FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 1

The battle had raged for over three hours, and the rebels were not faring well. The Thalon beam of the Gabatian Empire battleship floating above the planet had destroyed the rebel land cruisers below. Smaller destroyers of the rebel's fleet were gone. Only one last aircraft carrier remained, and it was barely holding together. All rested on the brave liberation fighters approaching the massive enemy battleship. They were nimble and fast, but that was hardly enough to wage war on the battleship. Two fighter jets banked left, leaving the squadron. They dipped carefully under the detectors toward the looming ship surrounded by a phalanx of drones protecting it.

"We have only one shot at this," Derrick said as he placed his helmet visor into place. "Those rebels are out there sacrificing their lives to create a diversion. Let's not make their losses in vain."

"Are you sure this will work?" the other pilot asked.

"The weapon grid uses a single portal to shunt the heat out into space. With our wings retracted, it's just wide enough for us to gain access. We pull our wings into docked position right before we enter the portal. Once inside, we'll have four seconds before the internal self-defenses kick in. In that four seconds, we have to launch the rockets, hit our Hyperlight drives, and blast through the other side of the ship."

"Initiating Hyperlight is impossible in a confined system, let alone with wings up."

"So they say," Derrick replied. "We'll find out today if they're right. Stay focused. Let nothing distract you."

"Roger that," came the reply. All was going as planned until the wolf walked in front of the approaching battle cruiser.

"Old Wolf, you're going to get me killed," Derrick said as Will paraded in front of the battle going on in front of Derrick. The battleship fired through the wolf, but he remained unaffected by the computer simulation. The old wolf reached down and seductively stroked his cock from its sheath, allowing it to grow longer and thicker with each moment.

"The Gabatian Empire has destroyed you," the computer said.

"No," Derrick protested. "An old wolf pulling his dick out in front of me got me killed. That's very distracting, you know."

"You're the one who told the other pilot to let nothing distract you," Will replied as he leaned down into the young wolf's field of vision. "So, now that you're dead, could you please put that thing away and get ready to go?"

"Go where?"

"New Zealand," the old wolf replied. "We have a request to bring Oliver to the temple. Seems someone misses him and wants him by her side."

"The fenghuang? But why... how? She and Oliver never even met in this universe, did they?"

"That's what everyone says, but apparently that isn't the entire story," Will replied. "Whatever the case, her babies fledged last week, and it seems she's got a case of empty nest syndrome something fierce. When Genji asked what they could do for her, she said she wished to see the badger. So, the mystery unfolds by our making a trip to New Zealand. It's only a day trip. You know how Oliver can cheer anyone up."

Derrick put down his controllers. "Sure, but why are we going?"

"It seems the temple dogs get despondent when all the babies fledge as well. We're going to help ease their troubled minds."

"I have a feeling it's not their minds you're interested in," the black wolf said with a laugh.

"Maybe not," the old wolf replied. "They have an extraordinary ability to find solace through sex. And it's our job to help our fellow brothers through this trying time."

"I'm not sure we should head over there because you're horny, Old Wolf," Derrick said as he turned off the computer system. "This might come back to bite you in the butt."

"I certainly hope so," Will said as he bounced anxiously. "Come on, Pup. You've got to come. You know how much Genji loves being with you. It really would cheer him up."

"Are you sure they asked for all of us and not just Oliver?"

Will drew a cross over his chest. "I promise."

Eric walked into the game room. "And you, Old Wolf," he said, "did you get your reports done?"

Will shook his head. "I gave them to Bertrand. If he's going to be the next CEO, he ought to be up for handling the paperwork."

"That wasn't our agreement," the polar bear said as he helped the young wolf out of his chair.

"I renegotiated a better deal," the wolf said with a sly smile. He headed toward the door and stepped out into the hallway. "I have wanted to be done with that company for years. This may not be my chance to bow out completely, but if I can convince the board that I'm expendable, maybe they'll let me go. They place far too high a value on my presence there."

"Quarterly profits have consistently risen every year you are sitting at the CEO's desk, Husband," the bear said as he too stepped out into the hallway. "It's hard to argue with success."

"Profits have risen most of the years when I'm not there. Are you honestly trying to keep me tied to that chair, Old Bear?"

The polar bear turned away. "Perhaps. It gets lonely when you're not there with me."

"You don't have to be its president, Hon," the wolf said as he put out his paw to rub the bear's shoulder. "We could both retire. We promised ourselves we'd do that one day. How many hundreds of years ago was that?"

"Three hundred sixty-five years, two months, and twenty-five days," the bear responded.

"If you keep track of it that closely, it's time to quit, Hon," Derrick said as he rubbed the bear's other shoulder.

"Can we at least keep it open-ended in case we need something that only Bear Paws can cover?"

"Sure," Will said with a nod. "We don't walk away from the company entirely. But we need to have the company sound enough to deal with our absence when we decide it's time to make some kids again."

Eric looked down at Will. "You're willing to do that?"

"If you and Kris ever need to merge again, we're going to be there with you. No argument over that choice."

"Yep," Derrick agreed. "We're not sitting the next one out. We know you can take us, so you will."

"Ain't taking me," Oliver said as he walked past the group. "I'se not gonna be a rock for the rest of my life. And since you and my other husbands can't seem to synch up worth shit, I'se decided I'se gonna make my babies with them."

The polar bear tilted his head in thought. "Seems fair enough. Will you wait for us?"

The badger turned and glowered at the bear. "Damn fool bear. Of course, I'se gonna wait for you. But I'se gonna kick you every day and tell you just how much fun I'm having being banged by the rest of my husbands, so you come back as soon as you can."

Will laughed. "That seems fair, Oliver."

Oliver's foot pivoted in a circle. "And you don't go holding it against me if now and then I cry 'cause I miss you. It ain't like I ever want you to go. I just knows we gots to merge now that we's turning into Changelings. Jason, Jean Pierre, and Lothair is doing it. Anders and Lewis done it. Those of us that loves Changelings gots no choice. We gots to be there with our husbands, even if it means we're a rock for years."

Kris came walking down the hall. "Time for all good Changelings to get it together. The Red Wolf is powering up. We have some temple dogs and one very anxious dragon waiting for us in New Zealand." Oliver raised his hands toward the Kodiak and smiled. Without a moment's hesitation on the badger's meaning, the bear swooped down, snagged the little mammal, and threw him up onto his broad shoulders.

The Kodiak threw open the front door and a blast of hot Montana summer forced its way into the ranch house. "Good Lord," Kris said as the heat slammed into him. His eyes squinted at the brightness of the landscape. The whole plateau shimmered with the rising heat, causing watery mirages to flow across the landscape. "How hot can this place get?"

"It's supposed to be one hundred and twelve today," Will said as he walked by the bear and badger standing in front of the open doors. "On the plus side, we're going to New Zealand. It's winter in New Zealand and temple dogs are waiting to help warm us up in that frozen landscape."

"It's a balmy sixteen degrees at the temple, Old Wolf," Eric said as he, too, walked past the Kodiak and badger. "That's sixty-two degrees Fahrenheit for those of you who still refuse to go metric."

Derrick followed, laughing. "I will eventually learn it, I swear, Papa Bear."

Eric stopped in his tracks and waited for the black wolf to catch up with him. He put his thick, furred arm around the young wolf and pulled him in tight. "They're arbitrary measurements, Pup. Learn them or don't. I won't complain. As long as I get a few tablespoons of liquid from my favorite black wolf by the end of this trip, I'm good."

Derrick looked up at the polar bear and smiled. "That would be about sixty milliliters, then?"

"Yeah, about that much should do it," the bear replied, "at least for the first time. I might need more, depending on unforeseen factors." Eric leaned down and kissed the wolf on his lips. The kiss lingered and tongues played. The two started giggling, and the bear mumbled between the tightly pressed muzzles, "Yeah. I'm going to need a lot more than sixty milliliters."

The polar bear felt a resounding slap across his butt. "Come on, Son. Let's shake a leg... and not that one growing between your other two."

Eric looked up at the Kodiak with a badger on his shoulder walking by. "But, Dad... Pup..."

"Pup's sporting wood," the brown bear interjected. "I know. He always sports wood when you kiss him. We have a nice forty-five-minute flight. I'm sure you can attend to it in transit."

"You'se gonna take care of mine, Bear?" Oliver said, rubbing the top of the Kodiak's head. "Watching them two kissing always gets me hard."

Kris looked up at the badger on his shoulders. "It would be my pleasure, Oliver." The two made their way up the cargo bay of the Red Wolf, and Eric and Derrick followed.

The flight to the New Zealand temple went smoothly thanks to the internal stabilizers of the Red Wolf. Had it not been for them, the happily rutting animals on board would have caused it to plummet into the ocean.

As the airship dropped through the thin layer of clouds, the group saw the coastline of New Zealand in the distance. "On approach, men," Tiff said, looking back at the group. "Back in your seats, and for the safety of all, no doubling up and sitting in someone else's lap."

Will stared at the red wolf. "Are you learning to read minds like Jean Pierre?"

Tiff laughed. "You can't learn our father's gift, Old Wolf. But experience can teach us what you're thinking in pretty short order."

Will took his seat and pressed the large button on the side of the armrest. The invisible restraints pulled him in close to the seat and then relaxed. "Then experience should teach you what I hope you two boys will do to me once we land."

"I wish we could, Father," Tuff said as his hands moved the controls and the skids of the airship dropped into place. The airship maneuvered toward the landing site on the far side of the temple. "We have a date with a group of volcanologists and seismologists heading toward Mount Etna today. The Red Wolf is going to do a low-level pass and hover before the volcano slips into the ocean."

Will's cheerful demeanor changed almost immediately. "You boys are going to be safe, right?"

Tiff nodded. "We'll be fine, Father. The upgraded shields on the Red Wolf can take a hit from anything a volcano throws at it and not even flinch. Besides, the things we'll learn about Terra will be invaluable. The Red Wolf still has its scientific research mandate in place, so we're snagging our husbands and making a date out of it."

"Mount Etna is more than sitting in front of the fireplace, you two," Eric said. "You boys be careful."

"We always are, Papa," the two red wolves replied in unison. The pilots could see the waiting group of yellow dogs and dragons waiting below and began their vertical descent.

The airship touched down on the landing pad. As the family exited from the cargo ramp, the New Zealand temple dogs were there to greet them. There were hugs all around and kisses that lasted long enough that all knew which direction the day would head. Yet it was the greeting of the dragon and the badger that stopped all else as everyone turned to watch.

Like some great movie moment, the two saw each other from across the distance and their eyes locked. Oliver's smile widened, and he ran toward the fenghuang. In return, she hopped toward the badger until, at last, they met in the middle. Oliver hugged the dragon around her neck. "How's my favorite dragon in the entire world?" he asked as the dragon rubbed the side of her beak along the badger's muzzle. For two that had never met, they seemed intimately familiar with each other. Oliver paused, letting the images sort through his mind to become the ideas that created the dragon's speech.

"I'se sorry you'se hurting for your babies being gone, but you gots to know that's what babies do. They grows up on us and then they make lives of their own." Oliver's head dropped against the side of the fenghuang and he listened to the images in response. "Yeah, my babies is born all growed up. They smooshed themselves together with a bunch of other beasts. It's confusing, but I knows where they lives. Still, even with the knowing, it don't mean I don't miss them the moment they walk out the door. Ain't never gonna change for us parents who loves our kids."

The quiet returned as the fenghuang responded without a word between them. "You coulds come back to the island, Dragon. Your babies is off making babies of their own. Bring your mate. Once, a long time ago in another universe, you lived on the island. You and Dá Lóng were mates."

The dragon chortled at the thought of mating with a water dragon, but then a memory never recalled reminded her why that happened. She grew silent, and the images stopped flowing through Oliver's head. "Them was dark times, Dragon. They's somehow still inside you and me. That's why we feels the way we does for each other. We knows the good and bad of another world, and we carries it with us. You could come home with us to Partridge Island. Li Wei would watch over you like the before time. And when it all goes dark again, I could be there for you." The badger paused. "And you could be there for him. He ain't gonna make it without us, Dragon."

Why Oliver said what he said, and how the dragon responded, was a mystery to all. Oliver had a knack for blocking what the Sight showed him from others with the gift. Today Will and Derrick could tell that the conversation between the fenghuang and the badger was one he shared only between the two. Without other words between them, the badger and the dragon talked. The family did their best to let the meeting of the two play out with as much privacy as they could offer.

After an extended silence, Oliver's hand reached out and touched the fenghuang. "I had no idea you was trying to find yourself a companion, Dragon. I can't never call myself a rider like they does in those books Derrick reads. It sounds too much like what I done with horses and you ain't no horse. Don't matter what no damn book called them years ago, you're my friend. In the before time, you tolt me how I could mate with the Beast. You taught Martin how to become a cat. You'se been one of the best friends I have ever had in my life. If you want someone to be beside you, to fly with you, I would be right proud to be that one."

Oliver's eyes closed. "Zhen-Zhen? That's a beautiful name. What's it mean?" Oliver smiled at the answer. "Well, you are very precious to me, Zhen-Zhen. Does I tell the others your name?" Oliver shook his head and laughed at himself. "Of course, I didn't think about that. I can't go calling you Zhen-Zhen if I don'ts tell everyone why."

Oliver sat down by the dragon, and she lowered her head, rubbing up alongside his arm. He reached out and stroked the feathers along her neck. "Zhen-Zhen, you know I loves men, right? I want to do right by our being friends, but I ain't all that good around women. Is you sure I'se the one? There's so many other beasts out there who is so much more at ease around a lady."

The badger laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, I guess you wouldn't get off the ground if any of my husbands tried to climb on your back."

Oliver laid back on the grass and looked up at the sky. "We's so much different, you and me. You belong up there. Me, I belongs here on Terra." The badger's eyes closed, and he smiled. "You's right. We don'ts have to live in each other's world. We can visit from time to time. I guess you've done that all your life with me. It's time I visited your world more often than them tiny trips we used to take to tai chi class."

Oliver pushed up on his elbows. "No, I don't gots no problem with you teaching me how. I guess it makes sense. Both of us gots to learn how to fly together. I didn't rightly think that I would need a teacher like Li Wei taught me tai chi." Oliver stood back up. Zhen-Zhen lowered her head and pushed back her wings. Oliver awkwardly tried to climb onto the dragon's back. "How's I supposed to do this?" he asked.

The fenghuang flooded his mind with the images of companions long past and Oliver saw the path. He climbed up onto the shoulder blades, slipped his legs behind the wings, and pressed tightly against the rib cage. The fenghuang's head bobbed as she accustomed herself to the extra weight. "You sure you is comfortable?" he asked the dragon.

The dragon chortled a joyful response and took two great jumps before her wings extended. As the wings flashed out, Oliver went tumbling to the ground. Zhen-Zhen's more colorful mate made a noise everyone recognized as laughter. Oliver turned and glared at the dragon. "You be careful, Dragon," the badger said. "I'se gots no problem snagging me a few tail feathers from a dragon making fun of me who ain't Zhen-Zhen."

The other fenghuang hopped over to Oliver and lowered his head to help Oliver up. As Oliver grabbed the neck, he grew silent, and the two held their position for minutes. The silence held the attention of the crowd, wondering what was happening between the two.

"You weren't there in the before time," Oliver finally whispered. "I ain't got no right to ask you to leave your home. Ain't got no right to ask neither of you to leave your home. I hope you'll forgive me. I didn't mean no disrespect. There was a time when you weren't a part of what Zhen-Zhen and I shared. You was killt by the humans, and there ain't never a time when I wants you to remember that. You gots to trust me. It ain't a world you should ever see. But Zhen-Zhen sees it. Li Wei loved and cared for her, and they was something special in my life like no others."

The quiet returned. Finally, Oliver whispered, "Daquong." All knew that Oliver had accepted the call to be a companion to another dragon. The mated pair would share a bond between two universes that only one remembered. Daquong would stay beside his mate wherever she chose to go, even if that meant leaving their New Zealand home.

Oliver looked up at the crowd. "We's gonna go home to Partridge Island. It's a small island, but Zhen-Zhen and Daquong is small dragons. One thing we gots to get clear. I don't care what no books Derrick reads, sez. Ain't never gonna be a rider, so I best not hear anyone call me that. I gots dragons who I is gonna watch over, and they is gonna watch over me. And somewhere along the line, we is gonna make ourselves the family we once was. You can calls us companions, or friends, but you ain't never gonna make them less than what they are by calling me a rider."

Genji bowed his head deferentially. "We will miss the pair, but we understand the nature of your bond and are happy for you. And what of Li Wei, Katashi, and Saand? Are they to be guardians of the dragons?"

"Yeah, they is. That ain't gonna be a problem, is it? I knows you all loves your dragons."

"No problem at all," the temple dog replied. "We have the forest dragons to watch over and so many little ones on the way. We will contact our Partridge Island brothers to tell them the good news. Stay the night with us so they can prepare a place for the dragons' arrival."

"Is we gonna be up all night?" Oliver said with a grin.

Genji smiled back. "You all have the scent of those involved in copulation. The look in your eyes speaks to the desire we know reflects in our eyes as well. It would be remiss of us to suggest sleeping this night was the only appropriate choice."

Kris laughed aloud and grabbed the temple dog into a tight hug. "Come, Dog," he said as he bit into the shoulder of the yellow beast, "let us get started now. Morning is only eighteen hours away, and I have desires that need at least that brief a time to be sated."

Genji returned the bite on the bear's shoulder. "I, too, find the time constraints frustrating, but we will make do as best we can. Come Bear. My brothers and I are at your disposal." He looked up toward the crowd in front of him and mumbled through his tightening grip on the bear's shoulder. "We are here for you all; let us not waste a moment of our time together by being coy about what we want."

The family didn't hesitate to act on Genji's words. The two fenghuang rubbed their beaks together. Even dragons yielded to the scent of the Changelings and Temple dogs. They slipped to the edge of the forest and spent their night lost in the elaborate mating dances of the winged dragons. In the morning, when the Black Rhino set down on the landing pad, all were ready to accept one last hug and kiss as a parting promise to return soon.

Chapter 2

Derrick smiled as he watched Oliver spin through the sky on the back of the fenghuang. Zhen-Zhen's dragon mate flew next to the two, moving in tandem. The three spun into an elaborate spiral. In the middle of the spiral, the badger's hands reached out, and he transferred between the dragons with an easy jump. The flight continued with Oliver on Daquong's back, and he laughed as the dragon made a comment shared only with the badger. Once more at the top of their arc, the two dragons maneuvered into a mesmerizing spiral. The two dragons grew ever closer with each spin around the other. When they came out of the tightly twisting spiral, Oliver was once more on the back of Zhen-Zhen.

"They look so good together," Derrick said as he put his arm around Will's shoulder.

"They do that, Pup," the old wolf said. "I love seeing my family smile. Have you reconsidered taking..."

"No, Old Wolf, I'm not going up. I am more than content to watch Oliver from here."

"He's going to find out about sex with Chet and the boys up in the air, you know."

"That's fine. I'm okay with that. He can take pictures."

"You're never going up?"

"It will take another reboot of the universe to get me up there, Husband."

"Okay, my love," Will said as he leaned in and kissed the black wolf. "I'll not push you on this one." The old wolf looked at the polar bear. "What about you, Old Bear?"

Eric laughed out loud. "You're never getting my fat ass up into the sky without it being inside the Red Wolf."

"Your ass is not fat," Will protested. "It's delightfully defined."

"He's right, Husband," Kris said, wrapping his arm around the polar bear. "My ass is fat. Yours is just... just exquisite."

Derrick looked at his two husband bears. "There are no fat asses in our family, you two." He shifted into his rotund human form. "Not as beasts, not as humans. No fat asses in this family, period."

Will looked at his human mate. "Damn, Pup, you are as beautiful as the day I turned you."

Derrick laughed. "I'm exactly the same as the day you turned me."

Will shifted and became the bulky, bearded human rarely seen by the rest of the world. "I still can't believe how lucky I was to meet a man so beautiful and so brave. Thank you for asking me to be your mate, Pup."

Derrick stood on his tiptoes as his husband lowered his head, and the two kissed. "Thank you for saying yes."

The two bears shifted and became human. The once brown bear now rubbed his white beard. "Thank you for saying yes, Pup. And you Will; how lucky can a man be to be mated to you two? I am without a doubt the luckiest man on this planet to have the husbands I do; including that one hopscotching mid-air between two dragons."

"We are all lucky," Eric said as he watched the fenghuangs turn and soar back toward the foursome. "Looks like we're getting him back for the day." There was a shake, and in the place of the polar bear stood a middle-aged man with graying hair and a trim beard.

Zhen-Zhen touched down and bowed her head as Oliver jumped off. He gave a quick hug to the dragon. "Thank you for a wonderful morning, Zhen-Zhen." He hugged the other dragon. "And thank you, Daquong."

"You three are beautiful together, Zhen-Zhen, Daquong," Eric said with a bow. "We hope you don't object to us taking him away from you so soon. As you can see, we're not quite ourselves today." The taller, muscular man shook his head. "Or we are ourselves, only different. Pup has been schooling us on accepting ourselves exactly the way we are."

The fenghuangs nodded their understanding. Their wings spread out, and with two hops, they were airborne, flying toward Li Wei and Katashi's home.

Oliver looked at the four naked men and shook himself into his human form. "Why's we human, Humans?"

Derrick smiled. "That would be me, Oliver. I made an official proclamation that there are no fat asses in this family, either human or beast."

"Hell, Pup," the short, hirsute chubby man said with a laugh, "I'se known that for centuries. We's only got fine asses in this family."

"So, why doesn't one of you take my fine ass to bed?" Will said. "I'm heading over to the museum and I'm not changing back to wolf until I've had every one of you men the way you are right now."

"That's fine by me," Oliver said. "I likes poking me some big man butt." Oliver's foot spun in a familiar circle. "Especially the one who taught me how."

"And I enjoy being poked," Derrick said as he grabbed Kris's hand. "Come on, Husband. Let's show them how we do it," he said with a giggle.

Kris smiled and began walking up the hill toward the museum with Derrick in hand. "You realize, Pup, turnabout will be fair play. You're already hard, and we can't leave that unattended. Oliver assures me it leads to all kinds of complications."

"It does," Oliver said emphatically. "I seen it on the Internet."

"Then we best attend to yours as well, Oliver," Eric said, extending his hand to the bearded man with scruffy long hair.

Oliver took the taller man's hand. "I loves you, Old Bear," Oliver said and then paused a moment. "No matter what way you comes at me."

"Well, today, this is the way I'm coming at you, Oliver," Eric said as he tousled Oliver's long hair. He tugged at the shorter man's hand and pulled him toward the pathway. "We're walking here, Oliver," he said as he shook the hand.

"Yeah, we is," Oliver said happily.

As the five rounded the pathway past the lighthouse, they heard a voice from above yell down, "Well, this is quite the sight. Ape suits before ten in the morning?"

The five looked up and saw the grolar bear and the white wolf looking down from the lighthouse gallery. Beside them, their son, another grolar bear, but with his colors flipped from those of his father, stood with a wide smile on his face. Eric nodded. "We're about to see how much we can push them past their limits. You're welcome to join us."

The three looked at each other and smiled. There was an eagerness in the young bear's face that betrayed his desire. His bear father wrapped his arm around the lad and pulled him close. Anders whispered something into his ear and the brown and white bear nodded. The disappointment was unmistakable on the bear's face. But the smile returned when his father whispered something else in his ear, and again he nodded his agreement.

