Killian pouted. “How can you tell?”
Crush swept his arm to the side, gesturing at the shifters around the car. To Killian’s surprise, they were all smiling.
“Like Crush, we think you’re highly amusing,” Crush’s alpha dad said. “Welcome, Killian. My name is Ashton.”
“And I am Joe,” Crush’s omega dad said.
Well, now it would be plain rude if Killian continued to hide. With a wince, he cracked open the door and eased himself out of the car.
Ashton and Joe came up to pull Crush into a hug. Ashton thumped Crush on the back. “Been a while since you came home, pup. We’ve missed you.”
“I’m not a pup anymore,” Crush grumbled. But he hugged his dads tightly, burying his face in their necks.
Over Crush’s shoulder, Ashton met Killian’s eyes. “Has Crush told you about the time he tried to make himself a birthday cake?”
“Papa!” Crush yelped, jerking away and shoving his hand over his father’s mouth. “Not that story! It’s fucking embarrassing!”
Ashton lifted Crush’s hand easily, his eyes sparkling. “Really? You don’t want Killian to know how you poured the entire bottle of red food coloring into the cake batter to make it look like meat, except it got onto you and stained so much of your skin, you looked bloody in the birthday photos?”
Crush buried his face in his hands and groaned, just like Killian had.
Joe grinned. “He was so adorable. He was our little red pup. We asked if he wanted to be red again for Yuletide and he said no, he wanted to be green like Santa’s elves! Except he didn’t want to wear elf clothes; he wanted tobegreen. We managed to help him with some green body paint. There are pictures if you want to see.”
Killian almost bounced on his feet. “I wanna see!”
“Fine,” Crush grumbled, looking so disgruntled that Killian’s heart skipped. He hadn’t known that Crush could look so harmlessly grumpy. “You and Hansel. Hansel tried to give Killian another embarrassing story.”
“I haven’t forgotten that,” Hansel sang, circling above them as a falcon.
“I don’t think it’s embarrassing. I think it’s adorable,” Killian said, reaching out to hold Crush’s hand.
Crush turned, giving Killian a shy smile.
“Awww,” everyone said.
Killian twitched. He had been so distracted by the story that he’d forgotten themanywolves around him.
“Killian,” Joe said before the rest of the pack could step in. “Would you like a hug from us?”
He gestured between himself and Ashton. Killian’s eyes grew wide.
“Y-you want to hug me?”
Crush’s parents nodded. A lump formed in Killian’s throat; he nodded, suddenly unable to speak.
Joe stepped closer first, smelling like wolf and predator. But his scent was similar to Crush’s, more so than other wolves Killian had smelled over the years. So when Joe put his arms around Killian, Killian held still instead of ducking away.
Joe hugged him loosely. When Killian didn’t flinch or tense, Joe pulled him closer. His hug felt warm and kind, and...
“Is this what a dad’s hug feels like?” Killian blurted.
Joe rubbed his back. “Do you have moms instead?”
Killian shook his head. “I have a mom and a dad. But they just... never hugged me. Not that I remember.”
Joe stiffened. Then he hugged Killian a lot more tightly. Ashton came up behind Killian, slowly pulling him and Joe into his embrace.
Killian hugged Joe back. Maybe he cried a little.
