The Boy in the Woods (boyxboy)

Chapter 8

Galen's POV

The moment I saw that dark expression go across Dad's face, I knew something was wrong. I've never seen him react like that before. He's usually one of the most calm and laid-back people I've ever met.

I pushed his arms off Damian and got in front of him, arms crossed. "Okay, you need to chill." I say, despite my racing heart, which I'm sure they can both hear. Dad stared at me for a moment, before walking over to the brown chair in front of his desk. He sighed as he sat, the creaking of the chair from his weight echoing throughout the room. Damian and I walk closer to the desk and lean on it. "Dad, what's wrong? Is it really that big of a deal?" I ask, my exhaustion being heard through my voice.

He rubs his face, exhausted, with his elbows on the table. "I'm not supposed to be talking about this, but seeing as you're close to finding your mate and becoming Alphas, I'll tel-" Damian cuts him off before he can finish that statement.

"What do you mean by being 'close to finding our mates'? How can you tell?" He asks, leaning closer to the desk. Dad pauses, irritated at being interrupted.

"I can tell by how you've been acting. Damian has been happier than I've seen in a while, which is a common trait in feeling ease before meeting your ma- wait," he says, before looking closely at us. He quickly jumps up with a large smile on his face. "You've already found your mate! Who is he? Or she? Or they? Did you meet them at school? Was this why you've spent all this time in the woods? I'm so hap-"

I quickly interrupt him. "Stop! Please, oh my god. You're embarrassing us! Stop acting like a fangirl, please! It's creepy coming from you!" I breathed out while getting off the desk and backing away, towards the door. Damian sighed at the both of us. He put his hands on the desk before clearing his throat.

"Can we please get back to the subject at hand? We can talk about Yuki afterwards," he saidin a placating tone of voice. Dad pouted, nodding and sitting back in the chair. Jeez, if they sigh anymore, then their souls are going to escape. I walked back to the desk as well with my head down like a scolded puppy. Damian sighed in relief, yet another sigh, as Dad opened his mouth to speak again, with a serious expression on his face.

"Can you at least tell me if Yuki is a boy or a girl or non-binary because I think, as your father, I have a right to know what gen-"

"Dad!" My brother and I shouted, exasperated. Dad throws his hands up in a surrender pose, looking ashamed.

"Sorry, sorry. Okay, so... Oh, yes! Cat shifters! I misspoke a bit when I said it was top secret among alphas. It's more to protect the cat shifters, because they're in danger. This goes back to the beginning of when werewolves were formed. A branch of werewolves went and lived in the tropics and started... adapting. They grew up with a lot of wild cats and started accumulating cat traits such as longer tails, softer fur, and more defined claws. Time went on, and they started just having cats as their spirit animals. Normally, this wouldn't be possible, but this certain branch of werewolves were easily adaptable in situations such as these. And the magic of whatever caused people to be able to turn people into werewolves in the first place must've helped out with this. Or at least that's what werewolves who know the secret have deducted. So, eventually, these shifters started being called cat shifters or werecats instead of werewolves or wolf shifters. They lived peacefully in forests, choosing to stay hidden. There were as many werewolves as there were cat shifters. Cat shifters, somehow, were much more beautiful. They were graceful and magnificent. Some males even had the ability to have children," Dad said, and let his eyes close with a sad smile on his tired face. "Sadly, these traits are what caused hunters to desire them."

Damian and I stiffened as Dad continued. "The werecats were targets for hunters. Most, after being caught, were forced to live terrible lives. They were trapped in fighting rings and forced in breeding cages. After being bred in these breeding cages, their children were forcibly taken away from them and sent off to another location to be forced to fight and/or be bred when they come of age. All these instances kept happening until their ability to have children dwindled, female and male alike." Dad sighs, but continues. "Now, there are only three cat shifters in existence." I gaped in horror. Damian had an identical expression.