"Not today, gentlemen," the wolf replied. "Perhaps another time. Today I sense a need for the five husbands to renew their acquaintances without the distractions of other families."

Kris waved. "You three are always a pleasant distraction, but for now, we'll wish you a good day."

"And we will wish you the same," Anders said, waving back. His son added another wave.

"Nathaniel and Max are at the hospital," Lewis yelled down from the lighthouse. "I'll alert them you've taken over their home. You should get those delightful hard-ons indoors before the first boat from the mainland arrives. I realize the humans won't see you, but you will distract any beast out there playing tour guide."

The five looked down at themselves and made a spontaneous group snicker. "He's right," Will said. "We really need to be somewhere else, doing something else besides standing here." Within moments, the garage door was opening, and the five stepped inside.

The door had scarcely shut when three temple dogs rounded the corner by the lighthouse, rocking uncomfortably. "Dogs," the voice boomed from above. Li Wei, Katashi, and Saand all looked up at the grinning bear. Anders pointed downward. "They are together for the day. My apologies to the three of you for the Kodiak. Even as Santa, his pheromones go unchecked."

"It is most distracting," Li Wei agreed. "Zhen-Zhen and Daquong are practically paralyzed in their laughter over our state."

"We'll come down, dogs. There are three of us and three of you. We can attend to your needs and let the family attend to theirs. And you can do us the favor of educating our son in the ways of controlling yourself even as you lose control. It is a lesson I enjoy learning from you every time we are together."

"There is an exceptionally sturdy oak tree on the south side of the island. If it's not too great an inconvenience for the three of you, perhaps we can begin his education there," Katashi said with a heavy sigh. "We promised Greg that we would no longer visit the battery apartments, and the repairs to our house have exceeded what he calls a reasonable budget."

The three beasts laughed and leapt from the lighthouse gallery. They hit the ground with a thud and righted themselves. "Let's see what we can do to make sure Kyle does not ban us from the southern forests as well," Lewis said as he adjusted his balls. Li Wei stared at the paw as it shifted over the sac. Lewis laughed. "They're all yours, Dog. Let's go stir up the leaves." The six dropped to all fours and ran toward the south side of the island.

The day progressed at an uncomplicated pace. Birds fled the south forest with the first branch that broke in the large oak tree. Visitors in the museum asked if there had been an earthquake at one point when the whole museum shook. Life on Partridge Island flowed as it had always done since the first day the Changeling bear and his human mate had arrived and met the badger.

Zhen-Zhen and Daquong waited patiently for their guardians to return, eager to see what new wounds the temple dogs would need to heal in the days to come. As they waited, they looked up into the evening sky and saw the burning light of a shooting star plummeting to Earth. At the last minute, it veered and headed directly toward the island. As it was about to impact the earth, the burning ball uncurled itself into a pangolin. Just as quickly, it became an otter looking about. "Ahh, it's good to be home," he said, his tail flopping about. "I wonder what the family is up to?"

Adam's head shifted. "Do we really need to be here?"

"Yes," he answered himself. "We told you this from the very beginning. This is where our family lives. This is where we return when there is a break in our schedule. And for now, it would appear that there is an extremely big break in our schedule."

Adam's nose twitched, catching the scent of sweaty humans from the museum and temple dogs intertwined with two bears and a wolf out in the forest. The scent of others on the island enjoying the same intimacies tickled his nose. "Got to love this family," he said with a laugh as he walked toward the hospital.

"No, please," Adam said as he tried to turn back toward another path.

"Nope, Adam," the otter told himself. "This is who we are. Make peace with it. Five-sixths of this family is in love with multiple individuals on this island. When we come home, you don't need to stay with us, but don't stand in our way."

"But I'm not ready."

"You mean to tell me that there's not one beast, not one Changeling you don't love?"

"I'm not sure I even understand the construct of love."

"Really, Adam?" the disbelieving otter asked.

The otter grew quiet. "I might love one. Maybe more. I guess it depends on how you define love."

"Well, tonight I define it as a fondness for the two hunky wolves working at the diner," the otter said. "Come along, Adam. We're paying our family a visit. Try to hold up your part of the conversation, okay?"

"Okay," the otter told himself. Once inside the hospital, Adam made his way to the back of the building. He pushed open the doors to the Midnight Diner. "Carl? Sorry to barge in, but the door was open," he yelled out.

A wolf with a white apron stuck his head out from behind the service counter. "Adam?" he asked.

The otter nodded yes.

"Adam!" the wolf yelled enthusiastically. "I haven't seen you since you were Marcus and Kendall. We heard the news about the merging. How's it going? I wish we could have made it, but someone had to hold down the fort, you know?" The wolf pointed toward the grill area. "Grab a stool at the counter and I'll get you a coffee. You can tell me all about your travels." He leaned back into the kitchen. "Frank, we have company. Adam is home for a visit."

"You better set aside a big hug for me," the deep bass voice boomed from within in the kitchen.

"It's waiting for you," the otter yelled out. "Comes with free kisses and a grope or two if I'm not mistaken."

The laugh from the kitchen filled the diner's intimate seating area and made Adam smile. He leaned against the counter on a stool about a foot and a half too tall for his feet to reach the floor.

Frank came out from behind the kitchen, wiping his hands on a paper towel. He stopped and stared at the otter. "So, it's true. You really merged into an otter?"

"It's true," the otter replied.

"Wow, there's a lot of very sexy men stuffed into that tiny little space, aren't there?"

"And more than a few of us can pinpoint where all your erogenous zones are, Handsome. Don't let the body fool you. We're all still here and all more than happy to see you."

"It's so good to see you too, Adam," Frank said. "We prefer newborns stay close to home for a time rather than running off. Adjusting to that new body is best shared with your family."

Adam rocked awkwardly on the stool. "There are three Changelings and two werebeasts rolled up inside me. I'm aware of the traditional approach. But I had other obligations that I couldn't postpone."

"Fair enough," Carl said as he leaned over the counter and gave the otter a kiss. "French press or what's in the coffeepot?"

"How old is the stuff in the pot?"

"We just unlocked the door, so it's fresh, but you know how I make it. You could stand up a spoon in that stuff. We need to keep everyone wide awake through the night shift. After all, that's why the diner is here. Leave the fancy grub and lattes for the commissary. This is where you come when you want something greasy and eye-popping strong."

Adam sighed. "Give me the stuff in the pot. It's been a long day."

The wolf poured the coffee into a cup and put it down in front of the otter. "Want to talk about it?"

"Oh, I'm having problems at work. It's nothing to concern yourself over. But for the time being, it appears I'm furloughed." The otter stirred the coffee watching the ripples expanding outward until they hit the edge of the cup and turned back. "But I am seeing mandatory time off as time off nonetheless. I'd rather talk about what's happening with you and the hubby."

Carl laughed. "You could come over and give us something to talk about."

Adam thought for a moment and nodded. "Actually, that sounds nice."

"Oh, my dear little otter," Carl said, shaking his head. "You really have been away too long. Nice isn't the word for what I have in mind." He put the coffeepot back on the burner. "Are those parts of Marcus inside you still fascinated by the sling?"

"Yeah, that didn't change with my shift in size," the otter said with a smile.

Frank came out from behind the kitchen and grabbed Adam in a hug that spun the otter around. The kiss that followed was a passionate one, and by the time it ended, the wolf was trying to catch his breath. "Damn, Otter," Frank said. "It's not fair that you don't need to breathe."

"You'll be grateful for that fact the next time I go down on you. Men who don't need to breathe have very little gag reflex."

The diner filled with Frank's boisterous laugh. "You said something about a grope?" he questioned as he put the otter back on his stool.

"Now or later? You wait, and the grope will be only the start."

Frank looked up reflectively. "Hmmm..." he mused. He looked at Adam. "I'll wait." He turned to Carl. "I heard something about a sling. Is there room for two more? My husband and I have nothing on the docket tonight."

"Oh, please say yes, Carl," Adam begged.

"You toss in the pangolin and that tongue we heard about for a few rounds, and you've got yourself a deal," Carl answered. He pushed up from the table and paused. "But you go on over to the museum house first, Adam. Will's there. You see him first."

Adam frowned. "They're human," he said. "You know Pup freaks out about doing things with beasts when he's human."

"Two of his sons and one of his husbands are a part of you. He'll make an exception for you, Adam. His boys went to a great deal of effort to teach him that," Carl said, putting his paw over the otter's. "You should learn that lesson as well."

"I hate to impose on them."

Frank looked at the otter. "Don't make us get all up in your face over this, Otter. There's a wolf out there who sacrificed a great deal to bring you to where you are today. He won't say why, but your absence concerns him a great deal. And that look on your face tells me you're suffering in the same way. You best not avoid him for any reason if you want to see us later tonight."

"You two don't have the Sight, do you?" Adam asked.

"Nope," Carl answered. "But we can see the look of a man who is trying to come to grips with who he is and the relationships he is struggling with. I don't know what's bothering you, Adam. But trying to avoid it by playing with us won't fix it."

"Am I that easy to read?" Adam asked.

"Yep," Carl said, nodding. "You and Will have that in common. You're both open books to those who love you." He waved to two werewolves walking into the diner and turned back to Adam. "Randy and I will be happy to do whatever you want just as soon as we know you've dealt with your family. We've got customers. Frank and I are here until four. Go see the old wolf. He loves you. Whatever brought you home, you two will work it out."

"I hope so," the otter said as he took a last swallow of coffee and put down the cup. "Thanks for the coffee and the advice," he said as he jumped off the stool.

"Both are on the house tonight, Otter," Carl said as he picked up the cup and wiped the counter.

Adam sighed. "This would all be so much easier if I were better at being Terran."

Carl's eyebrow rose. "You will explain that comment to me someday, right?"

Adam looked up at the wolf towering above him. "Yeah, yeah... I guess I have a lot of family business to attend to... including explaining myself to you."

The wolf in the apron squatted down in front of the otter. "In your own time, Adam. But remember, this family pushes to know the truth. It's how we survive. More to the point with this discussion, it's how we thrive and grow together. Secrets are never a good idea. Trust the love we have for each other. It will get you through this night and many nights to come."

Adam hugged Carl one last time. Holding tight, he whispered in the wolf's ear, "Thank you, Carl. I love you... at least I think that's what I feel. I know you mean more to me than I can find words for."

Carl pushed back and looked into the confused eyes of the otter. He smiled. "That's about the nicest thing someone has ever told me that I didn't understand. Rest assured, Otter, I love you. And I know what I'm feeling."

Adam nodded. "You will be okay if things get confused in the days to come?"

The wolf reached out his paw and gently poked the nose of the otter. "Of course, Adam. Comes with that family title we use so freely around here. You'll get used to it in time. It's very Terran; at least for beasts like us. If it's after four in the morning before you and Will sort things out, you drop by the house, okay?"

"Okay," the otter replied. He sighed and took a deep breath. "I guess it's time." He rubbed the thigh of the squatting wolf and shrugged. "I'll see you later, I hope." He turned around and walked out the diner doors.

Frank watched from behind the counter as the otter left. "We're in the middle of something we don't understand, aren't we?"

Carl stood back up. "Yep. But I have faith in this family. They'll work it out. We'll all work it out."

Frank smiled. "Yeah, we will. You go get Gavin and Trent's order and I'll get back to work."

Carl nodded and walked toward the two werewolves looking at their menus. "Gentlemen, what are you having tonight besides each other?" he asked with a grin.

Chapter 3

Outside the museum's back door, Adam hesitated. "You can do this, Otter," he said as he paced.

"I appreciate your confidence, but it's difficult," he said, talking back and forth with himself in the way his conversations often went. "I am trying to see them as my family, too. Please, this is all so confusing to me. I thought it would be easier. I thought it would be like the first time, but I see now that a crisis brought us together. It isn't the same as it was. The longer we're together, the more I realize being a part of this family complicates everything."

The otter paused. "I made such a mess of things." He turned, walking away from the door, when he heard it creak open. The tall, stout man looked down at the otter and shifted to an Iberian wolf. Adam looked up. "Hello, William," he said shyly.

"Hello, Adam," Will replied. "The family is going to be occupied for a while. Max and Nathaniel just got home and they put on their ape suits. That redheaded doctor is pretty irresistible."

The otter nodded in agreement. "And Max?"

"Ass worth biting, you might recall. It's a family trait." Will paused a moment before he spoke. "So, where do we go, Adam? Inside to play with the family, or out for a walk to discuss what we need to?"

"I know what I would prefer."

"Me too, but we won't enjoy our time together until we get everything straightened out. Between my husbands and me, over half the men in that museum have the Sight. If we're ever going to make this work, it's in your best interest to come clean before we piece it together on our own."

Adam nodded again. "I understand that. But you need to realize this is very difficult for me."

"I get that, Adam," Will replied. "But you know I love you. We can get through any difficulty together."

"You don't really know me, William. You might think differently if you did."

"I can tell you're struggling with everyone inside you. I sense that even without the Sight. You joined some extremely powerful personalities together to make yourself, Adam. That's what you're struggling with now."

"I thought if I could add just one more... one wolf that loved them all... one wolf who understands..."

"It doesn't work that way, Adam. This is your life. You don't shift the burden to another when the tough parts of who you are come up."

"But they all love you."

"They?"

Adam fidgeted. "I might too. This is all so new. We don't... I don't..." The otter stopped. "I made such a mess of things, William. I mistook want for need. There are so many emotions I don't understand: desire, longing... love. I don't understand any of it."

"There are five men inside you that do."

Adam looked up at the wolf. "Then you realize they're all still autonomous? That none of them chose to actually merge fully with me?"

"Yeah, I figured it out. I think Derrick was aware of that even before you left. You shy ones bond so quickly. It took Oliver and me longer to see it. Those are powerful men you took inside you. Their personalities are even stronger. I imagine it's a struggle to keep them all together."

"I'm struggling to do that. I want this to work even more than they do."

"Well, they're a part of you now. What are you going to do about it?"

"I'm trying to do right by what I've done, William. But, it's new. We never merged with a species like yours before." Adam grabbed his tail and held it up against his chest like a stuffed toy. "In a universe of millions of populated worlds, we found so many that would bond with us to share their lives. But seldom in all those worlds did we find something as unique as you, William."

"That's flattering, I suppose. If it's a good thing."

"Oh, it's an excellent thing. But also a very confusing one because who and what you are is who and what I am becoming. By leaving the five in me to live out their own lives, I am becoming increasingly more like them than the other way around. There are so many contradictory feelings, so many strange tangents my mind wanders off into that make no sense. And I fear that the choices I made have hurt the ones I feel the most affinity towards."

"Affinity?"

"I am not sure I even understand the word love enough to use it to describe my feelings," Adam said as he struggled to form his next thought. "But they all love you, William. I was hoping you would merge with me to help bring us together."

"I'm afraid you'll need to figure out another way, Adam. I won't be merging with you."

"I think I've always known that, William. I guess I was desperate enough to ask, anyway."

"Not because I don't love you. And not because I don't want to be with you. You need to learn that merging with those you care about isn't always going to be the answer."

"I am learning that already, William."

"And you'll need to learn to let go of a desire when you realize it can't be."

"I'm struggling with that now; and not only my desire to merge with you, William."

"I'm not saying that I don't want a relationship with you, Adam. I do. But you need to realize that I am not the man you think I am. Nor am I the solution to your problems that you think I will be."

"But you understand so much more than I do, William."

"Granted. This is new to you. But that means sometimes you're going to have to trust the ones that love you to help you make the right choices."

"I want you to be a part of me, William. Merging is all our kind has ever known to make that happen."

"But you have merged with others who can teach you a new way to merge; a way that doesn't require you to meld them all together inside you. You need to listen to them, Adam." Will pulled the otter in close. "Come on, Handsome. Let's go for that walk."

The two had scarcely taken a step when the rear door of the museum flew open and a crowd of naked men poured out into the cool night air. "Randy called," Kris said, smiling. "He's waiting for us at the house. He said we have to get in some quality ape time before Carl gets off work. Apparently, Carl has decided he's not changing for anyone after a day at work and he expects to be playing with bears tonight."

Will smiled. "You men go on ahead. We'll catch up to you soon."

Derrick stared at Adam with a look of concern. "You two going to be okay, Adam?" he asked.

"Yes, we will be fine," the otter answered. "William is helping me adjust to my new life."

The chubby man squatted down in front of the otter. "Becoming Terran isn't easy, Adam. It took the Changelings millions of years before they made that leap. Don't you go kicking yourself for not going fast enough."

Adam smiled. "Thank you, Derrick. I will see you later tonight. I realize playing with animals makes you uncomfortable in your human form."

Derrick smiled and rubbed his rounded belly. "This old thing? I'm getting used to the idea that some men I love in my life will never be human around me. They accept me as I am no matter what I am. I will figure out a way to do the same." He leaned in and kissed the otter. "It will all work out, Adam. Don't be afraid of what you're becoming. Embrace it. Trust a chubby little guy who has been learning that for hundreds of years."

"It means letting go of so much more than I think I can, Derrick."

"Baby steps, Otter," the chubby man said as he stood up. He looked around and realized that he was alone with Will and Adam. He shook his head. "We really are a horny lot, aren't we?"

"Very," Will laughed. "Go, Pup. The family needs you."

Derrick reached up and kissed the gray wolf. "I'll see you later, Husband?"

"Count on it, Pup."

The naked man turned back to the path and raced off toward the southwest. Will's hand reached out once more for the otter. "They're going to expect you tonight as well."

"I enjoy my physical relationships with you," Adam said as he took his first steps. "Those are easy to understand. My other relationships are more confusing."

"Welcome to our world, Adam," Will said, looking down at the otter.

"What becomes of us, William? You told me what you won't become. What else is there?"

Will leaned over, put his paw on the otter's chest, and rubbed it lovingly. "Adam, in another universe, five remarkable men gave up who they were to join you. They never hesitated, they had no regret; because they understood who and what they were. Two of them, Kendal and Marcus, were very much in love. You should still feel the memory of their teeth marks on your neck from time to time. That's how much they loved each other. Kendal loved Marcus, but in the beginning, he stayed behind and waited for Marcus to return. Marcus begged him to come with him, but Kendal was confident where he was in that universe, and he led Marcus to accept his place by remaining true to who he was."

Adam shook his head. "But they're one now, William. Isn't that the destiny they were always moving toward?"

"Yes, but that's because they understand who they are in this universe. They are bound by a love that will tide them through the toughest of times. And you, my dear otter, are going to find that more important to you in the future than you can imagine. I realize it's new to you. But love isn't a pleasant add-on for putting together Terrans. It's mandatory to survive."

The old wolf tugged at the paw of the otter and resumed walking. "Marcus and Kendal are together because that's what's important to them. They're with you because the way they feel for you is equally important. Call that destiny if you will, but that destiny couldn't become reality without those two being apart first. Marcus needed to be out there developing his relationship with you," Will said, waving his hand upward. "Kendal needed to be here with the family."

The old wolf let his paw slip from the otter's and rubbed it across the otter's heart. "Kendal needed to ground the wolf that held so much power. He had to provide a home for him whenever he felt lost. Marcus had to have a home, and Kendal made sure he always knew where that home was."

"Are you saying that you're my Kendal?"

Will laughed. "No, Adam, I'm your William. If you think about it, I've already merged a long time ago. I merged with my husbands. It's not the way you merge, but I'm linked to them in ways that go beyond what even we think of as family."

Adam nodded. "That's true. I once told Derrick, the members of your family are setpoints in the universe. There is something about all of you that draws me to your side."

"And we like you by our side, Adam. But remember, I merged with a part of you buried deep inside. Marcus and Kendal are a part of you. Even more to the point, Donovan and my sons are a part of you, and that means I am as well. Only not in the way you thought it would be. I will always be here waiting for you to return. No matter where you are in this universe, you look back on this tiny speck of dust and take courage that I wait for you to come home."

"And should the circumstances change one day the way they did for Kendal and Marcus?"

"Then we'll deal with that the day it comes, the same as the two of them did. But they didn't lose a moment of the happiness and love they shared worrying about that day."

"What if it isn't so much worry as desire that motivates my wish for you and me to merge?"

"I get that, Adam. But trust me on this, you need me here by your side, not inside you." Will walked up to a bench and sat down. He patted the open space next to him.

"How can you be so sure?" the otter asked as he sat next to the wolf.

Will pushed back his cowlick, exposing the deep scar on his forehead. "Because of this, Adam. I wear it as a constant reminder of the world into which I was born and the man who sired me. There is anger buried deep in me, which I acknowledge to only a few. Only the Old Bear knows the entire story. It is not a life I can share with even those I love the most."

The otter nodded his understanding. "Your family has had a very troubled past. It's enough for me to be told the answer is no. I don't need to know the details if they make you uncomfortable."

Will snorted a laugh. "Oh, they make me very uncomfortable, Adam. But you are the only man who has ever asked me to merge with him." Will paused. "Well, I guess Kris did, but that was a more temporary merging. You're asking for something vastly different."

The otter smiled. "I understand the difference, William. It's one thing to share a rock together for a few years while you heal and your family makes a child. It's a completely different thing to merge your atoms and all you are with another. All while realizing who you are will never return in the same way again."

Will nodded. "Okay, so we agree on the difference. You're the only man in my life who asked me to do what you asked me to do. And that means you are also the only man I ever loved enough to consider saying yes to that merging. You deserve to know the reason I said no."

"That I would take you away from the family you love is enough of an answer for me. That is an issue already with those inside me. I never realized the bond to your family would be so strong."

"That is a reason, but it's not the reason," Will said. "You deserve that answer because it will frame our relationship and your expectations going forward."

"Then I would like to know the answer, William," the otter said, "because I desperately want a relationship with you going forward."

The old wolf jumped up and walked out onto the grass. The otter followed. When they both sat down, Will fell backward, looking up into the night sky. He avoided any eye contact with the otter. "I was born of rage and hate. I grew up surrounded by violence and death. And I learned at the hands of a master how to lash out against anything that defied me."

"But you're not that man. You're not your father."

"No... because I met Alexander on the field of battle and he put me on a different path. That path ended at the feet of the old bear, and those two saved me from every wrong path I followed. But who I am, and what I am, is someone I have hidden from you." The old wolf sighed, weighing whether to continue. "Adam, I have killed so many. I have seen so much of death at my hand."

"Know that whatever you say will never change my affection for you, William," the otter whispered.

Will took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "It was the autumn of sixteen-sixty-seven. I was in the middle of a short skirmish they call the War of Devolution in the history books. Spain was at war with France over control of the Spanish Netherlands. It didn't matter who was fighting who. Pick a year. Pick a war. It was all the same to me. My life had blurred into one bloody battle after another.

"For me, it was choosing a side and killing everyone who wore a different uniform. I was a mercenary with a sword slicing through the enemy ranks; praying to be killed, but too afraid to take my life. I had no fear of guns and cannons. Pay me enough, and I would lead the charge. I wanted to die; I wanted it all to end. Because everywhere I turned, I saw a world as violent and unforgiving as I was.

"That was my life. That was who I was," Will said, looking straight up into the sky. He paused and his voice softened with the words that followed. "One night, after a day of fighting, I sat huddled around a campfire next to a man who seemed to hold the entire sadness of the world on his shoulders. He was the first man that ever stirred compassion in me.

"His name was Alexander Wambeke. Now there was a mouthful for an uneducated kid from Ireland. But he was so handsome, and he fascinated me. He wasn't in the war for glory or fame. He pointed out to the south. There, in the darkness, I saw the lights. There was his small farm next to a handful of other small farms. This community of six families whose only sin was to be in the middle of a war they had nothing to do with.

