Exposed

Jae

"Zahra!" Jae yelled, storming into the living room.

She and Zack turned to see an upset Jae. They were clearly arguing with each other before Jae interrupted. A few people came out of their rooms to see what was going on. 

"When I say someone is part of the pack, they are part of the pack! And I expect them to feel welcome!" Jae yelled again causing a scene.

"Jae, calm down. It's fine," Ki pleaded, not wanting to make her presence here worse.

"Why do you even care? She's not your mate! You said so yourself. She's just some random thing. She comes in and steals all of your attention..." Zahra said, seemingly shrinking away at Jae's increasing anger.

"I care because she's my little sister! Like hell am I going to let anyone talk that way about her!" Jae huffed.

What? Everyone froze, even Jae, at the words he just said. Ki was his little sister? Since when? Once again, all eyes were on Ki. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't figure her out. A yelp made everyone turn back to Jae who was holding his head. He backed up against the wall, clutching at his hair. He slid down the wall and curled up in himself. His head felt like it was splitting open. A pain he had never felt before was ripping open his mind.

'Mommy, how come all the girls are getting so big? I want to grow up too!" Andre complained to his mother. 

She pushed him towards her with her tails. Andre snuggled up to his mother, waiting for her answer. 

"There aren't many half kitsune and half wolf hybrids. It seems that the girl hybrids take on kitsune atributes, while boy hybrids take on wolf attributes," the mother explained, "Look at your sister Ki. She's getting bigger everyday, but you will stay a pup until you're ready to grow up."

"I'm ready to grow up now!" Andre shouted, his ears rising up.

Laughing at her pup's eagerness, his mother said, "One day someone is going to need you. I don't know who or when, but when you get there you'll know. That's when you'll need to grow up and you'll become a full grown werewolf like your father."

Jae groaned in pain again trying to shrink further into himself. Everyone was in a state of panic trying to figure out how to help their alpha. Ki crouched next to him unsure of what to do.

"Do you really have to go Liam?" Andre asked, sad to know he would be without another sibling.

"Dad's pack is really struggling, Andre. I have to help lead them with our sister."

"But you're still a pup! You can't go yet."

Liam nuzzled his brother and cuddled up with him.

"That's why I have to go now. So the pack will believe that I'm the current alpha's biological offspring."

"Isn't that wrong? To trick everyone?" Andre asked.

With a laugh Liam countered, "Our mother and sisters are kitsune! Their very nature is being tricky. And look, in times of need they need a strong alpha. Normal werewolf alphas can't compete with nature gods, but we, being half kitsune, can. The alphas know of this tradition, but the pack doesn't. When it's your time to protect our family, you'll also be adopted by the alphas of your time."

"I  don't want to be adopted! I want to stay with all of you! You're my family!" 

"Andre, you love your sister Ki, don't you?"

"Yes."

"And I know that we're not supposed to have favorite siblings, but she's your favorite, isn't she?"

"Yes," Andre said in a hushed tone.

"Well, one day she's going to go and try to save dad's pack. When she does, she's going to need you to protect her. She's going to need you to lead the Silver River pack."

Ki felt Jae's body relax beside her. His fingers released his hair and his body slumped over. Everyone was focused on Jae, straining their ears to listen for a heartbeat. Ki reached out and touched two fingers to his neck, trying to check for a pulse. At the contact, Jae shot up and scanned the faces before him until he saw Ki.

"My name isn't Jae. It's Andre."