Moonchild

Fifty Five

It takes Lukas no time at all to slip into his chosen bottoms before he's holding my hand and leading me down the hall to Cricket's room where my bestie is currently rubbing the sleep from his eyes, a watery, "How is Auntie Sunshine so awake right now?" slipping from his groggy lips.

I think the real question is how she managed to wake him up without having to yell at the top of her lungs or pull him off his mattress. I still feel a bit overwhelmed towards my newest family member, but if it means learning how to wake Cricket up without getting my head bitten off or having to break out a bucket of cold water I might just have to cozy up to a Queen.  

I feel like if she's able to wake my gremlin of a best friend up she might have other occult knowledge as well... Like maybe how best to surprise my sweetheart of a mate as a thank you for taking me out to have some fun after our long day yesterday... And maybe just maybe for switching pronouns like a champ when I needed him to yesterday as everything fell apart. 

...

Lukas

...

After making sure that Cricket is actually going to get up for the day and not just roll over and go back to sleep I find myself being pulled from his room and down the stairs, Aurie looking over his shoulder as if to double-check that I am still very much attached to my hand as he guides us towards the kitchen where the delicious smell of bacon is calling to both of our stomachs. 

The moment we get there though my beautiful mate recoils so hard that he ends up sending himself crashing back into my chest, his gorgeous ass destined for the floor until I reflexively catch him. 

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what's caused his shudders, my mother busy dishing up plates, a strong wave of distrust washing through my Sweetheart. His wolf does not trust Mom yet, and I doubt that he would anytime soon, the beast still not permitting even me to be near him when he's shifted. Not that it's happened often, normally only when he gets a sharp pain that takes him by surprise causing his other half to think their under attack still not understanding that the pain is coming from inside of their shared body.

Thankfully she hasn't managed to put all of them together and it's only a matter of pushing Aurie into the room with a gentle hum passing through my lips to put him more at ease as he glues himself to my side to feel safer in Mom's unfamiliar presence and grabbing one of the untouched plates on the counter and rinsing it off to tone down the slight trace of her scent that's clung to it after pulling the spatula from her hand so I can dish him up myself. 

Once they both realize what I'm doing I get two differently mixed reactions, Mom giving me a smile that looks more like she's trying not to get teary than anything else, Aurie letting the tension melt from his shoulders as he wraps his pale arms around my waist with the sweetest of nuzzles. 

...

Aurie

...

Lukas is so kind sometimes that I can't believe he's actually an Alpha.  It would be so easy to think of him as just a regular guy instead of someone responsible for an entire pack of shifters as well as the 'small' business that's currently providing most of the jobs here on the reservation. 

I feel like maybe my first impression of Alpha's having to be harder than stone and colder than ice really is wrong... The longer I bask in the presence of my new pack the more and more I realize just how wrong my first impression of a lot of the inner workings of how packs function and treat each other is wrong... And it makes me glad... It makes Sunshine's presence just a little bit easier to cope with.

I know she's trying... She really is and it's obvious. She's keeping herself within my field of vision and giving me space, obviously going out of her way not to walk behind my back or accidentally back me into a corner as we circumnavigate the kitchen once I'm okay enough to leave the shelter of being tucked under Lukas's arm in order to grab us both cups of coffee while he dishes up his own plate and she carries the ones she's already made to the table. 

Part of me is worried about exactly how much Cricket told her, But mostly I'm glad that I won't likely have another comfortable moment like the one I had with Jack the night we got home when I don't join the rest of them at the table. 

...

Lukas

...

I send Aurie with his plate to go get comfortable just as Cricket finally graces us with his sleepy presence, Jack not far behind him, Cricket's messed up policy of making sure that if he has to suffer through an early morning he makes sure his older brother has to as well... Something I'm sure probably started out of a baby Cricket's love of scrambled eggs and early morning cartoons but had never really been explained to me. Either way, it brings a chuckle to my lips as I help mom bring the rest of the plates to the table before I notice that instead of sitting in one of the free chairs, Aurie has decided to stand and lean against the counter, his eyes trained on Sunshine as he gingerly pushes bites of pancake around his plate, his allotment of bacon not having lasted through the time it took for him to get situated. 

I get a nervous smile from the love of my life as I stop in front of what was going to be my chair and pull my plate and mug of thoughtfully prepared coffee off the table and join him in his carefully casual lean putting myself in the corner instead of blocking him in, something I know doesn't go unnoticed as a blush fills my Angel's snowy cheeks, his pretty eyes getting averted as he secrets another draw of my scent of his hoodie before shoving a bite of pancake into his mouth that's so big for a moment I think he might choke.