"He was this simple man who took up arms after he buried the bodies of his neighbors to the north. The French killed them when they tried to stop the army from looting their home. There's something about burying a child that breaks you, Adam. Burying three broke him.

"That night, he sat beside me, a part of his own private war to defend his world and the other farms in the area. They were his family. He would not let another die without being there in front of them. He had no desire to be there, but I had seen him on the battlefield. My god, he was a warrior. Nothing stood in front of him. In the three days of fighting, I saw a man become more than a man in defense of the ones he loved. I envied him because I realized the day the war ended, he would be back at his little cottage and farm, and I would be on to the next war. In the end, he would have a home and loved ones. I would have coin to help me drink away my life.

"So, we sat around that fire of ours trying to stay warm, and he told me the stories of his home and the people he loved. He was so happy that I chose to fight alongside him. He never realized he was sitting next to the devil. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, I suppose. Still, all he was trying to do was keep them from destroying his little part of the world. He didn't see the monster that killed for money sitting next to him.

"The next morning, the battle began again, and by his side, we cut such a swath of death that it stunned even me. I watched him do things I had never seen another man do. He charged toward one of the six cannons on the French front lines, and the French were more than happy to fire that cannon at him. Three hundred miles a second, Adam. That ball came at him from only a hundred feet away, and he did more than dodge it. As it passed him, he gave it a shove that dropped it onto the empty field between the two armies.

"The French soldiers reloading the cannon had no time to realize what had happened. The man charging them was in their midst in seconds. They never had time to draw their weapons before he sliced through every one of them. Then, by himself, Alexander turned a cannon that took three men to move, and he pointed it toward the French front line. With one perfect shot into their line, he took out the five other cannons. He reloaded the cannon, turned it again, and pointed it toward the rear of the French army. He had no gunner's quadrant to figure out distance and trajectory. And yet, he made one expertly guided shot into the French command quarters six hundred yards away."

"Literally hoisted by their own petard," Adam said, staring into the same night sky as the old wolf.

"Exactly," Will replied. "The French army was in disarray, but even then he never slowed. He threw his sword away and rushed into the confusion with only two long knives. He was like a beast with steel claws. No one stood in front of him. They were dead before they could even load their weapons. And through it all, I was beside him; as drenched in the blood of the French as he was. I was no longer fighting to earn my pay. I was fighting to protect this man that I didn't even know. Because it mattered, Adam; because he mattered." Will grew quiet for a time and Adam never pressed him to continue. "My entire life, I wanted so desperately to think that anything mattered. And in this lowly farmer, I found what I had searched a lifetime to find."

"At the end of that day, my commander told us to set camp and in the morning we would leave in pursuit of the retreating French. All the while, diplomats were hammering out a peace treaty that they would announce only months later. How many souls have died while waiting for men who never touch the battle to decide when it will end?" Will shook his head. "It's all such a waste; a horrible, horrible waste."

For the first time, Will turned his head and looked into the eyes of the otter. "Alexander came up to me and thanked me for helping save his people. I would have cried for the irony of his gratitude. But I had long since lost my ability to cry over any of what I saw." Will fell quiet and Adam put his small hand in the wolf's paw without a word. There was no need to rush forward into a story he sensed ended somehow tragically.

"He asked me to spend the night with him in his cottage as a way of thanking me. He offered a warm home, a hearty meal, and a bed without fleas for a night. I accepted his offer. After our meal, we sat talking. I can't remember what we talked about because as I sat there in the candlelight, all I felt was that I so wanted to be him." The wolf choked back a sob. "No, I wanted to stay beside him without a war compelling my loyalty to him. I wanted to share the world he had made for himself."

"And then, he reached out and put his hand on mine. Nothing more than his touch and those tears I thought I could never shed poured from my eyes. He waited until I finally stopped, and with his napkin, he dried my tears. He stared into my eyes past all the hurt, past all the death, and he saw the wounded eight-year-old boy who stood his ground in defense of his sister. He leaned in and kissed me. He kissed me, Adam. A demon sat in front of him and kissed him. How could he do such a thing? How could he love something so unlovable? And then he kissed me again, and I realized I was kissing him back. That night, a simple farmer brought me home and changed my life forever."

"Was he..." the otter asked.

"The werewolf who turned me?" Will responded before Adam finished the question. "Yes. The next day, after spending the night in his bed, I watched the army leave. I couldn't follow them. All he did that night was hold me, Adam. He simply held me, and I knew I couldn't leave him. The army would march on without me. The wars would never end, the humans would never stop dying, and they would never stop killing. But there in the fields of the Spanish Netherlands, I found my first reason for living.

"It was two years later that he told me what he was. Every month, I would wait during the full moon for him to return home. You can't imagine how much I wanted to follow him when he walked out the door. But he made me promise not to, and I never understood why being true to my word was so important to me when he was near.

"One night we lay naked in bed, as we had done every night since the first. He told me where he went and what he became. I admit I laughed when he told me. Then it dawned on me. It was the full moon, and he had stayed home with me. He stood up, and I sat on the side of the bed watching him as he transformed into the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. I am an Iberian wolf, just as my husband was."

"Your husband?" Adam said, rolling over and looking at the wolf.

"My husband," Will repeated. "I thought were going to be mated forever. I never realized we only mated for life." Will grew quiet as he sat up on the grass. Adam sat up beside him and once more placed his hand on the wolf's paw and waited. "Nearly fourteen years, Adam," Will eventually said through his tears. "Thirteen years, nine months, twenty-two days, eight hours, and fifteen minutes. That moment haunts me to this day. I was making him breakfast when I heard his scream. I rushed out to see what had happened and found his burning clothes in the field with only ash where his body once was."

Adam pressed the paw of the wolf tightly. "I'm so sorry, William."

"I deserved to die that day, Adam. I had killed so many for so many misguided reasons; but not Alexander. He only killed to protect those he loved. Alexander never attacked; he defended. It should have been me. When I was in battle, I was as vicious and relentless as the Children of the Night. I've killed more humans than most of those monsters.

"But the day he asked me to be his mate, Alexander made me promise I would never kill again except to save the life of an innocent. Even before he turned me, he was teaching me the ways of the Were Nation." Will shook his head and laughed. "All I knew was that the man I loved was asking me to turn from everything I had been. And I did it, Adam. I made that promise because I wanted to be by him, and I knew I couldn't be beside him if I didn't turn from the human I was to become the werewolf I wanted to be. We mated under the first full moon after he proposed. The night that I was born a wolf, I believed that the man of my past died; and that the wolf I became would never kill. Fourteen years later, on August eighteenth, at eight fifteen in the morning, it all ended. An Armbruster's wolf I never met launched a wave of energy that killed my husband, along with all the Children of the Night."

The two sat quietly with no words spoken until at last the otter whispered, "We hurt... we all hurt so bad. I feel them all, William. Donovan is so sorry."

"You tell that wolf, I never loved him more than the day I realized how much he sacrificed to save my people. Alexander would have done the same. Oliver was right. We needed Donovan to tell us what he did. I needed to understand why Alexander died. I needed to know there was a greater purpose to it all."

"It still hurts."

Will put his arm around the otter. "Yeah... it still hurts. His name is on row three, line four of the memorial. I find it difficult to visit, but I try. Eric is always there on August eighteenth to help me place flowers on the memorial. He's my rock when I can't be."

"I sense this isn't the end of your story, William."

"No, Adam, it's not. There's more before we reach the reason I said no."

"Then know we all listen, and when we are one, I will not forget, nor will I ever question again."

"Fair enough," Will said as he dried his eyes with the back of his paw. "We all have different ways of grieving when a loved one dies, and as approaches go, I chose one of the worst. I dulled the pain. Some drink and some do drugs; I chose hedonism in all its forms, but mostly, I chose sex. It drowned out the voices of the Sight that came flooding back into my head the day Alexander died. Sex pushed back the pain for a few moments. As a man who made a living off the wars of the humans, I knew where to find men starved for any kind of friendly touch. I followed the wars.

"Lonely men are easy prey, and I became a predator. I got what I wanted from the men and while I had it, it dulled the ache enough so that I could live out another day. Same wars; same desire to die. Only with a different approach to the battles. I promised Alexander I wouldn't kill, and I kept my word. But I was more than willing to profit from the human's propensity for killing to quiet my agony."

"Well, you developed a skill set that many envy," the otter said, smiling.

Will reached out and hugged the otter. "God, I love you, Adam. Even at my worst, you seem to find something redeeming in me."

"It's who I am, William."

"Yeah. That's one reason why I love you."

"So, your hedonism?"

"It went unchecked pretty much right up to the day I met the old bear. Not since Alexander had I met a man who moved me the way Eric did. And I had been with other werewolves, so it wasn't the beast that made me stop long enough to remember what it felt like to be in love. Through all those wars by Eric's side, I realized what I was before I met Alexander: all rage and anger lashing out against the world that hurt me. A cog in an endless machine of replaceable cogs performing for the powerful."

"But you are so much more than that, William," the otter interjected.

"If I am, you have Eric to thank for that. Beside him, I felt alive again. Sex became something meaningful again. I remembered what it was like to make love, and the substitute I had been using paled in comparison. But more than that, we were there in the middle of war doing something I never imagined possible. We were saving lives instead of taking them. The old bear saved me, Adam. He took this broken old wolf and helped heal me by forcing me to help heal others."

"He is a remarkable man."

"He is that. As is my Kodiak husband. And here is where our story nears its conclusion. Despite everything I learned over the centuries, there is a part of me that still lies deep inside. It manifested itself on the Night of Blinding when I threw the soldier who shot me. It's seems that Kris brought him back from the dead, but at that moment, I didn't care. He had tried to kill my alpha. That assault would not go unpunished. And when you told me to kill the Shumuuluud, the only thing that crossed my mind was: how many could I take out before they took me?"

"I doubt those feelings are unique to you under the circumstances."

"No, but they are unique to my upbringing. And they lie so deep inside me that when they surface, there is no holding them back."

"You were protecting your family," the otter protested.

"Yes, and that alone kept me true to the promise I made to the man I loved. But, you push me far enough, I will kill, and I will do it without regret or remorse. You have seen me do that in battles with you."

The otter shook his head. "Again, I doubt that's unique to you."

"You threw me into the fight to hold the Shumuuluud back until you could do something far less violent. Your weapon of last choice wasn't to kill everything in your path. It was mine."

"You would be a part of the whole, William. When we are one, the options you might choose would be only one of many we consider."

"Do you think that's what the Shumuuluud thought when they became one of you? Do you think their dark side would never have manifested if they had discussed it a bit more?"

"You know?"

"Derrick isn't the only one with the Sight trying to figure things out, Adam. I said no because you can't risk what I might make you become. There is no darkness in the souls of the men your share your body with. There is in me."

The otter rubbed the leg of the wolf. "Oliver once told me you always heal from a broken heart, that you are fearless in love."

Will laughed uncomfortably. "That's because he loves me. He sees me at my best and I try so hard to be that man for him. I need him beside me, Adam. I need them all. They keep me grounded, and you've seen what happens when they're not there beside me. The Shumuuluud saw me without them by my side, and for billions of them, it was the last thing they saw."

The otter wrapped his arms around the wolf. "I agree with Oliver. You are fearless. But I also agree with you. You need your family by your side. They keep the darkness at bay. Strange how Donovan helps me understand that feeling all too well."

"I miss him, Adam. I hope he knows how much I love him."

"You forgave him a sin he thought unforgivable, William. He never understood until tonight the full cost to his family. Even I am amazed at how easily you embraced the wolf who so desperately wanted to be loved."

"We all deserve a chance at forgiveness, Adam; especially Donovan. No one should ever ask another to make the choices he had to make. I'm glad I could share in his life. I hope he was as happy with that choice as I was."

"He was, William." The otter put his hand under his chin in thought. "So what do you think my best course of action to keep you in my life is if I don't merge with you?"

"Leave me here, Adam. Let me be one of those you come home to. Let me be where you turn when you need to hear another voice besides those of your coworkers."

Adam laughed. "They're not coworkers, William."

"Well, whatever you call each other," the old wolf said, flailing his hands. "What I'm saying, Adam, is I can't be a part of what makes you strong in here..." the wolf said, tapping the otter's chest. "But I can help keep you strong here." Will thumped the ground he sat on. "We are stronger when we realize where our home is. Leave me here. Know that you always have a home you can return to. Let me be who I can be, my weaknesses and all. Don't make me a part of what might destroy you one day."

"So, are we talking about an ongoing physical relationship?"

"Of course. I love you. Is that going to be a problem?"

"I get horny out there all alone."

"We have family, Adam. I come with attachments. I call them husbands, but you can call them play toys if you like."

"I don't want to objectify your husbands, William."

"It's okay. They married me. They're used to it."

Adam laughed. "Is it any wonder I am drawn to you? I am seriously considering your counteroffer to my offer, William." Adam grew quiet. "The Sight has already told you, hasn't it?"

Will put his arm around the otter. "Yeah, it's okay, Adam. I love Marcus. I'm happy for him. But the moment I heard his voice again in this universe, I knew he belonged with Kendal. I have memories of another world, but the world they share here is the one they deserve for all their sacrifice. They belong together."

"They still both love you deeply. It is very confusing to be me, William."

"I imagine so. Sorting out the feelings of five men and your own can't be easy."

"I'm struggling with exactly what it means to be in love."

Will leaned back. "You've been alive for only a few months, Adam. Go easy on yourself."

"I've been alive for millions of years, William. What I am didn't come to be when I appeared in your reality. I existed for eons before then."

"Okay, I'm confused. I guess you have every right to be."

"William. Have you ever loved someone so much that you couldn't stand to watch them walk away?"

"Yeah, lots of times. I call them husbands."

"What if being a husband wasn't an option? What if he doesn't love you?"

Will was quiet for a time, thinking. "Walk away from him, Adam. Don't hold on. You do, and it will destroy you both."

"I was afraid you would say that."

"You know what I find helps when making those tough choices?"

"No, what, William?"

"Sex with my family. Lots and lots of sex."

Adam laughed. "Is that your answer to everything, William?"

"Pretty much if I can get away with it." The old wolf reached over and picked up the otter. He placed him in his lap and kissed him. "Adam, you have a family that loves you here. Remember what I said about you needing a home? This is that home. There is something to be said about sex with the ones you love. It teaches you what it feels like to be one with someone. It also helps you realize what it feels like when someone doesn't love you. It helps teach you to let go of desires and dreams that can never be and embrace all the ones that can. Let's head to Carl and Randy's place and spend some quality time with our family. I may not merge with you the way you want, but I sure can merge with you for a few days the way Terrans have done since the beginning of life on this planet. And so can my family... our family. Let us teach you what love feels like. And then you decide what to do with those feelings you have for him."

"There is so much for me to think about, William."

"We've dealt with enough tonight, Adam. Let it wait for another day. Come play with our family. Be an otter for tonight. Tomorrow you will see things more clearly."

The otter tugged at the wolf's paw. "Let's go before Randy gets Kris onto that inversion table. I have a suggestion for the two of you that might create a reputation for me equal to yours."

Will laughed as he stood up and extended his paw to the otter. Adam grabbed the paw, and let the old wolf pull him into a kiss. "Are we walking hand in hand, or are you on my shoulders?" Will asked.

"I can do that? I can ride on your shoulders?"

"Sure. I offer that to every beast I meet under five feet."

"I am almost seven feet, William."

"But a third of you is tail. I don't count tail."

The otter stopped. "I would very much like to ride on your shoulders."

Will reached down and pulled Adam up. A quick flip placed the otter on his shoulders. As the two passed the helipad, Will leaned back. "Adam, is that your hard-on pressing up against my neck?"

"Yes," the otter replied. "I thought that all the beasts under five feet have one when you carry them this way."

"That is true," Will said. "That is true." They crested the hill and walked toward the coast and the home of Carl and Randy.

Chapter 4

Morning found the family strewn across the south beach in configurations that even those who were a part of it would find difficult to unravel. The pangolin slowly retracted his tongue that lay on the chest of the badger. Oliver giggled as it moved over his nipple. "More, Adam," he snickered. "If you'se gonna drag that tongue over me, at least let me enjoy it."

Adam smiled, working the two nipples at the same time with his tongue. Oliver sighed. "Okay, you wins, Adam. I likes both your beasts."

"And they both like you," Adam said as his tongue slipped back into his head and he became the otter.

Oliver looked around him. "How the heck did we gets here?"

"Randy said we should all go swimming in the ocean to clean up. I sort of took you here."

Oliver nodded as he remembered. "That's right. Couldn't remember running down no ramp." The badger's face took on an air of seriousness. "Adam, can I asks you something in private?"

"Sure, Oliver, I can keep them all asleep until we're done here."

Oliver stood up. "You can do that?"

"Yeah. That's not too creepy, is it?"

"I guess not this time. Just don't go telling me if you does it to me, okay?"

"I promise. No one will ever learn if they stay asleep because of me." There was a silence between the two. "It's okay if I wake you guys up, though, right?"

"Does it involve that tongue of yours?"

"Or my mouth and tail if I'm an otter."

"Yeah, Adam, I'm pretty sure we's all gonna be good with that."

Adam rolled over and kissed the badger. "Are we walking, Oliver?"

Oliver laughed and crawled over the intertwined bodies. "Yeah, we's walking."

The two began their walk along the beach, listening to the waves and seabirds. Finally, Oliver spoke. "You once said the pup and I would be the head of that damn robot, and I guess you was right, 'cause we hold the memories of our family. But you also said Donovan was gonna be beside Will. That weren't right. It was Nathaniel that were by the old wolf's side in that battle. Donovan was... well... he became you."

Adam nodded his head in agreement. "That's true. If I tell you the Sight's not the most perfect forecaster of the future, you'll accept that, right?"

"Probably not, Otter," Oliver said, shaking his head. "I gots the Sight too, and one thing it don't fail on is telling us when we's lying to each other."

Adam laughed. "Damn." His right foot drew a little circle in the sand. He stared at his foot. "You're aware that I got that from you, right? Or at least I got it from your sons. I can't help it. I see your family and it makes that little circle."

"You gets used to it," Oliver said with a smile. "Ain't nobody but Martin who notices it, and he thinks it's funny."

Adam laughed again. "They all see it, Oliver. They just never mention it for fear you'll stop if you figure that out."

"I can'ts stop it. I've tried."

"Me either. Guess we'll have to make peace with it."

"So," Oliver pressed, "Where's Donovan gonna stand by Will in a fight?"

"Down the line, Oliver," Adam said. "Like you, I see things in snippets. Brief glimpses of what's ahead. I can't tell you when or where they will battle side by side, but the outcome will change the universe in ways I can't see or understand." The otter paused. "There is so much that is happening that I can't understand. Donovan is in me. So many of your family are in me. It's not turning out the way I thought it would. It's not turning out the way any of us thought it would."

"You's still all there?"

"Yeah, and they won't leave me alone until I make some promises to them."

Oliver laughed. "Serves you right, bastard otter. Taking all them bodies and slamming them together."

Adam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it serves me right." Adam jumped up onto a driftwood log. "It's funny, Oliver. I thought I wanted to control the merging, the same as the Order. But when they started talking to me, I realized they were my family. They're the ones I take with me everywhere. I thought we would merge into one being, but I'm okay with the way most things are happening."

"You knows, we's pretty much one in my family too. We gots our separate bodies and all, but we think and act like we's one on most days."

"That's why I'm comfortable with it overall, Oliver. Your whole family has always been so many bodies trying to become one soul. I'm so many souls trying to become one body. We're working toward much the same goal from different sides."

"We misses our husband and our boys, Adam."

"I realize that. That's why I told you about the future; the day William would fight beside Donovan."

"It ain't happened yet? We got something more fucked up than them shiny things eating our eyeballs out in the future?"

Adam laughed. "I hope not." Oliver jumped up on the log next to the otter and Adam leaned in for a kiss. When the kiss ended, Adam pulled Oliver close in a sideways hug. "Donovan and William will fight beside each other during a pivotal point in all our lives. I see them beside each other and it will change everything. Donovan is so strong. Marcus and I needed that strength to do what we had to do in another universe. I thought I still needed that strength, Oliver."

"I understands that."

"But I was wrong." Adam took a deep breath. "I don't really need him by my side. Not the way things are now."

"Is you saying..."

"One day he'll come home, Oliver. He's not happy where he is. I'm struggling with that. But he will come home one day. It's the way of your family."

"And what's about you, Adam? Does you know where your home is?"

"I see images of home from the men inside me. Of all those men, Donovan is the strongest and presses the most for me to stay beside the ones he loves. By your side, Oliver. By Eric and Kris, and by Derrick and William. He pushes me to stay beside all those he calls Husband. And because I don't have a home, Oliver, I stay here next to you, hoping it will make him happy. And because one day I hope the man I love will see me."

Adam sighed and picked at a piece of bark on the driftwood. "Marcus loves William, but in this world, he was never in love with William. William knows that too." Adam laughed and shook his head. "William was like a mentor with benefits. He taught Marcus so much. He helped make him strong. But when Marcus met Kendal, he realized the difference between loving a family member and loving a mate. The two of them are so happy together. They're melding into one, and I doubt they will ever need to leave this body to be totally fulfilled.

"The twins have each other. They're crazy together and they brighten up our lives to no end. They push me to do things I would never do. Raymond and Samuel are actually quite happy merging closer together. It reminds them of their childhood inside the chrysalis with their fathers. In time, both couples will have no problem becoming one. I suspect even if they merge inside me, they'll never lose their individual identities. They'll always be two wonderful, happy couples in love with each other, completely content to live out their lives in me. And I will be so much stronger, braver, and wiser because they are a part of me."

Adam let out a long sigh. "Only Donovan and I are alone, hoping one day to come home to those who love them. Donovan has a home that he sees as something outside of this body. Of the six of us, only he hopes for a day when he is free to return to the ones he loves, and I can't deny any of those inside me what they hope for most."

"His family is all here, Adam," Oliver said. "It's hard to leave family when you realize you found it."

"I get what you mean, Oliver. There are days when I want to bite your neck so bad."

Oliver looked at the otter. "Why me, Adam? Ain't I gots enough husbands to worry about?"

Adam threw his hands up into the air. "I don't know, Oliver. Why do you love the old wolf, or Kris, or Pup? Couldn't you stop at Nathaniel and Max? Why did you let your heart open up to Martin and Chipo, or Eric and Donovan?" Adam sighed. "It's not only you, Oliver. It's all of you. I want so desperately to feel that connection you enjoy with your husbands. I want the teeth of a man buried into my neck that tells me I'm the one he will stand by forever.

"And I get so confused. I think if I can find that one neck to bite, it will all be so different. And I stand here by you all, and I realize how much fun I have by your side and how good it feels to be near you."

Adam let out a long sigh. "I say to myself, yeah, I can grow into this the same way those inside of me are growing together. If I can bite the neck of one of my family, perhaps one day I'll have those feelings. There's a possibility they'll grow inside me. It's not totally unfeasible that I'll learn what it means to love someone.

"I'm too new at this, Oliver. You all make me feel things I've never felt before. I am not dealing well with them because I can't seem to tell the difference between those feelings I have for each of you. I am going to make mistakes and I'm going to hurt the ones I care about most by trying to hold onto what I can't have."

Oliver put his paw on the otter's. "Love ain't easy, Adam. It's the hardest thing we gots in our life. That's why it makes us so happy when we gets it right. You ain't got no difficulty with us. We gets how much you loves us. And you're right... it's gonna grow, and we's gonna get closer. But that ain't what's confusing you, is it?"

