Declan laughed, shaking the dog.As many as you like. We made it to the border. We should be safe for now.
He shifted and the golden-coated dog renewed his love attack, knocking an unresisting Declan to the ground, shoving the tatty bear into his chest. I winced as he hit the dirt, but Declan didn’t mind at all, ruffling the dog’s ears. My heart wouldn’t stop beating double-time.
I backed up a step, not trusting some invisible line to keep the wolves at bay. “They’re massive.”
Declan huffed. “They’re not that big.”
One wolf snorted in what sounded like laughter.
“Since I’m not a pile of meat and bones, I’m going to assume this is part of your pack?”
Not that I was getting any closer, regardless. Declan nodded in the affirmative, content to sit out here all night, it seemed. “The worst of the pack. Briggs, Eilie, and Cosomo. My worthless siblings.”
Each wolf did a funny little play bow as Declan called its name. I shivered in my cloak.
“Uh, sorry I made you throw up all over yourselves.”
Something brushed against my mind that felt like when Declan spoke to me, but no words came through. The wolves shook themselves in confusion.
“She can’t hear you. Shift if you want to talk to her. Where are Carrick and Milo if you’re the welcoming committee?”
They all rudely mind-spoke without me, so I was going to ignore them while my heart calmed down. I walked up to the silky-haired golden dog, half on top of Declan. As soon as I got close, his full and ecstatic attention turned to me. Without hesitation, he gave me the same effusive, slobber-filled greeting he gave Declan. Guard dog he was not. His large, soulful brown eyes sucked me into his orbit and I never wanted to leave. The dog wriggled his head under my hand, adhering himself to my body, begging for more pets. What a perfect specimen of complete adoration. There was one problem.
“Declan, why do you have a dog?”
His smile notched down as he picked himself up offthe ground. I was used to keeping my eyes on his face when he was naked after shifting.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re a wolf!” I flopped my arms helplessly. This should be obvious.
“A wolf shifter. And he’s a dog. Glad we cleared that up.” The power of Declan’s smile increased again as if he had answered in a completely sane manner.
“B-but…”
He put his hands on his hips. “Am I not allowed to have pets?”
I shook my head, trying to figure out how this worked. “Isn’t he afraid of you?”
“Ned? Naw. He’s the best boy. A brave boy. A big, smooshy fluff-face.”
Declan clapped his hands and the dog, Ned, abandoned me for the siren song of veneration. Declan mangled the dog’s floppy face into squishy shapes that were, in fact, adorable. As the high of almost getting eaten waned, my body ached and all the sleeping I did on the way here seemed like nothing helpful.
“Are you sure we can cross the border? They’re not going to commence the rending and tearing?”
Declan snapped his fingers. “Would you just shift, you degenerates?”
Three human shifters stood where the wolves once paced. They weren’t particularly tall or large consideringhow big their wolves were. They all wore wide, out-sized smiles as we came forward.
Still, Declan hesitated as he reached that invisible border.
“It will be okay, big brother.” His younger sister reached out to him.
All this rush to get here, I didn’t know why Declan was hesitating now. Not that there was much time to debate, as he plunged across the line and… absolutely nothing happened. No shimmering magic, no swirling fog, just three wolf shifters letting out a sigh at once.
Declan embraced them, ruffling some coal-black curly hair that clearly ran in the family, just like a normal older brother.
The oldest sister said, “You did it,” as a breeze lifted her hair. “You brought it back.”
