret look up at me. He blinked in confusion. "You're sick?"
I sighed. I should've known better than to expect enthusiastic feedback from him. "No. I was just... Nevermind."
A chuckle drew my attention to Quinn, who was sitting on the floor in the corner and fiddling with some weird thing in his hands. It was probably some human contraption that he 'found'--aka, stole. He kept slicking back his dark red hair, which flopped down over one of his black eyes. "I think no one's jumping up and down with excitement because there's an excess of alphas among us, if you haven't noticed, Zak."
I frowned, irritated. "So?"
"So... it's not exactly novel, y'know? All of us are alphas," Quinn said, shrugging. "Don't worry about it too much. Just be happy with what you got."
I dug my heel into the ground. "I don't care if it's novel! I expected my family to be a little happy for me, is all."
"We are happy for you," Starry signed, shooting me a sympathetic smile.
I was too frustrated to appreciate her comment. "And anyway, not all of us are alphas. What about Ashe?"
"What about me?"
Ashe raised a brow as he stalked into the room carrying a vegetarian bowl of food. All those leaves and fruit and crap he ate were gross. I was so glad to be a predator shifter who ate awesome meat.
Even though he hadn't gone through puberty yet, Ashe was taller than the rest of us, owing to his long-legged deer genes. It was kind of annoying, honestly. He would probably shoot up like a weed once he did go through puberty and get even taller. Both my dads were kinda short so I had no hope of gettingthattall. But it was fine--I had other cool things about me.