Adam shook his head. "No, that's not my problem. The feelings I have are all new to me. Terrans possess an emotional range that is extremely difficult to navigate. Do you have any idea how close your ideas of love and hate are? Do you realize how easily you confuse them and swap back and forth between them? I love you all, or at least I think it's love. But I realize that there is one man I might be in love with."

Adam looked out at the ocean. "Why did you have to love Donovan, Oliver? What chance does a guy have when he looks out and sees a little badger who is clan; a badger who saved him from death by singing to him? You, more than any other husband, helped him be at peace with himself. What chance do I have, damn it?" Adam's face dropped into his hands and Oliver heard the sobbing.

A flash of recognition came over Oliver. "You's in love with Donovan, ain't you?"

"If I understand the concept. When he sees your face in the morning, I see him. I feel every emotion, every touch he shares with you through my fingers. I love him, Oliver. At least I think it's love. Why can't he love me the way he loves you? Why can't he love me the way he loves all of you?

"And I hurt. I hurt so badly when I realize that I'm his warden in a prison that keeps him from you. The man I love must hate me, Oliver. He wants nothing more than to be rid of the chains I bound him with." The otter looked up with tears in his eyes. "Forgive me, Oliver, but I can't let him go, even when every part of me cries out to honor what he did and let him return to your side."

"Has you told him, Adam?"

"What do I tell him? 'Hey, your jailer loves you. Do you think maybe we could get together and merge a bit?' What do you think the answer is going to be?"

"I don'ts know, Adam. But you gots to tell him."

"I can't, Oliver. I can't."

Oliver reached over and pulled Adam into him. He held the shaking otter tightly and whispered. "Tells him, Adam. Tells him the way you told me. Don'ts you hold nothing back from him. He's already heard it the same as everyone else in your head has heard it. But he needs to hear it from you, face-to-face. You gots to be fearless, Adam. You gots to risk it all or nothin' good will ever come of this."

"I can't..."

"You gots to, Adam," Oliver pushed. "You tell him, and you understand that no matter what he sez, you has a family here that loves you. We ain't never leaving you. If he's mad at you 'cause of what you done, then we deals with that as a family. But you don't walk away from this. Think about what them temple dogs taught you. You're fighting for the one you love. You don't never back down from a fight until it's over. Win or lose, Otter. You don'ts back down, you don'ts turn tail and run."

Adam closed his eyes and Oliver heard the otter talking to the wolf he could neither see nor hear. "I love you," the otter said. "I realize you have family. It was wrong of me not to tell you, but before I was born of this merging, I loved you. In that other universe, it wasn't Marcus who pushed to bring you into the six. It was me."

There was a pause while the otter listened to a response Oliver couldn't hear. "No, Marcus understood that he was a Channeler. He didn't need you, but I did. I needed you. I needed your strength beside me. Donovan, without you, this universe wouldn't exist. I couldn't have done it without you."

Adam was quiet for a time, listening. "I realize that. What would you have me do? I remember the way it felt with you beside me. I remember what it felt like to be confident. But you taught me that lesson, and I don't need you to hold my hand anymore... I only want you to...

"Because life is like that where I come from... no... no... I'm so sorry, Donovan. I am so sorry. Please forgive me... Of course... no, today... I won't hold you captive a moment longer. Please, Donovan, please don't hate me... I love you... I will always love you, but I don't need you to be whole. I don't need you by my side, but they do... your family needs you. Please forgive me."

Adam's eyes opened. "Please forgive me," he repeated quietly until he looked up at Oliver. "Donovan wants to come home. I don't have the heart to deny him anything."

Oliver nodded. "Then brings him home, Adam. Bring him home to his family."

"Home," the otter said sadly. He jumped off the log and ran toward the sleeping family and yelled, "WAKEY WAKEY, EVERYONE!"

The sleeping bears and wolves stirred. One by one, they untangled themselves from the group and stared at the grinning otter. Kris was the first to voice the group's concern. "You've been crying, Adam. What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," the otter replied, waving his hands, trying to wipe away the doubt. "I have such wonderful news. I'm afraid it made me overly emotional."

Eric looked at the otter in disbelief. "And that good news is...?"

"I found a way to return Donovan to your family."

The whole family's eyes widened, and smiles spread over their faces. "How?" Derrick asked.

"It's more or less just reversing the way he got inside of me originally."

"Does this involve exploding a hole into something somewhere?" Eric asked.

"No, I have much more control over it now that I've done it the first time. It will be easy, and I'm happy that he can come home to you."

Will stared at the otter. "You do get that I have the Sight, don't you, Adam?"

Carl and Randy stared at the stern look of the old wolf and the frightened look on the otter's face. They turned to Frank and Joseph who had the same concern showing on their faces. "Gentlemen, a family council has been called, whether or not you know it," Carl said. "Frank, Joseph, I'm making you and my husband breakfast at the diner this morning. Let's leave these men to work this out." With a shake, the four wolves were running toward the cliff and the ramp leading back to the Midnight Diner.

Adam frowned. "Please, William, please let me do this."

"On one stipulation," the old wolf said.

"Anything, William. I promise. Anything. Just let me do this."

"You stay after his return."

"There are places I need to be; worlds out there needing help."

"You said anything, Adam. I am holding you to your word."

Adam's head bowed. "Yes, Sir."

Will knelt down in front of the otter. "I am not a sir, Adam. I am your friend. Stay with me. We will make this work."

The otter looked up into the eyes of the wolf. "I'm so sorry, William. There is nothing that will make what I've done right. Please free me from my obligation to you."

"No," the wolf said flatly. "You bring Donovan back and you stay until I say you can go."

"Please..."

"A deal is a deal, Adam. You either honor your word, or you throw in the towel about being a protectorate of the universe out there."

"I really hate you sometimes, William."

Will smiled. "Yeah, I'm a bastard. But on the plus side, I'm a bastard that loves you."

Adam wiped the tears from his eyes. "Everyone stand back... and it might be best if you don't watch." Adam pushed his hand up against his chest and thrust it in deep. The white light spilled out from around his embedded fist. "Look away, gentlemen, or you won't be able to see your husband until your eyes are healed."

The group turned away from the otter. They turned back only after a bright flash of light faded and the rolling thunder stopped echoing off the cliff walls. There before them was the Armbruster's wolf and the otter breathing heavily as blood trickled from the quickly closing wound in his chest.

The jubilant family rushed to the arms of the wolf; save Oliver, who went to the otter and rubbed the bloody chest. "Is you going to be okay, Adam?" he asked.

"I have it on the best authority that broken hearts heal, Oliver," came the reply.

"They does that, Adam. They does that."

"I wonder how long William will make me stay here. It seems cruel that one with the Sight forces me to stay here and watch this reunion. He has to be aware of how much this hurts."

"Hardly cruel, Adam," Will said, turning to the otter. "This is called Karma. What you put out in the universe eventually comes back. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it heals. Today it's a little of both."

"Bastard wolf," Oliver said, frowning. "Can'ts you cut him no slack? He's hurting."

"I realize that, Oliver, but he and Donovan need to talk," the old wolf replied.

"I agree," Donovan said, pushing his husbands aside.

He stepped in front of the otter and looked down at him. Adam turned his head away, trying to avoid any eye contact. "Say whatever you will, Donovan. I deserve it."

"Indeed you do, Otter," Donovan said as he knelt in front of the sleek-furred mammal clinging to the badger. He paused for a moment, waiting for Adam to glance at him, but the otter averted his eyes. "Look at me, Otter," Donovan commanded.

Adam looked into the eyes of the Armbruster's wolf. "I'm sorry, Donovan. I don't know what else to say."

Donovan's stern face remained. "Say that you love me."

Adam whispered, "You know I do."

"Then it shouldn't be hard to say it to my face. When you told me I could return to my family, I insisted, because I want them to hear this conversation between you and me. There will be no confusion in anyone's mind the way this plays out."

The otter nodded his understanding. "I love you, Donovan," he said weakly; turning his head the moment he spoke the words.

"And I love you, Otter," the wolf said quietly.

Adam looked back up. "What?"

"I love you," Donovan repeated. "The words imply deep affection for another; often with overtones of passion or sexual attraction. Was the definition unclear?"

"No... no... I understand what the word means. But how... how could you?"

"Because you saved my family, and you returned me to them."

The otter's right foot made a circle in the sand. "I can't say that I particularly wanted to return you."

"I understand that. It's hard to let go of someone you love," the wolf agreed. "What's that thing about if you love something, let it go. If it returns..."

"Only a fool lets something he loves go away without trying to hold on to it the best he can." Oliver interrupted.

Donovan laughed. "You have a point, Husband, but the otter knew I wanted to be by your sides. He let that happen. He was smart enough or kind enough not to hold me. I make a formidable opponent when I am caged." He looked back at the otter. "But I make a loyal companion when I stand by someone of my choosing. We need to come to an understanding."

Adam nodded his head. "Anything."

"Do not assume that my insistence on returning to my family is the same as me leaving you. I still want to be with you. You need me, Otter," Donovan said. He paused. "And I need you."

"You don't need me."

"Yes I do, Otter," the wolf corrected. "Since my return, I have sought my purpose in life. That purpose finds its greatest expression when I am with you." Donovan reached out and cupped the otter's chin in his paw. "But my family is something I cannot give up."

Adam nodded. "I understand."

"No, Otter, I don't think you do." He reached down and pulled the otter up with him as he rose. "Husbands," the wolf said, turning toward the crowd. "I wish you all to meet Adam. He is my family. I love him with the same intensity that I love all my family that stands before me today."

The family smiled back. "Hello, Adam," they said in one accord.

"I remember how Derrick and Oliver told the story of how they lived in Max's brain when he took them on the Day of Transformation," Donovan said. "This little otter has held us even closer from the moment he joined us. I realize that there are no words for holding one close to our hearts that ring true. It is an organ that pumps blood, a muscle, and really no more. But if there is a place we can call a soul, it is there where the five of us live next to Adam.

"Since moments before the battle with the Shumuuluud began, he drew us in. He kept us safe so that we could watch the unspeakable horror that was the Shumuuluud, and he waited. He needed us to see what we were truly up against, and then he waited even longer for us to act together as one.

"I thought it was Marcus who couldn't commit. But it was the rest of us: we clung to a hope that somehow we could save our world by killing a few more of the Shumuuluud. It wasn't until we admitted to ourselves there was no other course than the one that had to happen, that Adam took action and bound us together."

The Armbruster's wolf pointed toward the otter. "And now the same being who stood by us before is asking us to stand by him again. We may not be the same group as before, but our commitment to each other and to Adam remains the same."

"Adam, aren't you all merged?" Kris asked, rubbing the top of his head.

"No, Bear," Donovan replied with a chuckle. "Adam is Adam. The first of his species to merge with Terrans. And like most things involving Terrans, he's having a rough go of it. We all are."

Kris looked at the otter. "You realize what's ahead is going to confuse me, don't you?"

Adam nodded. "It's one of those 'brain hurts' types of conversations none of you particularly like."

Oliver winced. "My brain already hurts. Ain't gonna get no better trying to explain it."

Derrick raised his hand. "I believe I can explain it to them."

"If you want to take a stab at it, I'm all for it. I sure don't want to." Adam replied.

Derrick knelt in front of Oliver. "Do you want creepy or cute?"

"Which is Adam?" Oliver asked.

"Adam is cute. But if we consider the animals here on Earth, the closest one to him is creepy."

"I tell you whats," Oliver replied. "You tells me the creepy, so I understands, but then you tells me the cute, so I don't get nightmares every time he crawls into bed with me."

"Works for me," Derrick said. He looked up at the rest of his on-looking husbands. "Everyone follow along as best you can." He looked back at Oliver. "You remember the episode on Animal World about deadly sea creatures?"

"Sure, that's why I thoughts the Bear couldn't never be a squid. I sure fucked that one up. And Adam went and made it worse by becoming an even bigger one."

"Sorry, Oliver," Adam said. "I meant it as a joke."

"Yeah, yeah, I knows what it was supposed to be," Oliver grumbled. "Still a dumbass thing to do in front of a badger."

"Regardless of the squid, Oliver," Derrick said, trying to draw him back into the discussion. "Do you remember the Portuguese Man o' War?"

"Yeah. You's right. Them's creepy. Ain't never going to ask the bear to become one of those."

"That's just it, Oliver. Kris never can become one of those. Because it's not a 'one of those', it's an 'all of them'. Kris can only be one animal at a time. He can never be something that's actually four animals living together."

Oliver nodded. "Oh, that's right. I forgots. They's all them little animals joined together."

"Right. And none of the animals can survive without the other. One of them forms a big bag of air that helps keep it afloat in the ocean so it can find food. One captures and kills the food. Another animal digests the food and makes sure everyone else has enough food to live."

"And one has sex to make more of them critters," Oliver interjected. "If I had to be one of them critters, I knows which one I'd choose."

Oliver's family laughed, and Derrick continued the story. "So, Adam is kind of like the man-of-war. He's not really anything until all the individuals necessary come together. He's kind of like the glue that holds the five together as one."

"It's that form feet and legs robot shit, ain't it?"

"Yeah, pretty much. But when the six are together, it's like the dwarf mongoose and the hornbills. Plus, mongooses are way cuter than the man-of-war."

"Yeah, I likes that story better, Pup."

Will groaned. "Okay, Pup, for those of us who don't watch Animal World, what's the story with the mongooses and the hornbills?"

"Mongooses and hornbills both like most of the same foods, and have most of the same predators. So, over the years, they developed a relationship where the mongoose will go hunting for food and leave part of it for the hornbills to feed on. In return, the hornbills sit on top of the trees watching for predators while the mongooses are hunting. If anything comes along, the birds sound a warning and they all hightail it to safety.

"The little mammals get the recon they could never do on their own, and the birds enjoy a free meal for their efforts. Everyone wins. But like the man-of-war, none of this would ever happen if there wasn't first a relationship established between two alien species."

Adam looked up at the black wolf. "I like that story better than the man-of-war one."

Derrick reached out and grabbed the otter, hugging him. "I do too. Did I get it close enough?"

Adam smiled. "Yeah, it's pretty close. The day Marcus became the white wolf was the day he and I merged. It wasn't the universe giving him your power, Donovan. He understood that. He realized what I was asking him to do. It's far more frightening for an Empath to take on the responsibility of another life inside him than any power the universe might give him."

"So that is why it took such encouragement for you to accept what was happening," Donovan said with a new understanding.

"That's why. Marcus wasn't only accepting a new power. What caused the first struggle was that he was accepting responsibility for someone even closer than a mate. I am a being that fuses itself to the body of another and manifests all that I am through my host."

"Which explains why one of your own, with a yearning to rule the universe, might become a parasite of the host instead of symbiotic," Will said.

"I am afraid that is true as well," the otter agreed. "The Shumuuluud didn't deserve their fate. They barely had the intelligence of a dog. What they thought was an act of friendship became their enslavement."

"You killt them all because of something you did? Them weren't monsters?" Oliver asked.

"No, Oliver. They were harmless little creatures floating in space, living off cosmic energy. It was one of my kind that twisted the lives of the Cherel into the Shumuuluud."

"Ain't rightly fair to kill something that hurt no one," Oliver said sadly. "But you had to do what you had to do."

"We killed the Shumuuluud by killing one of my people, Oliver. The same as with the deaths of the Children of the Night, we who created the Shumuuluud had to destroy the monster we had created. But the Cherel never were that monster. One of our own was. We killed the monster before it subjugated an entire universe. The Cherel are happily floating in space in this universe, as they did in the old."

Adam looked at the Iberian wolf. "William was right about killing. It changes us. It is something I never wish to repeat. But I swore to protect this minor part of the universe and to do that, I needed more than myself. I needed to be corporeal. When I saw what your people willingly did to save their world, I realized I wanted to be a part of you. My people didn't see what I saw, nor did they see a need for a merging to take place with so primitive a world.

"Likewise, the gentle nature of the Unity made them seem a poor choice for merging. My people misinterpreted being peaceful as being weak. I knew differently, and my goal was to convince them they had overlooked a true asset to this universe. The birth of Marcus made it possible for me to take the first step toward introducing myself to the Unity. It was his gifts and his love for William that I saw as the perfect path toward eventually merging with not only the Terrans, but with the Unity as well."

Adam bowed his head. "I approached Marcus and told him who we were. The goal was to help him develop the gifts and skills needed to aid us in our work, and he was agreeable to that. In fact, Marcus's enthusiasm was so great that I was sure I had made a wise choice.

"And then an act of aggression on our part forced a course of action that I never thought possible to save your family. We alone couldn't conquer the Shumuuluud. By yourselves, you too would have failed. It took all of us and so many millions of other worlds inhabited by those like you willing to join our fight to make that happen. I tried to make it right for you. It was my responsibility to safeguard your world. I am so sorry I didn't have time to do it properly. I threw you into a maelstrom without a chance to prepare for it."

Oliver glared at Adam. "Fancy words, Otter."

Adam smiled. "I threw you into a shit storm, Oliver."

"Well, yeah, you done that."

"But you rose so easily to the challenge. Other worlds where we lived for millions of years could find no champions like those by my side. I kept Derrick and Oliver apart to record your history because you are such amazing beings."

"So we turned out to be your deep dive into multidimensional beings, Adam?" Kris asked.

"Yes, and I am grateful that the choices I made led to you. We share bodies with so many races, but yours are unique in what you bring to our union. There is much my people can offer to protect your family. But we are so far behind you in understanding the one thing the Terran Changelings so easily adapted to."

"The reason you locked the one you loved inside you?" Donovan asked.

"I am sorry, Donovan. I don't understand love. I never felt the emotions I have for you before. By becoming corporeal through Marcus, I learned of feelings that defy our understanding because we shut them out. We don't see them as necessary. And yet, in this universe, as in the last, I saw Kendal stand by Marcus, and in that union, I see so many things I never even dreamed possible."

"But you defend the universe," the polar bear said. "How does one do that without love?"

"Easily, Eric," the otter replied. "We are guardians. It requires no emotional investment to interpret the difference between entities that are thriving and ones that need help. We can see a universe about to be destroyed and know enough to try and save it. Even diplomacy is better served divested of emotion. We are perfectly suited for our work. Emotion had nothing to do with our retooling of this universe; only practicality and obligation."

"He's saying we's worms, and he took us out of that damn rainbow fish's mouth," Oliver interrupted.

Adam frowned. "Two years ago, I might have agreed with you, Oliver. I'm not sure my people don't still feel that way. But I no longer do. I was the one who insisted on resolving our disastrous relationship with the Shumuuluud. And I was the only one to offer a plan. But that plan also included restoring your people to a set point in the universe where you belong. I am vested in your world. Worse yet, for one who is supposed to be dispassionate about the care I give, I am in love with one of your kind. Not only in love but to a degree that I made completely bone-headed decisions about his care. My people... for lack of a better phrase... are watching me. They see the changes in me, and they are not yet sure that this thing called love is a trait any of us should manifest."

Eric rolled his lower lip. "And what about you, Adam? How do you feel about the trait?"

"I am still unsure as well," the otter replied. "All I know is that at this moment, I will defy my people's command to return home if they tell me to. I love Donovan, and to hear him say he loves me changes everything. I now have one who might teach me to use such power wisely."

"And in that challenge, I will gladly spend a lifetime," Donovan said. "Husbands, we faced the unknown before and our family has found a way through. We changed an entire world to save it from itself and we used our love to make that happen."

"That and about a bazillion bombs," Oliver mumbled under his breath.

Donovan laughed. "That and about a bazillion bombs, Badger." The wolf squatted in front of Oliver. "And why would anyone in their right mind let bombs fly toward them on purpose?" he asked the little mammal.

Oliver's foot twisted out the involuntary circle. "Because I loves the humans that is my family."

"I rest my case," Donovan said as he stood back up. "Husbands, Adam is a stranger to our world. He is not unlike a group of lost souls who crashed here over sixty-six million years ago. Terra has been gentle with us. She has let us grow and learn. She saw potential in a group of aliens on her shores and she let us stay. I am proud of what we became. For all our mistakes, we rise each time stronger and more determined to do right by those who live beside us.

"Adam has always tried to do the same. There are five of us who know his heart. Four of them see such a beautiful soul they took up residence there. And although I am not sure I'm quite ready for that, knowing my feelings for him, one day I may find myself in that same position."

"I really can't see you working together without that being a requirement," Will said. "At some point, if you want to be who you say you were born to be, Donovan, the two of you need to share that body to do what you need to do."

"Adam and I will spend a lot more time together in the future, and I am convinced we will only grow closer together. But that presents some challenges for my husbands that we need to discuss."

Kris nodded. "I agree. We enjoy rights as your husbands that we refuse to give up regardless of your relationship with Adam."

Adam nodded his head. "I too agree. My feelings for your husband will never supersede yours." Adam looked at Oliver, who had crossed his arms and was frowning. "You were in love with him first. You got dibs."

"Better, Otter."

"And I agree with both the bear and the otter," Donovan said to the group. "So what are the rights that you feel are inalienable?"

"What's about aliens?" the badger asked.

Donovan looked at Oliver and smiled. "What do you absolutely need from me as your husband?"

"You means like a dick up my ass on a regular basis?" Oliver questioned.

"Yeah, I'm liking that one, myself," Will said with a laugh.

"Me too," Derrick said with a giggle.

"Okay, my dick up your ass. What else?"

Eric looked at Donovan. "Are you serious about this, Wolf?"

"Completely."

"Okay. My list: I'll admit the whole dick thing seems on target, and your incredible ass shouldn't be overlooked. But I also have a son to raise. I'd like him to see his dad now and then. If you need to go gallivanting around the universe, the two of us deserve to have you home often enough that we don't forget what you look like." The bear paused for a moment, "No matter what you wind up looking like."

The bear continued his list. "I'd like to spend a night with you alone from time to time watching the stars and having you tell me about your day. I want to bring you breakfast in bed, watch you swallow it in one gulp, and then me in the second.

"I want long walks on the beach, candlelit dinners, and warm baths together. I want us to be the fulfillment of every personal ad ever written on LoveLink. But mostly, I want you next to me when nothing but that will ease my pain, and for you to find that same solace next to me. Wherever you go, I want you to be thinking about me and hoping to come home. And I want you to never doubt that wherever you are, I am counting the moments until you're back with me."

"I want to see you across the table for breakfast now and then," Kris added. "And it would be nice to see you at the table, completely disheveled because of the sex we had the night before." The brown bear thought for a moment. "I want to bathe with you in the highland creek and shower with you in Montana. When the family comes, I want to see you flipping burgers while I make potato salad. At the end of the day, I want you to rub my feet, or play a game of cards with us because it's what we do to unwind as a family. I want the warmth of your breath on the back of my neck when I lay down at night. I don't want you ever gone so long I forget what you smell like or the way your laugh makes me feel."

"Bacon," Will interrupted. "I want you to cook me bacon the way you do, where it's crispy on the edges and kind of soft in the middle. And that whole naked in the shower, throbbing hard-ons, and a sore ass for days stuff." The wolf paused. "And somehow while you're breathing down Kris's neck, you need to wrap your arms around me, because I love your touch and I don't sleep as well without it. And what the old bear said about counting the moments. Never forget that he's not alone. I do the count even now."

Donovan nodded. "Bacon, way too much time getting cleaned up with my spouses, and a lot of dick. So far, so good. If you accept that I've never been nearly as romantic as you make me out to be in those descriptions, we're good. What else?

"I wants you to teach me how to use my powers," Oliver said. "It would be nice if you sat down with me and bitched about the bastards that gave them powers to us. I'd like you to kiss me for no reason, just because. I wants you to be okay with me kissing you for no reason, too. 'Cause I'se gotten used to you being in my life, and I ain't given up kissing you never. I wants you to loves me like we gots no tomorrow every day you's here. Oh, and a reminder in case you forgot; lots of butt sex."

Donovan laughed. "Okay, Oliver," he turned to the black wolf. "And what about you, Pup?"

"I want you to go fishing with me," Derrick said. "I want you to lie back and watch clouds on a spring day. It would be nice if you were the first one to find a bunny or a dragon or anything that tells me you're finally loosening up a bit. I want to feel your shoulders relaxing as I massage them at the end of your day. I want you to help me do the dishes and finish that damn puzzle we started." He paused. "And I want you to promise me you'll be careful out there," he said with a wave of his paw toward the sky.

Donovan turned to Adam. "Can you agree to let me live up to all those expectations?"

"You mean merged inside me?"

"For the sake of this discussion, yes."

"I can do that. I can even give them the body they love if mine is not adequate for their needs."

"That's good to hear," Donovan said. "Now, a bit about my needs."

"The other shoe drops," Will said with a grin.

"I need to be with this otter. I need to train him, and he needs to train me. We both need to continue our training with the temple dogs. I don't understand how, but those dogs knew long before Marcus and I ever realized it that we were going to need to work as a team. Their training saved this universe when it came time for Marcus to merge us. There is a great deal that Adam and I need to learn. We are both better when we are together, and I need my family to realize that."

"Understood," Kris said.

"I need my family to accept that I will not always be home, but I will always think of you. I need you to take care of each other in my absence, and I need you to be extremely horny when I come home."

"We can do that easy, Wolf," Oliver said

"I need you to know I'm changing. This otter and the family inside him are a part of me. I want you to accept Adam as family because one day I hope I become a part of that family inside him. We need to prepare for that day as a family. And I need you to understand that this is what I dreamed of for so long. I have five beautiful husbands that I love and a purpose in life that brings me as much joy as anything I ever did."

"We can accept change," Derrick said. "We already love Adam, so that's not an issue."

"Will there always be a home for me here?" Donovan asked.

"Of course, my love," the polar bear replied.

"Then our negotiations are almost at an end," Donovan replied. He knelt in front of the otter. "You loved me enough to let me go free. Do you love me enough to bite my neck and bind yourself to me forever?"

The otter smiled. "I do."

"These are enormous jaws, Otter," the wolf said with a wide grin. "You will hurt for weeks."

"I will heal."

"There is the matter of the temple dogs and family we will need to deal with. It is arduous, to say the least."

"I have stamina. I proved myself on the fields of the highland."

"Then be my mate, Adam," the Armbruster's wolf asked.

"Are you sure?"

"That is not what I hoped to hear, Otter."

"Be my mate, Donovan," the otter replied.

Donovan smiled. "That will do," the wolf said as he leaned down and kissed the otter.

Donovan looked up at his husbands. "I believe there is only one thing left from my husbands that I hope for."

Oliver stepped forward and hugged the otter. "Be my mate, Adam."

The otter's voice cracked when he answered, "Be my mate, Oliver."

"You wants me to kiss you like the wolf, or does I mount you now and chews on your neck?"

"A kiss would be nice."

"Yeah, well, you got lots to learn about loving a badger. The right answer was to let me mount you," Oliver said with a smile. "But I gots forever to teach you. Now and forever, Adam," the badger said.

"Now and forever," the otter replied as he leaned in to kiss the badger.

The white bear knelt in front of the otter when the badger stepped aside. "Plain and simple, be my mate, Adam."

"I'm afraid being my mate will never be plain or simple, Old Bear. But I will try my best. Be my mate, Eric."

Another hug and a kiss sealed the agreement. When the white bear rose, the Kodiak bear picked the otter up. "Kisses are getting too common around here," the bear said with a smile. He lifted the otter up over his head until the mammal's cock slipped into his mouth. The bear waited for it to grow enough to stand upright and let it slip out of his mouth. He rubbed the cock with his nose. "Be my mate, Adam," he said, looking up at the otter with a smile.

Adam nodded happily, wiping his eyes. "Be my mate, Kris."

Kris handed the otter to Derrick. "Be my mate, Adam," the black wolf implored.

"Be my mate, Derrick."

The black wolf kissed the otter, paying no attention to how long the kiss was or what the waiting old wolf might say. When the kiss ended, he smiled at the otter and rubbed the erection the otter was still showing. "You'll get used to these after a while," the black wolf said. "We get them a lot around each other."

Adam smiled. "I will look forward to them, but I will never get used to them. They will always be amazing to me." Derrick took the otter and handed him to the old wolf.

Will pulled Adam in close. "Otter, we discussed this before. If you say yes to becoming my mate, I will be the one waiting for you to come home. And you will be the one to merge with me in ways you have yet to understand."

"I haven't forgotten," the otter replied. "You, of all the husbands, understand how much I want this."

The old wolf nodded. "There are some very big shoes to fill with such tiny feet."

"I can be fierce in love, William. My family will teach me."

"Then be my mate, Adam."

"Be my mate, William."

"I am not settling for a kiss, Adam," the old wolf said. "I am biting your neck, and if the Armbruster's wolf you love doesn't do it quickly, I will be compelled to show him how it's done."

The old wolf put the otter back onto the ground. He looked at Donovan and Adam. "This will never work as long as temple dogs are on this island. If we are to mate with you, Adam, we will need lots of time and somewhere more secluded."

"Where do you suggest, William?"

Will looked up. "Somewhere out there," he said with a wave of his hand, "preferably with a high oxygen atmosphere, a soft terrain, and no Shumuuluud."

"Done," the otter said, and the beach was empty.

Chapter 5

The short-faced bears pressed the temple dog for more information. "Nathaniel, Max, I assure you I have nothing more I can tell you. I found the note pinned to a log on the beach when I went to visit Dá Lóng. There is nothing else."

"And the note says what exactly?" Max asked, pushing against the table.

Li Wei looked at the crumpled piece of paper in his paw again. "Love you all. Be back in a week. Have the family meet us on the highland Monday, the 17th, at 10:00 a.m. sharp. Undress casual. Love, Will. P.S. Get all the temple dogs to the highland. We don't want to play favorites."

"Well, we know what undress casual means. They don't expect to see any of the human family in attendance, whatever this meeting is," Nathaniel speculated.

Carl put down a plate in front of Max. "Double cheeseburger with fries, extra side of wasabi." He shook his head. "Really, Bear? Wasabi on my burgers?"

"I think I might be pregnant. Nathaniel and I have been trying so hard."

Carl laughed. He leaned over and gave Nathaniel his BLT. "I'm glad you boys asked us to let you in early because I can save you the speculation. I know where you're heading. You're going to a family welcoming circle."

Chipo looked up from his salad. "What makes you think that, Carl?"

"After Nathaniel and Max headed home for the night, the party kept going. We all wound up on the beach together. However, the jovial mood of the night before changed quickly. Adam said he was going to let Donovan go. Will was not happy. We bowed out before the fur started flying. Whatever was happening, the tone was strained when we left. The fact they are gone as a family means they found a way out of the mess Adam created. And the fact Will asked you to meet them as a family with all the dogs together means..."

"There's been a mating," Nathaniel interjected. "My fathers don't drop off the face of the map unless it's someone or something important. Adam certainly qualifies as someone very important."

"The old wolf told us what we need to know," Martin said. "We only had to figure out what it meant. Chipo and I probably didn't even need to fly in this morning. It's just our family being family."

Max took a bite of his hamburger. "Well, I'm glad you're here, Husband. Help us figure out how we're going to deal with the news. If there's been a mating, then there's going to be a welcoming. Will has said as much. We need to figure out who's on that welcoming list."

"Yikes, that is tough," Nathaniel said. "The highland is much bigger, but so is our family."

Chipo nodded. "My family alone adds another twelve to the gathering, and I can't tell them no. Dad and Will are old friends."

"Of course they're invited," Nathaniel said. "And you too, Carl and Frank," he said with a yell back toward the kitchen. "Bring the husbands," he added. The short-faced bear turned back to the group. "I'm thinking more along the line of Henry and Dennis, the South Dakota couple. Did that happen in this universe?"

Max and the others exchanged glances. "Sorry, Hon. No clue what you're talking about."

"So Will and Oliver didn't get hurt at the temple ruins?"

"Nope," Max answered. "That's a good thing, though, right?"

"Yeah, right; that's a good thing," Nathaniel answered. "So why is Oliver now a four-foot-tall badger in your world instead of three feet?"

Max shrugged. "Because that's the way he came home? He told me he changed so his werebeast could accommodate his husbands. That was reason enough for me. Sometimes I don't question things if I believe the answers will confuse me even more."

Nathaniel laughed. "I guess that is the best approach sometimes." Nathaniel leaned forward. "In our previous life, Oliver and my father were involved in an explosion at the Tibetan temple ruins. Father lost limbs and one of his eyes. Oliver's badger died, saving Father and the others there that day. When Father recovered, he turned Oliver at Henry and Dennis's home in South Dakota. Oliver became a badger again. Only this time he was a foot taller, so he could be more accommodating to his big bear husbands."

Martin smiled. "Then I guess we should be grateful that he returned from your world. He was quite a handful in our world, but his additional size is a perk we all appreciate." The others nodded in agreement.

Nathaniel nodded his head in return. "But it also means that Henry and Dennis are still living out there in Deadwood, thinking they're not connected to a larger family." He thought for a moment. "Husbands, what say we get people to cover for us while we go visit Deadwood, South Dakota? I'd like you to meet a wolf and a puma who I met, but who never met me. I'm sure they are two that Will and Oliver would love to see next Monday."

"A puma?" Martin asked, his stub tail wagging happily. "I'm not the only cat in the Were Nation?"

"I think they're two of you," Nathaniel replied. "In my world, Henry had a love for cats, so if Henry and Dennis are together, I'm pretty sure that Dennis is a puma. Only a ComLink call will tell us if that's true or not."

Chipo stood up. "I say let's go make the call. If they're up for a visit, we grab the twin twins and press the Red Wolf into service."

Nathaniel grinned. "I like that idea; especially the part about bringing the red wolves along for the ride. All too often that family plays taxi driver for the Were Nation without a benefit. I, for one, would like a bit of time with them to say thank you."

Max put his paw on his husband's. "I'm glad to see you didn't change in that respect, Hon. For the record, in this universe, we invite all the pilots to join us pretty much whenever the family gets together. We created these amazing devices in our universe called locks, so they can walk away from the ships."

Nathaniel's smile widened. "I think I'm going to get used to this universe more quickly than I thought."

"Good," Max said. "Because now that you're here, I'm not letting you go. I need at least one Nathaniel in my life, and you appear to be him."

Nathaniel leaned in and kissed Max. "And you appear to be the one Max I need. I'm glad to be home, Husband." Nathaniel looked up and smiled at the grinning cat and rhino. "I'm glad to be home, husbands."

Chipo tapped his ComLink as he leaned over and kissed Nathaniel's shoulder. "Me too, Husband. Connect to any available red wolf." He waited. "Hey, Handsome," he said in his booming voice. "How are you four doing?" There was a pause. "So, Darius, any chance we can get those husbands of yours to give us a lift to Deadwood, South Dakota?"

Chipo listened to the voice on the other end of the call. His hand came up to his chin. "I don't have a clue. This is a bit of a special trip, but we can ask the men we want to see if they're up for a few extra visitors." Chipo gave a chuckle. "Okay, let us make a few calls and make sure this is a go and I'll get back to you. Is it okay to show them your picture? It would make clinching the deal so much easier." He was quiet for a moment and suddenly Chipo burst out laughing. "Okay, Darius. I'll get right back to you."

The rhino tilted his head in thought when the call ended. "I'm sorry, Li Wei. I totally spaced the fact I didn't include you. The twin twins can drop by with the Black Rhino if you, Katashi, and Saand want to tag along."

"We will wait until later if that is permissible. I believe it's in the best interest of Henry and Dennis if we stay at home."

"You have a point," Chipo said with a nod. "It might be better if they're worn out after they get to see Will and Oliver rather than before."

"You are too kind in your praise," Li Wei said with a smile. "If you will excuse me, Katashi expects me to help wear him out at home." Li Wei stood up and, with a small bow, headed for the diner doors.

Nathaniel tapped his ComLink. "Deadwood, South Dakota. Henry Longfellow."

Two thousand miles to the south, Henry walked into the bathroom where Dennis was drying off. "I love that you're a cat who likes water. It makes showers so much more fun," he said, leaning in to kiss the mountain lion.

Dennis smiled, returning the kiss. "And I love the fact that you're a dog that knows how to chase a cat the right way."

Henry frowned. "I'm a wolf." He put his paw up to his ear. "Anyway... I've got Nathaniel Templeton on the line. He says he's William Gentry's son."

"Will?" Dennis said, laughing. "He's got a son?"

"So it would appear," Henry replied. He put his paw over the ComLink. "He's that Nathaniel," he whispered.

Dennis's eyes widened. He mouthed the one-word question, "Changeling?"

Henry nodded, pulling the towel from the puma's paws and rubbing the cat's back with it. "On speaker," the wolf said. "Okay, Nathaniel; you've got both of us. We'd do video, but we just stepped out of the shower and our hair's a mess."

Nathaniel chuckled. "Fair enough. I apologize if what I'm about to say sounds confusing, but do you two share a history with my father, Will?"

Henry laughed out loud. "Oh hell, yes," he said. "The city council barred my husband from Sturgis for life in the nineteen sixties because of your father."

"Okay," Nathaniel said, working through the history in his mind. " And, Henry, you met Oliver, right?"

"Well, we met once back in the eighteen hundreds. Will and he had their picture taken by the undertaker."

"The undertaker?"

"He was the only one in town to own a camera. A morbid bit of history, I suppose. He took pictures of dead folks. You could make some good money selling pictures of corpses back in those days. Famous outlaws, family members. It was all pretty gruesome, but also fairly commonplace. He was happy to take Will and Oliver's picture. It was one of the few times his subjects didn't have coins on their eyes."

"Hmm..." Nathaniel mused. "That's a bit of history that's new to me, but at least you're familiar with both of them."

"Yeah, whatever became of them? The last time we saw Will, he was a single man at Sturgis."

"They're mated."

"But I thought you said Will was your father? You're the Nathaniel, right? The Changeling who married the human who married the badger? Oliver is that badger, right?"

"That would be him."

"So, your father married your husband?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah, that's us. We form unions in our family that go against most human conventions."

"I guess so," Dennis laughed. "So, if you pardon the curiosity of a cat, why are you calling us today?"

"My father has asked us to gather the family together, and we'd like to invite you."

"We're honored, Ancient One, but we're more like acquaintances of Will's. I mean, we love the guy, but family is a pretty big step from where we're at."

"I understand why you might feel that way, but I need to talk to you both about history that you don't yet know. There's more to this story, and I prefer to tell it to you in person if I can."

"You're welcome to visit anytime," Henry said. "There are two spare bedrooms if you need them."

"Uhhh..." Nathaniel hesitated, trying to find the right words. "I sort of told the family about you... and... well... Dennis, you're not the only curious cat in the family. Martin would like to come."

"Martin?" Henry asked. "The lion at the Day of Transformation? He's part of your family, too?"

"He's my husband," Nathaniel replied. "He's changed a bit from that day, though."

There was silence for a moment. "We really do need to bring you out here, don't we?" Henry asked.

"It would help."

"How many are coming to dinner, Nathaniel?"

"There are four of us who need to come. Another four red wolves will be hanging out at the airport waiting for us if they don't tag along, and they really want to tag along."

"So, eight, then?"

"Is that too many? I realize this is short notice."

"Dennis?" Nathaniel caught the muffled voice asking on the other side of the ComLink.

"How long have we dreamed of having a house full of family?"

Nathaniel heard the excited voice on the other side of the conversation. "We're good to go from this end. Would you like us to pick you up in Rapid City? That's the closest airport of any size."

Nathaniel almost said yes, and then he thought about it again. "There's a large open field on the south side of your property, right?" Nathaniel asked.

"Yeah, there is, but I didn't know you knew about it," Henry replied.

"Part of what we need to discuss," Nathaniel said with a laugh. "If it's okay with you, we'll land the Red Wolf there."

"The Red Wolf?"

"Its engines won't burn up your land because they don't generate heat. And the landing footprint is pretty tame if they hover and drop."

"But we're talking about the Red Wolf. The rig that everyone knows about but no one has ever seen?"

"Lots of people have seen it," Nathaniel said with a laugh. "It's the humans who rarely see it. They always see something else. Most of the time, it's seen as a helicopter because of how it takes off and lands."

"But we would see it?" Henry asked, his smile practically audible on the other side of the ComLink.

"Yep," Nathaniel replied. "And if you let us land in your field, you can even take a tour. Tiff and Tuff are very proud of that rig."

There was a pause, and finally, Henry broke the silence. "I realize all this is a routine day for you guys, but this is something big for two guys who live in Deadwood. We have our family. It's not big. Hell, you probably have more husbands than we have family, but there are five of us who get together here now and then. Would it be okay to invite the other three?"

"It's your home, Henry," Nathaniel responded. "We'd love to meet your family. We're grateful you're willing to meet with us." The bear thought for a moment. "So how long will it take to get your family together?"

"Clyde lives the furthest away. It will take him about three hours to get here. He has to get someone to babysit his farm and then drive out here. Is nine o'clock too late?"

"No, not at all. I will tell you what; let us bring dinner for your whole family."

Henry smiled. "That would be great. Nothing too fancy, you hear? We're kind of plain out here on the plains."

"We'll keep it simple," Nathaniel said with a chuckle. "Only domestic caviar."

Dennis laughed. "Joke all you want, Ancient One. Cats love fish eggs."

"How do you boys feel about barbecue?" a big voice in the distance boomed out over Henry's ComLink speaker.

"We love it. This is South Dakota, after all. There's an international barbecue championship at the state fairgrounds every year."

Before anyone in the commissary could make a comment on the wolf's remark, the puma's voice came over the ComLink. "Hon... Clyde... we're inviting him."

"Oh, damn," the Great Plains wolf stammered. "I totally forgot. Hey guys, can you pull together something vegan and limit the menu to chicken for our carnivores? Clyde's kind of special to us, and some barbecue doesn't set well with him."

"Not a problem," Henry and Dennis heard the mysterious voice in the distance reply. "There aren't many vegan beasts out there."

"Yeah, Clyde is one of a kind, all right. But you'll love him. We sure do."

"Tell him he's not alone," the two South Dakotans listened to a deep bass voice interject. "I'm a vegan as well."

"He's right there," the baritone voice in the distance added, "and we love Chipo. We'll add extra of what we send along with him. Consider it our little diner throwing our hat into the barbecue cook-off ring. We'll make chicken and something for the vegans joining you," the voice replied.

"That's Carl," Nathaniel interjected. "Carl and Frank are the head chefs at the Midnight Diner. They are going to amaze you. Those two wolves have skills with food."

"I have skills in all sorts of things that would amaze you," Frank bellowed from behind the counter.

"You can invite Carl and Frank too," Henry said, grinning. "They've got very sexy voices. I mean, if we're going to be hosting a sizable crowd anyway, we could thank them for dinner in person."

"Sorry, boys," Carl shouted. "We're working the night shift, but I tell you what, we'll meet up with you later. Come back to our place after your stay on the highland. My mate and I love to entertain at home. And trust me, our home is very entertaining."

"That would be great," Henry said. "So, except for Carl and Frank, we'll see you all around nine?"

"We'll be there," Nathaniel said. "Bye for now." He tapped the ComLink. "You're up, Rhino," he said with a nod to Chipo.

"On it, Husband," Chipo said as he tapped his ComLink. There was barely a pause before the rhino spoke in a low, seductive voice. "So, Darius, what's a rhino got to do to spend a bit of quality time with you?" He paused and then smiled. "Then consider yourself asked. We're meeting the guys in Deadwood at nine. If you could get here by seven, we could brief you so that we're all on the same page." The rhino snickered. "Actually, yes, I would like that." He nodded. "Yeah, that too." Chipo shook his head. "Stop. I'll get a hard-on."

The group around the table smiled. "I'm okay with that," Martin said.

"Me too," Nathaniel agreed.

"Damn... I'm getting a hard-on thinking about him getting a hard-on," Max giggled.

"Well, keep it in your sheath," Chipo said with a smile. "If Carl and Frank are going to get dinner ready for us, they'll need a few extra sets of hands to pull it off. There's no line crew here until five-thirty, which means they're working for us without backup."

Carl looked around the corner. "Well, that would be nice, but what are we going to do about the hard-ons we got listening to you four?"

Chipo shook his head and laughed. "Come on, husbands. Let's give the wolves a hand for whatever they need to be handled." The two bears and the saber-toothed cat pushed back from the table and headed into the kitchen.

Chapter 6

The werewolf looked up into the sky and watched as the Red Wolf coasted over his head toward the helipad. There was a chime in his earpiece and he heard the voice. "We still have one unauthorized human on the island that isn't heading back to the docks, Yarnell. Looks like a male; late teens, early twenties."

The wolf tapped his ComLink. "Where's he located?"

"Same place most of them try to hide; out in the woods. You should be able to smell him before you get into the trees too deep. He's only about twelve meters past the fence."

"Okay, I'm heading there now."

"Try to get him rounded up quickly. There's about an hour before the final skiff heads back to the mainland. You know how Cable is about keeping to schedule. Happy hunting."

Yarnell laughed. "You realize I hate this. Those poor kids panic every time they watch me coming."

"You're security. You're the bane of every kid who wants to stay here overnight to find out if the stories are true."

"Yeah," the werewolf sighed. "But I'm the one who has to walk them back to the dock. Why can't they just save up and get a hotel room like everyone else? Don't they realize the island has been open for years without a single verified report to any of those stories they keep telling around campfires?"

"Those ghost stories will never die, Yarnell," the voice on the other side of the ComLink said with a laugh. "We dedicated a quarter of our acreage to a cemetery. Our buildings are memorials to a very sad time in human history. Ghost stories are always a byproduct of that."

There was a chuckle from the voice. "And we don't exactly help, Yarnell. We try to behave, but we can make some strange sounds out there in the forest when we're feeling frisky. Urban legends are bound to crop up no matter what. Kids are curious. But we need to make sure they don't hurt themselves out there in the dark. So, you get to be the Babadook that rounds them up."

Yarnell shook his head. "How did that ever get to be a gay thing? They come here hoping to find ghosts down by the chapel or get a glimpse at the glowing apparition by the lighthouse. Instead, they get terrorized by a huge security guard."

There was another laugh on the other side of the line. "It's in the job description. If you want everyone to love you, take up selling Girl Scout cookies."

Yarnell tapped his ComLink, severing the connection. He walked into the woods and took a deep breath. "Jeez, Kid," he said with a sigh. "If you're trying to hide, you're going to need to at least get behind a tree that's bigger than you."

The arms of the young man reached up from behind the quaking aspen. "There aren't many trees here that wide," he said as he stepped from behind the tree, his arms raised. The overweight young man looked at Yarnell and began shaking. "Please, please don't kill me."

The werewolf cocked his head. "I was considering taking you back to the skiff, but is there a reason I should kill you instead?"

"I swear I won't tell anyone."

"Anyone, what?"

"That you're a werewolf."

The werewolf shrugged. "Oh, that. How many of them did you see today?"

"You're all over the place."

Yarnell took a deep breath and snorted it out. He motioned with his hands for the young man to lower his arms, and the lad complied. "So, you see a bunch of werewolves walking around with all those humans, and not one human seems a bit upset but you."

"I don't think they see you."

"Good guess. Spot on, in fact." The werewolf extended his paw. "Come on, Kid. Let's go walking."

"You're not going to kill me?"

The werewolf glowered. "Really, Kid?" he fumed. "What is it with you humans that makes you think we have nothing better to do than kill you?"

"Because that's what werewolves do," the youth said, extending his hand, not sure why.

"So, you go out there and tell the world that we werewolves are all over Partridge Island. What do you imagine happens to you?"

"They probably send me to a psychiatric hospital for observation."

"Yeah, that's what I'm thinking too," Yarnell said as he took the young man's hand. He pulled his loose-fitting vest around and pointed to the words security on the pocket over the badge. "I'm not here to kill you, Kid. I'm trying to get you to go home. Where is home, by the way?"

"NBCC Saint John dorms."

"Oh, what trade are you learning?"

"I'm in electrical and mechanical engineering right now. I'm trying to get a general contracting degree. Next semester, I'm doing plumbing. I'm handy with tools and fixing stuff. There's got to be a job out there where I can use what I learn. I only have to find it."

The werewolf nodded, impressed. "Those are excellent skills to pick up. You should meet Greg. He's our Chief Construction Officer for the island. He's the supervisor for nearly everything that goes on behind the scenes here. You'd like him."

"Is he a werewolf?"

"Yeah, he is. You have issues with guys who are furrier than you or something?"

The youth shook his head, confused. "No, Sir. It's just that I never met a werewolf until now."

The werewolf shrugged again. "You should have said hello earlier today." The beast began walking out of the woods and toward the fence that surrounded them. As he did, the young man followed behind him, clinging to the wolf's paw. The wolf helped the young man over the split-rail fence and then jumped over it. "We don't get many who see us..." he looked at the overweight youth with tightly cropped black hair and chocolate-colored skin. "I'm Yarnell. Have you got a name?"

"Spencer, Sir."

"Well, Spencer. You realize we won't kill you, so what do you think I should do with you now that you know what you know?"

"You could let me go. I promise I won't tell anyone."

"That would be in your best interest because we won't back up your story when they come to the island asking us if we're overrun with werewolves."

Spencer laughed nervously. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"So, I bet a few questions are rattling around in that head of yours," the werewolf said as he took the human's hand and began walking him toward the paths as the ground lights turned on.

"Lots."

Yarnell tapped his ComLink. He waited for the front to answer. "We have another Kendal," he said calmly. He waited. "Yeah, is Kendal here on the island?"

"He did what?" the wolf asked. He waited for the answer. "Does that family ever consider sending out a memo?" the disappointed wolf said. "No, it would help if he was still, you know, Kendal. I was hoping to find Spencer a kindred soul to talk to. I suppose Martin is in Africa, right? He's the only other I can think of who saw us from the get-go." The wolf paused, listening. "Well, at least he's here. Could you please ask him to take a break from his kitchen duty and join us out on the bay overlook?" The werewolf paused again, listening. He looked at the young man. "Is there anyone waiting up for you, Spencer?"

"No, but the dorms have an eleven o'clock curfew."

"We'll get you home on time," the werewolf said with a grin. "Send the skiff back to the mainland at eight," Yarnell told command central. "We can give him a lift home a bit later." He turned back to the young man. "You doing okay with me, Spencer? Not going to pass out or lose it here?"

"No, Sir. It might be easier if you were human."

"I'm wearing a security vest to help cue humans to what I am. But you might notice that I'm not wearing anything else."

"Yes, Sir."

"So, what do you say? A big, naked, scary guy who looks like a bouncer at a biker bar; or a nice, friendly wolf in a blue vest?"

Spencer considered the options for a moment. "Friendly wolf sounds nice."

"Thanks, Kid," Yarnell said. The wolf's keen eyes watched the saber-tooth cat shift to human as he raced along Old Street in the distance. The naked human awkwardly tried to run and put on a lab coat at the same time. "Let's go, Spencer," he said, tugging the human along the path. "We need to catch up with Martin. He's like you. Before he ever became a beast, he saw us. That's very rare. You are in a very special group of humans."

As the two hurried along the path, Spencer watched the brown-skinned man moving toward the intersection of the two paths at a bench overlooking the bay. "I saw him today," Spencer said, never slowing his pace. "He was the nice guy wearing the ranger's outfit explaining how the hospital worked in the old days and what it does today."

"His husband is our chief surgeon. He likes to have lunch with him, so rather than sitting around waiting, he likes to visit with the island guests."

"I thought he was some sort of actor."

"No, he's actually a ranger in Kruger National Park. He visits here frequently, though. Most of us have other occupations, although his job is on a different continent. But when he's here, he enjoys trying to make your visits memorable."

"Yeah, we'll you've done that," Spencer said with a sigh.

Yarnell stopped in front of the bench. "Take a seat. Some of what's about to happen might knock you off your feet."

Spencer sat down but rose back up as Martin approached. "Hi Yarnell," Martin said with a wave. "I'm sorry to rush you two, but I'm on the clock here. The husbands and I need to be in South Dakota in a couple hours." Martin smiled at the young man. "Hello, Spencer," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Martin. We met earlier today."

"Yeah, I remember you," Spencer said, taking the hand and shaking it. "Are you a werewolf too?"

"No, I'm a saber-toothed cat."

Spencer's eyes widened in disbelief. "A saber-tooth cat?"

"A very big cat. Would you like to see me?"

"Could I?" the young man begged.

"You keep looking out on the bay. I'll get out of this outfit. My husband would be none too happy if I shredded his lab coat when I make the change."

Spencer put his palm up over his eyes. "I won't peek."

In a moment, the young man heard the voice towering above him. "You can open your eyes now."

Spencer turned and stared into the belly of the cat. He followed the fur upward until he saw the cat's face with two short, protruding fangs staring down at him. "You're huge, Sir," the young man said.

"Yeah, I hear that a lot," the cat said with a laugh. He walked out from behind the bench and knelt down in front of the youth. "How old are you, Spencer?"

"Twenty-one."

"Don't lie to a beast. There are ways we can make you uncomfortable that you don't want to find out about."

"Nineteen. But I'll be twenty in September."

"That's better. If we're going to make this work, we need to feel we can trust each other. Agreed?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Sir. I promise I won't lie again."

"Fair enough. And I never lie. It's a genetic trait of my husband that's sort of rubbed off on me."

"You're not human?"

"I'm part human, but my husband is an alien," Martin replied, waving his paw upward to where the stars were appearing in the night sky. "The kind that lives out there."

"Your husband is an alien?"

"Yes," Martin answered. "Most of the wolves you saw today are humans... or were. We're obviously different now." He looked at Spencer. "And no, it doesn't involve wolfsbane, wolf attacks, or getting our throats torn out under the full moon."

Spencer smiled. "That helps. Fewer questions I need to ask." The young man looked at the saber-toothed cat. "The man in that lab coat you kissed in the hospital hallway? Was that your husband?"

Martin nodded. "One of them. When he's not in his human form working with patients, he's a short-faced bear. I have two short-faced bear husbands; one alien and one human. There's another husband who's a badger and one that's a cute rhino. They're all over at the diner cutting up vegetables for the grill. Well, except for the badger. He's out somewhere with his other husbands."

"You might reconsider how much truth you tell me, Sir," the human said, shaking his head.

"Too much?"

"You're kind of overwhelming being something I've only seen in movies. Now I find out you're gay and that you have multiple husbands, who are multiple animals, all in a single sentence."

"Sorry, Spencer," the cat said apologetically.

The human smiled. "No, I'm sorry. I guess I'm envious. You seem to have it all together when I'm struggling to keep my head above water. I work two jobs. I'm taking a double course load to graduate in half the time. Today was my first day away from the campus in two semesters. And well..." he said, pointing to himself, "... as you might expect looking at me, I'm not exactly enjoying an active social life."

Martin laughed. "So, you're talking to a saber-toothed cat and a werewolf, and your biggest concern is that you don't have a date for Friday night?"

Spencer's head dropped into his hands. "God, I am so lame. I should be asking you about what it's like to live with a husband from another planet, or what it feels like to have teeth like those. There are so many questions I should ask, but I'm sitting here whining about my life."

"Nathaniel was born on this planet. He may be an alien, but he's never been anywhere else," Martin replied. "And my teeth feel just like yours, I expect." He reached out and put his paw on the lad's shoulder. "So, that out of the way, Spencer. What's bothering you? We're pretty good listeners."

Spencer looked back up. "But why would you?"

"Because you see us. In the history of our people, only two of us ever saw the beasts from the moment we met them. You're unique, Spencer. You also seem to be unafraid of us. That, too, is unique for most humans."

"Oh, I'm afraid. All I can say is I'm glad I used the restroom before I tried hiding out to get a picture of you guys. I sort of hoped it would catapult me to fame on social media. Guys like weird shit. I thought a bit of notoriety would make me more popular." Spencer took a deep breath. "You remember that whole socially awkward part I was whining about earlier."

"For the record, we don't show up as beasts on any human-made camera. You get nothing but digital noise unless we opt for something else," Martin said. "But, you referenced increasing your popularity with guys, not women. Does that mean you're gay?"

"I guess so. I can't say that I have the experience to prove it."

"Perhaps you just don't like to rush things," the cat said, trying to console the human.

"I don't want to rush having sex," the young man said. "But it's still pretty sad that the first man I ever held hands with is the werewolf security guard who busted me."

Yarnell laughed. "Well, I'm flattered."

"You're kind of cute and you didn't growl at me with dripping fangs. I don't think I set my bar too high."

The wolf nodded. "You get kind of desperate after a while. I remember the feeling."

"You?" Spencer asked disbelievingly. "You seem to have it all together."

"I'm older than you, Spencer. We both have a few years on you. But we remember what it was like to be young and awkward." The wolf squatted in front of the human and shook, trying to use the hanging vest to make sure he covered himself in all the right places. Spencer stared at the firm, rounded shape of the man before him. Yarnell was right. He looked like a bouncer at a biker bar; a very tough biker bar. A thick black beard framed his bald head, and a barrel chest full of tight-knit hair covered his dark skin.

"You're black," the startled young man said.

"At the moment. A few seconds ago, I was gray and brown. I was under the assumption that humans were past judging by a person's color."

"Most of us try not to judge, but it's still an inherent trait we acknowledge. Humans are pretty mixed up genetically. But if you're going to describe someone, the color of our skin is a pretty easy identifier to whittle it down."

"That makes sense," Yarnell said with a smile. "I tell visiting beasts to keep an eye out for the nine-foot snow leopard with an overbite when I'm talking about Martin."

"It surprised me, that's all. You told me you were scary. You're actually kind of hot," Spencer said. He shyly looked down and then, wide-eyed, he looked back up. "Oh crap, I looked at your junk. I didn't mean to. I was trying to avoid eye contact, but it's like... dangling there... and... and... oh, god... I'm so sorry."

Yarnell laughed. "It's okay Spenser. We're men. That's what men do. I'd worry about you if somewhere along the line you looked at a naked guy and didn't notice his junk."

Spencer's embarrassment eased. "This whole day has me so confused. I don't know whether to be frightened or aroused. I guess I'm a bit of both."

"Look past the hours in the gym trying to push this body into something it doesn't want to be, Spencer," the bald, bearded man with dark ebony skin said. "Remember your history lessons and imagine a pudgy little grade school kid in the nineteen sixties. Remember the film footage of police leading me past the protesters as I got out of the school bus in Alabama. The Little Rock Nine took the brunt of the abuse, but prejudice was still going strong when I went to school. So, I understand what awkward feels like. And I know what fear feels like. We might intimidate you, even scare you, but I promise we will never hurt you. I had to walk through people threatening to kill me every day. When I met the wolf, I didn't fear him. It was the humans that kept me awake at night trembling."

"I can't imagine," Spencer replied, looking at the human in front of him. He paused a moment, doing the math in his head. "You're over two hundred years old?"

"Yeah, I am."

Spencer looked at the cat. "You, too?"

"I'm much younger than Yarnell," Martin replied. "But I passed the century mark a while back."

"But you both look so much younger than I thought men your age would look," Spencer said, shaking his head. "I guess I don't feel so bad if it takes longer for me to find my place in this world. I'm nineteen. If I am still this geeky at, say, fifty, then I'll throw in the towel."

"That's the spirit," Yarnell said as he shook back into his wolfen form.

"You both swear you won't tear me apart?"

"We swear," Martin said, crossing his paw over his heart.

"Then could I maybe come back one day and just talk with you?"

"Sure," Yarnell replied. "I get Mondays and Tuesdays off. On Tuesdays, we close the island to all but hospital visitors; but if you promise not to tell anyone, I can leave a pass for you at the mainland dock. If you don't mind doing rounds with me on the other days, I'm good with you dropping by anytime. And, one day I can introduce you to Greg. As general contractors go, he's well respected. You two can talk shop."

The cat nodded in agreement. "I wish I could introduce you to Kendal, but he's away for a while. He's the other human to see werebeasts from the first moment he met them."

"How did he do?"

"We had to treat him for shock," the saber-toothed cat answered with a grin.

"I guess I didn't do so bad," Spencer said with a half smile.

"You did great, Kid," the werewolf replied. "So, you want to go home, or can I take you over to the diner and get you a burger or something? I'm pretty sure they shut down your dorm cafeteria by now."

Spencer was quiet considering for a moment. "Something to eat would be nice. I stress eat, so right now I'm starving."

Both the beasts laughed. "Okay, you two," Martin said, rising back up to his full stature. "I'll leave you to figure out where you go from here. I've got a plane to catch." He turned to the werewolf. "Please make sure he gets back to the dorm safe and on time, Yarnell."

"I promise, Martin," the werewolf responded. "Say hi to the husbands for me." He reached out his paw to the young man, and then turned back toward Martin. "So what's in South Dakota?"

"We're visiting friends of Oliver and Will's. We're inviting them to the highland. You got the memo, right?" the cat said with a guilty smile.

Yarnell laughed. "About the family gathering, yes. The whole thing about Marcus, Kendal, and a sizeable chunk of your family turning into an otter... that's news to me."

"He's really nice," Martin said apologetically.

"I look forward to meeting him. I hope you don't mind if you don't mind if we don't connect until later in the week. It's triple time and a half to work the first half of the week. Scheduling thinks that by day three there will be a few of us on the highland so tired that work will start looking like a break. When they return home, I'll drop by."

"We keep an eye out for you," the cat said. Martin leaned down and kissed Yarnell, while the young man watched, amazed at how natural it seemed to watch two animals kissing.

"So you're good with me taking the boy home instead of eating him?" the wolf said as he nudged the lad.

"You made the right call, Yarnell," the cat replied. Martin turned to the human. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Spencer. I look forward to seeing you again. Next time you can call me Martin instead of Sir."

"I'll try to remember... Martin," the young man replied. He watched as the upright saber-toothed cat shifted, dropped to all fours, and bounded toward the helipad. "He has four husbands, huh?"

"Yeah, and his badger husband has four more. Five, I guess if he married the otter."

"The badger is married to eight or nine guys?"

"Yep. His name is Oliver. You'll love him."

"I'm probably dreaming all of this, Yarnell, but I thank you for making this the best day of my life."

The werewolf smiled. "Wait until you meet Carl and Frank." He grabbed the young man's hand and pulled him up. "We're off to dinner," the wolf said as he followed along the same path as the retreating cat.

"So, everyone is going to see some big muscle-bound guy taking me home tonight?" Spencer asked.

"They might. The protections in place that keep humans from seeing us are kind of fluid. To be safe, I'll stop by my locker on the way out and put on my ape suit and clothes. They should see my human side from the start. Sometimes people see what they expect to see. Without a visual reference to work with, some of your dormmates might think I'm a date you're returning home with. Who they believe you would date could influence what they see."

"That would be cool," Spencer said with a laugh. "I could use a bit of gossip about me dating. You know... any press is good press."

"We're not dating, Spencer," the wolf said emphatically. "You told us you won't lie. If there are misconceptions about who I am, you correct them."

"What do I tell them?"

"You tell them I'm a friend," the werewolf responded. "That's the truth. Oh, and you might mention that I'm not nearly as intimidating as I appear."

"I don't think you're all that intimidating anymore," Spencer replied.

"Well, that's nice to hear," the wolf said as he rose to his full seven-foot height. "Let's go get you dinner."

Halfway up the hill, Spencer looked up and watched the Red Wolf rising into the sky, its engines flaring blue. It hovered for only a moment, and then it was gone. "That's a spaceship," he said, gawking.

"Actually, it never leaves the outer atmosphere, so strictly speaking, it's an airplane."

"It looks like a spaceship."

"You're the one who wants to be a general contractor. Best learn the right words for things."

Spencer stood staring into the space where the Red Wolf had disappeared. "I'm in way over my head."

"Nonsense, Spencer," the wolf said as he tugged the human back into their walk toward the diner. "You're doing fine."

Moments later, Yarnell pushed the diner doors opened and yelled, "Carl, Frank, we have a human in the house and he sees us."

"Another Kendal?" Carl said as he came out of the kitchen.

Spencer made a quick jolt, staring at the well-muscled wolf's body pushing out from beyond the white apron. The smiling werewolf took a step back, wagging a tail that seemed to come from nowhere. Spencer realized the wolf was trying his best to appear as close to a friendly dog as he could. "You're all so different, but the same," Spencer said in awe.

"That has a lot to do with where we grew up, Son," the wolf in the apron replied. "I'm Midwestern Canadian. I'm a Hudson Bay wolf because those were the wolves I grew up with in Northern Manitoba. Our wolves are pretty much light gray or cream-colored like me. Frank is a Mackenzie Valley wolf because that's what was around him in Yellowknife. His fur is dark brown and black."

"And I'm a timber wolf," Yarnell added. "Because kids growing up in Alabama don't see any wolves except in textbooks."

Frank poked his head out from behind the counter. "So we all have our own markings, but we're all family. Just like all the subspecies of wolves out there."

"You're all beautiful," Spencer said. "I never realized there was so much diversity in your colors. I thought wolves were wolves."

Carl laughed. "Well, you learn something new every day, Son."

"I guess I do," Spencer said, smiling. He looked at the two wolves in aprons. "Are you two married?"

Frank laughed out loud. "No, although the way we argue sometimes, you might think it. Carl is my best friend from our days at culinary school. We worked together in several restaurants over the years, but this is where we spend our lives now. This is home."

"So, you're not married?"

"No, we're both married," Carl replied. "Just not to each other. But lines drawn by humans in relationships are blurrier in the Were Nation." Carl paused. "Did Yarnell tell you about the Were Nation?"

"No, but I think I already understand what it is. I see how you all interact. It extends to all the werewolves, right?"

"Pretty much," Carl said with a nod. "And the other beasts as well."

"Like Martin, the saber-toothed cat, and his bear and badger husbands?"

Carl laughed. He put down two menus at a table, and Spencer and Yarnell sat down. "They're a pretty rarefied group, Martin and his husbands."

"And the badger's other husbands?"

Carl laughed again. "What the hell, Yarnell? Did you give him a speed course on the entire history of the Were Nation?"

"Martin told him about his husbands. I was only trying to help familiarize Spencer with the men I know he's going to meet. I figure they're going to want to say hello to any human that can see them."

"Makes sense," the wolf said as he put out his paw toward the human. "I'm Carl, by the way. The man on the grill tonight is Frank. José, Trent, and George will come in soon to work the line. We told them to enjoy a bit of time off while Nathaniel and his husbands helped in the kitchen."

"I'm Spencer. It's a pleasure to meet you all." He took the paw and shook it.

"We should warn you that most of us hug. If it makes you uncomfortable, let us know and we'll make sure that everyone gets the memo." The wolf looked at Yarnell and grinned.

"I swear I will never use the word memo around this family again."

Spencer thought for a moment. "I don't exactly come from a family that hugs," he said shyly.

"Okay," the Hudson Bay wolf said with a nod. "No hugs it is."

"No... no..." Spencer stammered. "I'd be okay with the hugs. But I'll probably be really awkward about them."

Carl smiled. "Okay. So, it's only the four of us here right now. How about we practice?" The wolf helped the human up and hugged him.

At first, Spencer's arms flailed at his side, but soon they crept up along the waist of the wolf and wrapped around his back. "I could get used to this," Spencer said as he buried his head into the apron of the wolf.

"But don't get too used to it," Yarnell said. "I still have to get you home by eleven, remember?"

Spencer turned toward the timber wolf. "That's right, I forgot. But if this is a dream... and I'm pretty sure it's a dream... I could stay longer, right?"

Carl gently pushed the human back. "It's not a dream, Spencer. We'll get you home on time. I doubt you'll get much sleep thinking about everything that's happened today. Remember one thing. You're one of the special ones. You, Martin, and Kendal are the only three that saw us from the start. That has to mean something."

"I sure don't know what," the young man replied.

"Nor do any of us," Yarnell said. "But you met Martin, and you know how special he is. Kendal was quite the amazing wolf, so I wouldn't underestimate your ability to become an amazing human."

"Kendal was a werewolf?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"His husband turned him a few years after they married."

"Did he mean to do it?"

Yarnell smiled. "Yes, Spencer, it's always intentional, and always with the agreement of the human preparing to turn."

"So you won't turn me to force me to keep your secret?"

Yarnell looked at the youth, perplexed. "You spend a great deal of time creating horrible scenarios in that head of yours."

"Sorry," Spencer replied. "It's my first time talking to werewolves. I'm trying to get all my fears out in the open so you can calm them."

The werewolf grinned. "Fair enough, Spencer. You feel free to voice any of those ideas that pop into your head, and I'll do what I can to help calm your fears."

"Why is Kendal a was instead of an is?"

"He turned into something else. He merged with a few other beasts to form one."

"You do realize that even for a dream, that sounds improbable."

Yarnell nodded. "Yeah... yeah, it does. But you asked."

Spencer looked at the wolf. "And you never lie?"

Frank came out holding two plates and placed them in front of the wolf and the human. "You guys won't get around to ordering at this rate, so here you go; pasta to die for."

Yarnell groaned. "Oh, Jeez, Frank, don't say die. The kid is going to have a panic attack."

Frank looked at the young man. "This is pasta Alfredo with prosciutto. It's good. You'll like it. Don't have a panic attack. Have the pasta."

Spencer smiled at the wolf in the apron. "Thank you. I'm sorry to be a bother."

"You're fine, Spencer," the apron-wearing wolf said. "This is all new. You're doing great. The first rule of everyone who lives in our community is that we protect the innocent. You're in safe hands. Let go of what you think you know and embrace what is."

"I say embrace the pasta before it gets cold," Yarnell said, pushing the plate closer to the human.

Spencer swirled a fork full of linguine into the sauce. He shoved it into his mouth and smiled while he chewed it. He looked up at Frank. "This is great." He paused. "In fact, I'd say this is pasta to die for."

"I'm going to like you, Spencer," Frank said. "Enjoy your meal. If you need anything, holler."

The diner doors swung open wide. Four boisterous wolves wearing nurse's smocks walked in. "Hi Yarnell," one said, waving.

Spencer stared at the four wolves as Yarnell waved back. The timber wolf turned to the human. "Deep breaths, Spencer. They're my friends; four night-shift nurses dropping by for something to eat before heading off to work."

Spencer took a deep breath. "I can do this," he mumbled to himself as he shoveled another forkful of pasta into his mouth.

"Yeah, you can, Spencer," the wolf next to him agreed. "We'll be there to help."

Chapter 7

Henry leaned back and looked up at the fading stars through the ponderosa pines. A warm pink glow shone off to the east, and the night sky was turning cobalt blue. "It's going to be daybreak soon. I can't believe how incredible this night has been. Thank you again, Nathaniel, for letting us renew our vows in both universes. It means a lot to us. Sometimes it's easy to forget how much we let slip by over the years."

"It was a pleasure, Henry. You and Dennis are amazing in whatever universe I find you." Nathaniel pushed up from the blanket he was lying on. "And Clyde, Wyatt, John... thanks for making the trip. I will rest easier knowing Henry and Dennis have such loyal friends. I hope you'll consider yourself a part of the larger family now."

"You don't mind knowing a pig?" Clyde asked, pushing himself closer to the hold Chipo had on him.

Nathaniel laughed. "Most of my fathers would say they're pigs... only not literal ones. To be honest, the only difficulty I have with you is wondering whether to refer to you as a pig or a boar."

Clyde smiled. "No one enjoys being called a bore. I figure it all sounds the same hearing it, so when someone says what I am, I prefer pig. Like you said, at least that has a positive connotation in our community." Clyde frowned. "Sorry about the tusks last night, Max. I ain't never had a bear before, and I got excited."

Max pushed up from the ground and laughed. "I had fun, Clyde. You didn't hurt me. We bears have pretty tough hides under all this fur."

"Well, your pecker is a wonder," Clyde said, shaking his head. He thought for a moment. "Don't mean no disrespect by saying that. It's just the truth."

Max smiled. "My husband, Oliver, calls it a pecker too. I took no offense. It's a pleasure to hear a voice so like his."

"Me?" Clyde said with a snort. "I get that I talk funny, but I'm a farm kid. Ain't no one who talks like me that I'm aware of."

Martin looked up from nuzzling Henry. "Oliver does. He doesn't have as much of your southern drawl. His is more late nineteenth-century West Texas. He also uses a few more words we don't hear from anyone else, but other than that, your speech patterns are very similar. We love the sound of his voice, so yours feels like home."

Clyde smiled. "I always figured the boys here treated me kindly because I'm family. But last night was so different. Ain't never felt sexy outside of these men's arms," the pig said, pointing to his friends.

"Well, I had fun with you last night," Chipo said, rubbing his thick fingers over Clyde's chest.

"I ain't seen anything quite like you, Chipo," Clyde said. "Never seen another hairless beast, but you're a handsome one, for sure."

Chipo's prehensile lip played with the back of Clyde's smooth neck. "And you as well, my porcine friend."

Clyde laughed. "Ain't never thought of me as handsome; more of a mistake."

Martin leaned back from hugging Henry's backside. "If it's not too personal, what made you choose a beast that you think of as a mistake?"

The other four South Dakotans tried and failed to stifle their laughter. Clyde's pink face blushed red, and his snout scrunched up. "It wasn't my intention, that's for sure."

When Clyde leaned forward from Chipo's hold, the visiting family realized how much he still looked like a human. A fine white hair lay flat, covering the top of his head, sides, and back. It spread out over the top of his arms and completely covered his hindquarters. The smooth, pink skin was thick but soft and warm to the touch. From the back, Clyde looked more like his animal counterpart. The tan and brown spotted skin was a familiar site in 4-H pens at South Dakota county fairs. The thicker, raised hairs that formed a peak of stiff hair running down the backbone to his curled tail were decidedly porcine.

However, from the front, his massive chest and gut were identical to that of a country farmer who loved his beer a bit too much. His front was almost hairless. A small patch of white hair swirled around his crotch in a circular pattern, but other than that, his chest and belly were smooth. Only the large forward-facing floppy ears and snout instantly betrayed him as something other than human. Those and the two short tusks on either side of his wide mouth protruding from the bottom.

"It was my fault," Wyatt answered. The Great Plains wolf rolled out from underneath Tiff and Tuff. "I was so eager to turn him, I didn't think about his life beyond our time together."

"T'weren't you, Wyatt. I should have paid more attention to what we were doing," Clyde objected. "I guess I thought all any of us did was turn into wolves. None of us had an idea that what we thought about was what we became. I thought I'd be a wolf, like those two beauties there. But I had three gilts." Clyde paused. "Them's female pigs... I had three of them ready to birth and that was all that was on my mind that night. I kept thinking: fuck me, Wolf, and let me get back to my farm and my pigs." Clyde rubbed his belly with his hands, which had a similarity to Chipo's with their four thick digits having a rough, solid look to them. "Couldn't stop thinking about them pigs and now I am one."

The family was silent. The pig looked at them. "You can laugh. That was hundreds of years ago. Even I think it's funny now."

The family smiled, and a few chuckled at the thought. Martin seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Clyde, there is a way that you might change if you are unhappy about what you are. Adam helped me change into a saber-toothed cat so that our family could be together. He could help you if that's what you want."

Clyde looked down at his body and then back to Chipo. Wyatt rose and took the pig in his arms. "For how many hundreds of years have we told you that you are the most beautiful creature on earth and you've not believed us? Don't you see? Look around you. There are more beasts here today than any of us have seen at one time in our entire life, and not one of them turned away from you. Damn it, Clyde, that Rhino still has a look in his eyes that says we're going to need to fight our way through him just to get to you later today."

Clyde shook his head. "Look at you, Wyatt. You and John, you're so beautiful. You're the most beautiful wolves ever. I wanted to be like you. I wanted to run by your side at the full moon. But I can't. I can't do any of that."

"So we walk. Do you think that ever mattered to us?" John said as he put out his paw and rubbed the shoulder of the pig. "What matters is that every month you lie by our side at the end of those walks." He leaned in and kissed the pig's neck. "Our only complaint is that you don't do it often enough for the two of us to be content."

"This ain't pity?" Clyde asked.

Wyatt shook his head no. "This is passion, Clyde. We waited for two hundred and thirty-six years for you to figure that out. Look at the family surrounding you. They intertwined their lives by ignoring human conventions and making their own. You share our bed with us a few nights every month. Let's make it every night."

Clyde looked around the group at the smiling faces, all nodding in agreement. "I never felt I could bring to that bed what you two do. My life is out on a farm with my chickens and goats."

"Then invite us to become a part of that life," John said. "We've been waiting for you to finally figure this out. If what it took was spending a night with a family of beasts, then we owe the Ancient One and his mates a debt of gratitude we can't repay. Clyde, the same as we do every year on the day Wyatt turned you, I'm going to ask you again today... will you marry us?"

Clyde looked into the yellow eyes of the Great Plains wolves in front of him. He nodded shyly. "This time I'm going to say yes."

The three fell into a hug, and Dennis sighed. "Finally, Pig," he said.

Clyde pushed back slightly. "You ain't farmers," he said, looking at the wolves.

"We can be. Give us a few hundred years. I'm sure we'll get the knack of it," John replied.

"You would do that for me?" the pig asked.

"And more," Wyatt said. "Be our mate, Pig. Change if you want. Be whatever your heart desires. But know that we love you. We loved you long before you turned, and we will love you long after you choose what you will be."

Clyde looked at his body. "I've kinda grown used to this body. I know how to use my tusks to drive you both crazy."

"And we're fond of smooth guys. Makes for variety, if you get what I mean," John said, rubbing the pig's chest.

"Yeah, I guess I am that," Clyde said with a smile. "You don't mind marrying a pig?"

"Would we have asked you for the last two hundred and thirty-six years if that was an issue?"

"I guess not. I'm thick-headed sometimes about those things."

"Then let it get past that thick head of yours that this is love. It's always been love. It was love when we asked you to turn, and it's been love every day since then and long before."

Clyde looked over at the saber-toothed cat. "I guess I'm going to stick with this body. Might be that I was meant to be a pig for these two. I sure feel like that every time I see them."

Nathaniel rose with a sigh. "This presents a bit of a quandary."

"What's that, Ancient One," Henry asked.

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. "We really need to rethink that title, men. You can call me Nathaniel, you can call me Bear, you can call me all manner of pet names and I will cuddle up to you faster than a whelped pup to his mamma. But please, can we let go of 'Ancient One'? I don't care what the stories or protocols say."

"Sure, Bear," Henry replied. "But it will cost you. I couldn't make it to you last night, but I overheard my husband yelling. I'd like you to prove you can do that."

Nathaniel smiled. "I can, and I will..." he paused. "But that's where we have a problem. It's Friday morning. We need to be on the highland by Monday, ten a.m."

Clyde waved his hands. "Hold on a minute, Bear. I'd love to join you, but I got to get back to my farm. I got my neighbor Gerald covering for me this morning. But he expects me back by nightfall."

Nathaniel's face scrunched up in thought. "What's out on your farm?"

"My crops. They need watering every other day if it don't rain. I have me a parcel full of chickens and goats. The goats need milking and feeding, and the cheese I make from the milk needs tending to. The eggs need gathering and the chickens need feeding and watching. I sell my wares every afternoon until sundown. So you can see, Bear, I have chores and duties."

Wyatt looked at Nathaniel. "And that means after today, so do John and I."

"This won't do, men. You can't go having a mating and not go on a honeymoon. That wouldn't be right." Nathaniel tapped his ComLink. "Is this a one-man farm, Clyde?"

"Yeah, I bring help in the spring when people come to pick strawberries, but I won't be bringing in any workers now until the fall harvest."

"Okay," Nathaniel said smiling. "Albert," he spoke into the ComLink. The bear pronounced the name in its French iteration, leaving the T silent. There was a pause. "Bonjour, Albert. Comment allez-vous?" He paused. "Oui, Nathaniel; le fils d'Eric." He looked out at the confused faces of the group. "Hey Albert, there are friends with me. We're good with English, right?" he said as he tapped the speaker function.

"Of course, Nathaniel," everyone heard the man with a thick French accent say. "I always enjoy listening to you speak French. It reminds me so much of your father when he took care of me in the field hospital. How is he doing?"

"Well, we hope to find out in a few days. He's MIA with a note from Will saying they'll be home on Monday. He might have gone off and married someone again."

The voice on the other side laughed. "Mon Dieu, how many does that make now?"

"It would be six, but we're still trying to figure that part out." Nathaniel paused. "Albert, there's a family member here who won't be able to attend the return gathering because he has to tend to his farm."

"Oh? How big is this farm?"

Nathaniel looked at Clyde and waved his paw toward the ComLink. "35 acres," Clyde said. "Mostly feed crops. Got a creek and pond on the back ten that has trout in it. Have me some chickens and goats, too."

"Nice. Are you doing subsistence agriculture, or is this more commercial?"

"A bit of both. It keeps a roof over my head, but my needs are small. Gonna need to rethink the farm layout, though. I'm getting married today. I'm marrying me two of the most beautiful wolves you have ever seen."

"Congratulations. Sounds like you're part of the Old Bear's family, for sure. Few use the plural when they say they're getting married. Two you say?" the voice asked.

"Two. But they're a handful."

"Tell me about it. I'm married to a Labrador wolf." The voice paused. "Oh, I'm Albert, by the way. Anything on that farm that's not subsistence crops?"

"My name's Clyde, Albert," the pig said, trying to figure out what was happening. "I got me a bit of a sideline with strawberries up at the front. But they're June bearing. They're already spent. Don't need to worry much about them other than watering until I prepare the beds for winter. I clipped the runners last week."

"Okay," the voice with the deep French accent said. "And your goats. Any mommas this year? And if so, how many nursing kids?"

Clyde scratched his head, slightly confused. "I got five does nursing eight kids."

"Sounds like you're having a good year."

"Yeah. The weather was kind and the bucks frisky."

"Gotta love frisky bucks," Albert said with a laugh. "So, how long do you intend to be at this reunion?"

"It's a mating, and we were told we got a big family. I guess that means a few days."

There was a pause. "Nathaniel, are there going to be any temple dogs?" Albert asked.

"All of them."

Albert made a sound as if he had the wind knocked out of him. "Clyde, have you ever been to a family mating circle with temple dogs?"

"Never been to a mating circle until last night, and I never even heard of a temple dog. Until a couple of hours ago, I've only been with wolves and a cougar."

"A cougar, huh? Those are some pretty special family members you have there, Clyde. But you're all going to get a surprise when you meet the rest of your family."

"They've been telling me that. Already met the bears and the saber-toothed cat. There's a rhinoceros here that's bigger than a house and there are four red wolves that are about the prettiest men you've ever seen. I got me some amazing family, for sure."

"You do that," Albert said. "Listen. I want you and your new husbands to experience what it's like to be with your extended family. I understand how important that is. One day you will, too. So, what do you say I grab my husband and we come down there to tend to your farm while you're gone?"

"That's right kind of you, Sir," Clyde said. "But farming ain't for everyone. There's lots to know. You got to know all about the cheeses I'm making and tending the chickens. And every day I'm out on the side of the road selling what I don't use. There's lots, and I mean lots, to do."

"I realize that, Clyde. We're farmers up here, too. I'm a Maître Fromager here in Canada, and my CCP certification for working in the States is current, so I'm good to go with your cheese. As for chickens, we go way back."

"Really?" the pig asked not sure if a voice with a French accent could be a farmer.

"I'm Albert Goland."

There was quiet on both sides of the line. Clyde leaned in toward Nathaniel's ComLink. "The Albert Goland?" The hard T in Albert was clear in Clyde's question. It was obvious he had never heard it with the T dropped.

"Pretty sure I'd be the only one you've heard about. I just don't pronounce the T. It's silent in French."

Clyde clapped his hands together. "Oh lord almighty, Sir; I live by your books. I am your biggest fan. It was you that convinced me to plant them strawberries. I work them a few months out of the year and people pay me money to let them pick them and pet my goats. There ain't nothing come along like it to keep me in the black. I mean, your books are like my Bible."

There was quiet as the pig put his hand up over Nathaniel's chest, searching for the mute on the bear's ComLink. He turned to his two future husbands. "It's Albert Goland. I'm talking to Albert Goland," Clyde gushed, careful to drop the hard T at the end.

The two wolves smiled back, clueless as to his enthusiasm. "That's nice, Hon," they said in tandem.

"Wait a minute," the voice on the ComLink said. "Strawberries? Clyde? Is this Clyde Johnson who lives outside of Hermosa, South Dakota?"

"Yes sir, that's me."

The hand went up again on the bear's chest, pushing over the top of the ComLink. "He knows me. Albert Goland knows me." The two wolves smiled and nodded.

"Your letter is framed on my office wall, Clyde," Albert said. "It was the nicest thing that anyone has ever written to me. It's nice to find out you're not a stalker. Even better to realize you're a member of the Were Nation."

The hand went up again on Nathaniel's chest, searching in vain for the ComLink's mute. "He's got my letter on his wall. Albert Goland has got my letter on his wall." The pig paused for a moment and rubbed his hand on the furry chest. He looked up at Nathaniel. "Bear, your nipple is getting mighty hard."

Nathaniel sighed. "You're playing with my chest, Clyde."

Clyde looked at his hand buried in the bear's fur. "Oh, I guess I am," he said, taking the hand away. He whispered the words, "But it's Albert Goland. I'm talking to Albert Goland."

Nathaniel smiled. "I'm aware. I called him, remember?" He took the ComLink off mute. "Hey, Albert, your biggest fanboy is having a meltdown here. Could you please talk to your biggest fan's future husbands?"

"Of course," the voice said. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Albert heard a warm voice reply. "Our husband-to-be is speechless beyond telling us he's talking to you."

Albert laughed. "Oh, okay. So, is he going to be okay with me running his farm for at least a week? You need to budget more time if you're going to a Changeling gathering with temple dogs."

Clyde nodded enthusiastically. "Albert Goland is going to take care of my farm," he whispered.

"We'd love that, Albert," Wyatt answered. "But this is too generous for someone you don't even know beyond a letter."

"Nonsense, men. You can't have a mating without a honeymoon. And while a reunion with your family will drastically cut into your alone time, I assure you, you won't regret it."

"We can't thank you enough, Albert. We'll try to find a way to thank you when we return."

"Is your relationship going to be open?" Albert asked.

"We're pack wolves, Albert. Of course, it's going to be open."

Albert laughed. "Had to ask; don't want to make assumptions. Look, when you come back, let's spend a few days together. During the day, Clyde and I can work out a new plot layout for your farm to accommodate two more men. During the evening, my husband and I can enjoy the company of three friendly-sounding wolves."

"We probably need to tell you that Clyde is a pig," Wyatt stammered.

"Aren't we all?" Albert responded with a laugh.

"No, Albert. He's a pig. Big snout, tusks, nice soft pink skin, hardly any hair."

"Wow... he sounds enticing."

"He is. Incredibly so."

"So, do we still have a deal? I can put more on the table just to meet Clyde," Albert said with a laugh.

"You put our husband on the table and do him, and you have a deal."

Albert laughed. "I guess I was being too vague about my original offer. I'm a timber wolf; a very large, very horny timber wolf. If you don't decline, I intend to have you all up on that table and a few of my other favorite farm locals before our visit is over. I hope none of you have hay allergies."

John grinned at his husband. Wyatt grinned back. "You got a deal, Albert. And apologies in advance for the fanboy you're about to meet in a week. I'm sure once you've had him a few times, he'll calm down. He really is a sweetheart."

"I'll look forward to meeting you all," Albert said. "Nathaniel, can you send the farm coordinates to me? I'll see if I can get an airship to give me a ride there today. I'll line up my replacement here. Devon will appreciate the overtime. Clyde, give your neighbor a call and let him know we're coming."

Clyde's grin never lessened. "Albert Goland is going to be sleeping in my bed," he gushed as he patted his hoof-like hands together.

Wyatt laughed out loud. "Dear god, Albert, you created a monster."

"We'll get you to the farm from our end, Albert," Nathaniel said. "Expect a call from Takeo and Daisuki later this morning. We have a mating to attend to."

"Good luck, men. And again, Congratulations."

Nathaniel tapped his ComLink. "Hon?" the bear asked, looking at the rhino.

"I'm on it, Husband," Chipo said as he stood up and tapped his ComLink. He lumbered off toward the house involved in a conversation between the pilot wolves.

"Okay, that's taken care of. Now we have the actual issues to deal with," Nathaniel said with a sigh. The bear looked at the South Dakota five. "There are three beasts promised to each other. My suspicion is that you're going to consummate that arrangement pretty soon."

"You ain't wrong in that suspicion," the pig said as he hugged the two wolves tighter.

"Oh jeez," Max said with the sudden realization of where Nathaniel was headed. "The temple dogs."

"Temple dogs? Albert mentioned them. What are temple dogs?" Wyatt said, turning toward the short-faced bear.

"Temple dogs are beasts that long ago gave up their human forms. They share in none of the deadly sins that plague humanity like greed and anger, but the trade-off is that their animal nature manifests easily. We joke about going into heat. Once a year, they actually do."

"Wait," the pig said. "Ain't lust a deadly sin?"

"According to some people's beliefs it is, but the temple dogs have no lust in their hearts. They simply love everyone, and like everyone else in the Were Nation, they show that love through physical contact. They lose their normal focus when confronted with certain situations."

"So, how does that involve us?" Wyatt asked.

"Temple dogs are sensitive to pheromones," Martin answered.

"Very sensitive," Max added. "Do you remember what it felt like to be in the company of a Changeling last night, right?"

The South Dakota five nodded happily. "Yeah, that was amazing," Dennis said. "I've never been so hard."

"Me too," Wyatt said with a grin. "And I wasn't even close to him." He turned to the speckled short-faced bear. "I never had the pleasure of your company."

Nathaniel smiled. "We need to make sure we correct that oversight in the future."

The saber-toothed cat interjected into the playful banter of the wolf and bear. "So, the same way Nathaniel's pheromones enticed you to join him, the Changelings draw the temple dogs to their side," Martin said. "But even more so, because they have no human filters of shyness or societal shame. In the company of willing beasts, nothing makes them retreat from physical encounters. Temple dogs find aroused Changelings irresistible."

"Me too," Wyatt repeated with a wider grin.

"Not quite the same," Nathaniel corrected. "Think of that desire in hyperdrive and you have the temple dogs. And from their first encounters, Changelings have always found the temple dogs equally seductive. The two races' hormonal shifts feed on each other. The result is they drag most werebeasts into their sexual activity without even thinking."

"Like moths to a flame," Max said with a chuckle. "A sizzling hot, totally wonderful flame."

"Okay, so they like Changelings. I'm still not getting the connection to us."

"They also have a nose for newly mated beasts," Chipo said with a laugh, as he walked back into the crowd. "We all put out a pheromone trail the same as the Changelings, only ours is never as pronounced. That said, our pheromones are never stronger than in the hours and days after our turning or our mating."

"As with other animals and their pheromones, ours evolved to trigger a response in those around us. On our home planet, we use them as simple identifiers. But here on Earth, they act differently. They grow stronger when we wish to be intimate with another beast. Those pheromonal changes transferred to the werebeasts during their turning," Nathaniel added. "We all sense that change in newly mated werebeasts. We know what that feels like. It arouses all our senses regardless of our relationship with the newly mated. That's where the tradition of welcoming our family into our circle after mating came from. We will frustrate the ones who wait for us if we don't spend that time together with them. And no beast enjoys frustrating the ones we love."

"So we wind up feeling like we did all night long?" Henry said asked. "Are you saying we are responsible for last night? Do even beasts renewing mating vows have ramped-up pheromones?"

"Yes, they do," Nathaniel replied. "You manifest the same level of emotion and love as when you first mated. In turn, the same level of your hormones surges on every level. That includes your ectohormones; the ones secreted on the outside of your body. Science loosely refers to all those that draw others to you as pheromones."

Dennis rubbed the fur on his chest. "We were flagging everyone that it was time to mate?"

Nathaniel gave a nod. "The way we all felt last night was no less than we would feel when you first mated. It's all about the pheromones. They excite us. They move us to bond with each other. But they drive temple dogs crazy."

"But crazy in a good way," Max added.

"That's true," Nathaniel said. "But come Monday, we're going to be meeting up with our family. They're returning from wherever it is they are. One thing is certain. The nature of my father's note says that at least two of them are returning as a mated couple. My guess is that it will be Adam and one of my fathers. My father, Will, likes his surprises. So, he was pretty tight-lipped about what's going to happen."

"But if Adam mated, we have a situation," the spectacled brown bear added. "He has absolutely no control over his hormones on any level. He's too young in his body and his hormones are all over the place every time he becomes aroused. Even I get harder around him, and I'm a Changeling used to them more as identifiers than aphrodisiacs."

"And I doubt it's only one mating we're heading to," Martin interjected. "The reason they're gone is that they were on an island with three temple dogs. Whatever they're up to, they left because they didn't want the temple dogs to suffer without being able to offer them a release. Wherever they are, they're too far away for me to sense them. And that means Adam took them somewhere other than Terra."

"Wait, there's a guy that can transport beasts off Terra?" Dennis asked.

"Yeah," Martin said with a small laugh. "But if it's any consolation, he's an entirely different alien species that merged with fellow Terrans. The pheromones he puts off are unique to him. As far as I can tell, they're based on the three Changelings and two beasts he houses inside him. They're not quite Terran or Changeling. It's more as if they took every pheromonal signature and smashed them together. That's where the comments about his pheromones being on overdrive come from."

Dennis turned to his husband. "I'm all for a big family, and I love out-of-town company, but I never realized how far that family was coming for this shindig."

"You get used to it after a while, Dennis," Nathaniel replied. "On the plus side, we won't kick you off the highland for falling out a window while having sex." The bear gave the cougar a knowing grin. "I think Martin is right on all accounts. So, getting back to where you all fit in, we're bringing the five of you to a place where you will all be newly mated beasts. That place will have an enormous crowd and other potentially newly mated beasts. It will also land you right in the middle of all the Terran Changelings. Now add to that a monastery full of very horny, very eager temple dogs wanting to share their affections with the newly mated."

"So, I don't see a downside to this," Henry said.

"Me either," Clyde said. "Unless their vows don't allow them temple dogs to eat pork."

Nathaniel laughed. "They're omnivores when it comes to beasts, Clyde. They'll eat anyone willing to be eaten."

"But the one detail Nathaniel left out is that the temple dogs are bigger than me," Max added. He stretched himself upward to remind them of how large he was. "And that's bigger in every department. Only Nathaniel is larger than the temple dogs."

Nathaniel grinned. "And I'm not larger in the one area you're thinking about. They're also identical in every respect. You won't be able to tell them apart. Not by sight, scent, or voice. They are mammoth, golden dogs, and they can appear intimidating at first glance."

"Okay, now I see the potential difficulty," Wyatt said, shaking his head. "I assume you're warning us because they're tops."

"And bottoms," Nathaniel answered. "If you tell them yes, prepare to be had in every fashion you can imagine."

"If they suggest anything with trees, say no if you're afraid of heights," Max added. "But if you're not, oh my god, say yes."

"We're going to be hurting after this day, aren't we?" John asked.

"That's the other thing we need to bring up," Nathaniel answered. "Temple dogs are insatiable. They will have at you for days, and between the dogs, the rest of your family will approach you. One wolf is a sure bet. Greg has fantasized for centuries about what it would be like to play with a tusked boar. You, Clyde, are a dream come true for him."

"Me?" Clyde said, amazed at the thought.

"Told you that you were hot, Hon," John said as he hugged the pig.

"So, we need to get a week off from work," Henry said. "And more than likely, some aspirin."

"On the plus side, temple dog pheromones relax their sexual partners even as they heighten their sensitivity. The pheromones make it easier to accommodate their girth and length. All while increasing the pleasures you associate with those activities. They are the most gentle of creatures until you ask them to be otherwise."

"Don't let any of this scare you," Tiff and Tuff said in tandem. The two looked at each other and laughed.

Darius pulled his husband close. "They're right. It's good to realize that some of your family will be far different from anything you have ever seen before, but don't let them intimidate you. They will show you a part of yourselves that even you didn't know you had, and they will do it while giving you one of the best times of your lives. They are creatures who will embed themselves in your memory and your heart all in a single moment."

Martin rose and stretched. "I agree with the red wolves. There's nothing to fear here. It is only to help you feel comfortable meeting a family you didn't know you had. The rest of Will's family is equally pleasant and diverse. Eric is a polar bear, and his father and husband, Kris, is a Kodiak bear."

"Father and husband?"

The saber-toothed cat smiled and nodded. "Changelings adapted themselves to share in our lives. But you will find they don't view who gives birth to them, and who they love erotically, as mutually exclusive."

"Damn," Clyde said. "Gonna need to remember not to make jokes about family around them. I come from a long line of Holler folks and we joke about marrying our sisters the same as everyone else."

Nathaniel smiled. "So, you might find me together with my fathers on the highland. Try to remember that the Unity from which we were born is exactly that. We are one with each other, and our affections express themselves in ways that might confuse you."

"I don't know, Nathaniel," John said. "Seems to me you and your family are some of the least confused men I ever met when it comes to love. You got the man we love to say yes to mating with us. We couldn't do that until today. I'm sure this group had a great deal to do with that."

"I do too," Clyde said. "These two have always made me feel loved. But everything changed last night. I watched you all. You don't hold back. You give it all to every single man you touch. And when it's all over, there ain't a man left on the side wondering why everyone else was a part of something he wasn't. I started thinking maybe all the things I believed about love and marriage were keeping me from loving these two wolves flat out."

Clyde hugged the wolves on either side of him again, pulling them in close. "When John asked me this morning, for the first time in my life, I saw a way to say yes. I saw a family who always says yes, and I want to be a part of that family."

"Already done," Chipo said, pushing away from the tree he was leaning on. "You've always been family. We just hadn't met yet. But about that mating. Shouldn't we be giving you three a bit of space?"

Wyatt looked at his husband and Clyde. "I waited over two hundred years for this day. To tell the truth, I want everyone to stay here so no one will ever doubt what happens today. I want witnesses to how much I love you two."

Clyde smiled. "Me too, Wyatt." He paused. "Me too, Hon," he said, rephrasing the words. The pig leaned in and kissed the wolf. "I ain't got the teeth for biting you," he said sadly.

"We don't need bite marks on our necks, Hon," John said. "We can make our own traditions this morning. What do we need to do to make you our mate forever?"

"Well, I know I want you both to fuck me because I never feel closer to you than when we do that. That's got to be in there somewhere. And I want to fuck both of you. Oh, and lots of oral sex, because... you know... the tusks."

John smiled. "Yeah... oral sex is definitely something we should include. Should we say something? Some sort of promissory words?"

Clyde shook his head. "Ain't no words that will ever come close to telling you what I feel for you. If we can't find it in what we do together, I don't think any words will fill in those gaps."

Wyatt leaned over and kissed the pig. "I think you said the only words I needed to hear to make this real for me."

"I agree," John said as he leaned in and kissed Clyde once more.

Clyde looked up at the short-faced bear. "What do we need to do to make this legal?"

"Love each other for as long as you live. That's pretty much it," Nathaniel said with a smile.

"Ain't never gonna have a problem with that," the pig said. He looked at the two wolves. "Be my mate, Wyatt."

"Now and forever," Wyatt said with a smile. "Be my mate, Clyde."

The pig nodded. "Now and forever." He looked at the other wolf. "Damn, I got the jitters so bad."

John reached out and pulled the shaking pig into his chest. "Be my mate, Clyde."

The warm salmon-colored arms wrapped around the furry beast in front of him and Clyde whispered the words into the wolf's ear. "Now and forever, John."

John pushed the pig back. "I'm sorry. I didn't hear that. What did you say, Pig?"

"I said now and forever, Wolf. What did you think I was gonna say?"

John laughed. "I was making sure our witnesses heard it. Besides, I enjoy hearing it. Get used to all of us saying it a lot in the future." The wolf paused and gestured his paw in a circle toward himself, trying to encourage the pig. "I believe there's something left for you to say."

"Be my mate, John."

John's voice bellowed through the forest, "Now and forever, Clyde." He grinned at the pig. "So, do we fuck you one at a time, or do we both take you together?"

"Ain't a proper marriage if you don't take me together, now is it?"

"Not the way we see it," Wyatt said, reaching out to the pig as he pulled back the sheath on his expanding cock. John came up from behind the pig. "You realize if we do this right, we will seal your reputation as a total pig forever."

Clyde nodded. "I ain't never holding back with you two ever again. If this family can't keep up, then let them get out of the way. Baste me in barbecue sauce 'cause this is one pig that's going to be smoking by the time this day is done."

Wyatt looked at the group. "We would love it if you stayed to watch our mating. But I would suggest you do it from a safe distance."

Chipo laughed. "What's a safe distance?"

"Pick a tree on the outer rim of the clearing. Stay behind it to be safe. If you see something that looks fun to you along the way, remember it, because we're more than willing to fulfill our duties with our family when we're done."

With a collective nod, the family walked out from the center of the clearing and found a suitable tree to hide behind. They watched as a new family formed from the three who had waited so long for the day to come. There was growling, squealing, and noises for which language has yet to create words. There was flesh and fur pushed into positions that defied physics. Even as they watched the wolves pound the pig up against a tree in their forest, the family was still amazed at how lovingly the three took each other.

The tree didn't survive the three as it uprooted and toppled to the ground. The three barely broke their stride as they began pushing again into the pig as he leaned over the fallen tree. Their mating left no marks on the necks of the husbands, but all knew by the time the sun had set that the three had mated forever.

Chapter 8

The Red Wolf's landing gear set and the ship glided into the highland. When it touched down, the family stepped off onto the landing rock and stared at the expanse of the grassy field. From the rice fields, they stared as the two temple dogs bounded over the terraces, down the stairway of the temple, and raced to greet the new arrivals.

"They're huge," Dennis said. "I mean, I know you said they were, but they're huge."

"Best to let them hug you," Chipo said with a laugh. "Don't brace yourself. Let them take you. They won't let you fall, and their fur will cushion most of the impact."

"You're cruel, Rhino," Nathaniel said, grinning. "Family, form a line. Protect the mated pairs," he commanded.

Max, Martin, Chipo, and the red wolf twins formed a line between the two dogs barreling toward them and the South Dakota family. The dogs noticed the line form and pulled up short. Remaining on all fours, they stared at the wolves and bears between them and the unknown visitors. The rhino waved at them playfully. "Have we done something wrong, family?" Zhuang asked from a distance.

"Not at all, Dog," Chipo said. "We are here to help ease you into greeting your new family."

"They are newly mated," Bolin said. "It is quite distracting. But we have trained for long hours to be civil. We can maintain our composure for extended periods in the most adverse of circumstances."

"Well, we ain't averse to you being less than civil around us," Clyde yelled back to the dogs. "But you're something we've never seen before. We don't know what to expect."

"Perhaps our family should remain between you and us," the golden-haired dog replied, rising onto his back legs. His size became even more apparent with his change of posture. "If you will allow us the social slight of saying hello to them before you, it might provide you with insights."

"We're more than happy to let you say hello to your family first," Wyatt said with a wave. "We will try to learn whatever it is you think we should know."

Bolin bowed. "You are kind. Your first lesson will be to learn that you are our family as well. When I said our family, I meant those members of our mutual family that stand between us."

Wyatt nodded. "It will take a bit of time to grow comfortable with that, but we will learn. Anything else?"

Bolin smiled and made another deferential bow. "When aroused, we often lose focus. If our company is amenable to it, that loss of focus will find a new focus in our shared physical intimacy. Know that, and the rest should flow unencumbered."

"Do you always talk so polite?" Clyde asked.

"It is our nature," Zhuang answered, lifting himself upright.

"It's right pretty," the pig said.

"As are you," Bolin replied. "Family, if we needn't maintain ourselves, could we approach?"

"Come here, Bolin," Max said, extending his arms. "Give an old bear a hug."

"You are not old, Max," the dog said, racing toward the bear. When the dog collided with the bear, they rolled back onto the grass and began laughing as they kissed. "We are old. You are young compared to us."

"True, but I never think of myself that way. I calculate age in human terms."

"Then, in that case, you are ancient. No human has ever lived as long as you have, Bear."

Max laughed. "Kiss me one more time, Bolin, and let me introduce you to your new family."

The two kissed while the South Dakota contingent looked on. Zhuang lumbered over to Nathaniel and hugged him. The kiss that followed was as passionate as that of Max and Bolin. Henry leaned into Dennis. "They were right about the pheromones," he whispered. "I'm rock hard just watching them kiss."

Dennis nodded in agreement. "I don't know what they're putting off, but dang, I want that dog."

Bolin looked up and smiled. "And you can take me, Cat. But I believe introductions are in order first."

The puma turned away shyly. "I'm sorry. My manners suffer in the presence of beautiful beasts. Especially those that appear to be gifted with exceptional hearing."

Zhuang looked up from kissing the other short-faced bear. "We attune ourselves to our family. Other distractions seem to fade in your company, but we must admit to being terribly distracted by you five." The two dogs let their hug of the bears go and stood up. The Dakota five suddenly realized that the stories told them didn't prepare them for the shock of seeing an aroused temple dog for the first time.

One of the Great Plains wolves gathered his composure and stepped forward. "I'm Wyatt." He pointed to the wolf next to him. "This is my husband, John." His other paw reached out toward the pig and grabbed his hand. "And this is my husband, Clyde."

"Your company honors us," Zhuang said as he gave Max his paw to pull the bear up. "Our nature makes us somewhat unfocused at this moment, but let me say before I slip further what a joy it is to see such a handsome triad. We wish you joy and happiness in your new journey."

"Thank you kindly," Clyde said, smiling.

Bolin's ears twitched. "You're southern state; Appalachian, if I'm not mistaken."

"I ain't been home for a while, but that was where I was born and raised. I moved North just before the war."

"And which war would that be?" the golden dog asked. "Humans can choose from so many."

"Yeah, you're right there," the pig said, shaking his head. "I left before the Civil War. T'weren't long after that I met Wyatt and John."

"Strange that you are only now mated with the ones we sense you love so deeply," Bolin said.

"You've heard of pig-headed? Well, there's a picture of me in the dictionary when you look that up."

Bolin smiled. "It is good to see you chose to reconsider. Your mates seem most happy that you are no longer a pig-headed pig."

"We are," Wyatt replied. He paused, realizing he had no name for the massive dog in front of him.

"I am Bolin," the temple dog said with a bow. "We realize there is always a difficulty in identifying us. We never take offense if you wish to call us Dog. It makes matters so much easier before you learn how to differentiate us."

"Thank you, Bolin," Wyatt said.

The other temple dog bowed. "I am Zhuang. And like my mate, I enjoy hearing the name Dog if it makes it easier for you."

As the conversation continued, the dogs carefully worked their way through the members of the pack. They hugged and kissed each one in greeting. When Bolin reached out to hug Clyde, the pig stepped back. "Ain't never seen a dog like you," Clyde said innocently.

"That is because there has never been a dog like us," Bolin answered. "We were born of our love for a great dragon Changeling. There was a need for a smaller, more nimble form of that beast. We were born of more myth than biology."

"Well, you are beautiful beasts," Clyde said. "They told us about you, but they never come close to how beautiful you are."

Zhuang bowed deferentially. "You are kind. Might I say that you too are beautiful? There are none in the Were Nation with skin that looks as soft and hair-free as yours. I imagine it would feel exquisite on my paw pads."

"Are you asking to touch me, Dog?" Clyde asked.

"Yes, if that's not an imposition."

"No imposition at all," Clyde said. "Do you object to having sex with someone you just met?"

"We never found it to be objectionable," Bolin replied. "Quite the contrary. If you are asking if we would enjoy sex with you, the answer is yes. You are beautiful beyond words."

Beaming with newfound pride in his body, Clyde turned to Henry and Dennis. "These are my two best friends in the world, not counting my husbands. The wolf is Henry; the cougar is Dennis. They're about the best people you will ever meet. Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, can I please suck that cock of yours? You ain't the only distracted beast on this highland."

"It won't hurt your tusks?"

"I don't know, but I sure want to try, no matter the outcome."

"He has no gag reflex as far as we can tell," John said with a laugh.

"Oh, I bet it's there," Clyde admitted, "and I'm hoping this dog helps me find it. I want to feel a cock down my throat that I can't take."

Bolin looked at the two Great Plains wolves. "Would it be okay with you if I borrowed your husband for a few hours?"

"We're newlyweds, Dog," John replied. "You take him; you're taking us both as well."

"I accept that stipulation," Bolin said with a grin. The pig fell to his knees and took the yellow-skinned phallus into his mouth. "Oh goodness," he said as he backed off and licked the swollen cock. "This is heaven."

Zhuang shook his head. "No, this is the highland, but there are many similarities." He reached out and pulled the two mated Great Plains wolves close, giving one a long kiss while his paws explored the other.

Max gazed at the two kissing beasts and absentmindedly stroked his cock out of its sheath. Suddenly, his eyes widened. "Oh, crap. Heaven. Angels are coming, aren't they?"

Martin chuckled. "They're on their way. They should be here in an hour."

"There's time for me to go down on Henry and Dennis and still explain the three to them, right?"

"No, but I doubt that's going to stop you."

Max looked at the two. "There is something else we need to tell you about your new family. But I really, really want to suck your cocks. You know... temple dogs... pheromones..."

Henry pushed his sheath back up against his belly, letting the taut cock spring forward. "Yeah, I realize what you were trying to tell us now. If these things don't go down, this is going to be one exhausting weekend."

"Week," Max said, falling onto his knees. "Pretty sure it's going to be a week."

Martin slipped up behind Henry and kissed his neck. "Oh, damn, Cat," Henry groaned, "bite me with those fangs of yours." Henry felt the two enlarged canines push deep into his shoulder muscles. "A week is good. We can survive a week."

"Even if we don't, we'll go out smiling," Dennis said as he felt the bear below him take his cock deep into his mouth. He leaned back and began a gentle thrust that the bear responded to with a happy moan.

Martin laughed through his hold on Henry. "This is going to go sideways when Chet and the boys arrive."

Nathaniel nodded. "It's the dogs, my love. Really, they show no control."

Martin looked up at his husband and smiled. "Oh, is that right? And you, Bear; you show control?"

Nathaniel leaned down and kissed the saber-toothed cat. "Not a lick. Take me husband before Zhuang becomes too enticing." Martin released his hold on Henry, spun him around, and pushed the wolf up against his husband. With another forceful shove, the three tumbled to the ground and intertwined in moments.

With Darius and Damien by their side, Tiff and Tuff watched the others. "We best be going, husbands," the two said in tandem. "We stay much longer and half our family won't make it to the highland in time."

Damien laughed. "That's true. Seems a shame to leave, though. It would be fun seeing them meet Chet and the boys for the first time."

The twins looked up into the sky at the noonday sun. "Surely an hour won't hurt."

"Besides," Darius added, "We have a rhino in need of a companion."

Chipo looked at the four red wolves. "Are you all volunteering? This body of mine has no difficulty tending to multiple partners."

Tiff and Tuff's eyes twinkled. "Funny that, Chipo. Neither do ours." With a leap, they were on top of the rhino, rolling out into the field.

When the two winged bears and the angel flew over the highland, they looked down on the playful interchange from a distance. Chet pointed away, and the three pulled back and landed deep in the forest. It was only Saturday evening and Monday morning was still far off. Even from a distance, they could smell the newly mated couples' scent and the helpless temple dogs' arousal. Content to introduce themselves at a less intrusive time, the three curled up together and napped.

When morning came, the landing of the Black Rhino brought the Tibetan and New Zealand temple dogs to rouse the family from their sleep. The disembarking temple dogs were as eager to meet the South Dakota family as their highland counterparts. As they walked off the airships, they immediately began leaping off the landing rock into the air. When they landed on the grass, they began jumping up and down like puppies. The South Dakota five looked up from wherever they were and stared at the six dogs. The yellow beasts ran around the group in circles that grew ever closer with each rotation. "These are our brothers from the Tibetan and New Zealand temples," Bolin said, pushing himself up off the grass. "Those living on Partridge Island will join us as soon as we can arrange a flight."

"They seem happy to see everyone," Wyatt said, waking to the pleasant experience of seeing a temple dog's morning erection in front of him. Zhuang stirred and pushed himself upright. Wyatt stayed, resting on the dog's thick leg as the cock pressed into his muzzle.

"We resemble the Changelings in that what one experiences, all experience to a degree. I am afraid our night of play has resulted in dogs who are aroused beyond their normal state," Zhuang said. The South Dakotan five watched the temple dogs circling slow down as they tightened around the group. "Their circle will continue to grow closer. This is the best they can do to offer you greetings and to allow you to escape should you so choose by leaving their circle."

"Escape?" Wyatt questioned.

"Our brothers did not benefit from the release of passions that we enjoyed, but they have had all night to become aroused by our actions. They realize some may choose not to accept their advances. Our brothers are allowing you to decline their affections now. They are relying on us to teach you what their movements mean."

"Dog, I'm as hard as a rock because of you and those dogs circling out there," Dennis said, rubbing his morning hard-on. "All of us are. How long do you have this effect on us?"

"I realize our pheromones are in disarray. The circling should be familiar to you wolves."

"Yeah, it's like a pack getting ready to take down an elk," Henry said. "I kind of feel like we're on the breakfast menu here."

Zhuang nodded. "That would be an apt description. While I don't wish to pressure your choices at all, you mated beasts are singularly responsible for my brothers' predicament. They wish only to greet you, but that desire to greet you will go far beyond a traditional bow or kiss."

"I, for one, say let them at me," Clyde said with a smirk. "Might as well cement my pig reputation."

"We're in," John said as he rubbed the arms of the smaller short-faced bear that hugged him. "Husband says yes; I say yes."

Wyatt nodded. "My jaws are already sore from last night. Might as well add a matching butt this morning."

Henry laughed and rubbed Nathaniel's chest. "You see now why we love those three?"

"I do," Nathaniel said. "Welcome to the family."

"So is this a yes?" Zhuang asked the group.

"This is a yes," Henry answered.

Darius gave Bolin a gentle kiss. "We need to be going now, Bolin."

The dog's face became the sad look that dogs do so well when they are unhappy. "But there is still so much more that we have yet to explore."

"There is, Bolin, and I promise you that as soon as we return with all the family, we will go to the trees and you and I will explore each other."

Bolin smiled. "The trees? This is a promise?"

Darius kissed the temple dog again. "It is a promise. And you know red wolves never break a promise."

"But we do break trees," Damien said as he rose from behind the temple dog, trying to deal with the furiously wagging yellow tail.

"We will all be back, Bolin. If you like, we can leave Damien and Darius here with you," Tiff said, rubbing the back of the temple dog.

Bolin shook his head. "No. I love seeing you together. It would only make me unhappy to see you parted because of me."

"Then when we return from our transportation chores, you find your husband and the six of us will take to the trees until tomorrow morning," Tuff said

"Brothers," Bolin yelled. "My mate and I are promised to the twin twins at the end of their workday. I rely on you all to make sure no other diversion takes precedence."

The circling dogs nodded their agreement to the contract.

"Let them pass," Bolin said. "They must gather the family together."

"As must I," Chipo said, as he rose from the grass. "Brother monks, I too will return with my family from South Africa. They spend long hours on the savanna and will come here thirsty and hungry for what you monks can offer. I ask that you welcome them with open arms. But, more importantly, in my absence, I entrust the care of my beloved cat to your paws. When I return, I pray I find him sated and the sweet smell of your cum on his breath. Do I have your word that your good graces will meet my supplications?"

The dogs once more nodded as their pace slowed and the circle grew tighter. Dennis laughed as he rubbed the saber-tooth cat's shoulders. "Is your husband always so formal?"

Martin shook his head. "No. This is an ongoing joke between my husband and the temple dogs. He plays the petitioner, begging for my care. They, being good monks, cannot deny one who comes begging. I, in return, offer my body for their pleasure. They always seem to find interesting ways to fulfill Chipo's requests. I suspect that in moments, you and I will discover what new ways the temple dogs have learned to push our physical limits."

"Me?" Dennis questioned.

"Chipo said he entrusted the care of his beloved cat to the temple dogs. You are a cat. They know Chipo loves everyone. By default, when Chipo returns, you must be sated and have the sweet smell of temple dog cum on your lips, or the monks have failed in their promise."

"You know," the puma said with a smile. "I am loving Chipo more and more every minute."

Martin laughed. "Yeah. He grows on you." The saber-toothed cat leaned down and kissed the cougar. "By the way, he will check your lips to ensure they taste like temple dog cum."

Dennis laughed. "I swallow."

Martin shrugged. "I'm guessing you haven't sucked off a temple dog yet."

"No, why?"

"Because as good as it tastes, and it is sweet, I have yet to meet a beast who can swallow it all."

"Wow, you threw down the gauntlet, didn't you?"

Martin smiled. "Yeah, I guess I did. Please, don't be too disappointed when Noboru wins without even knowing there was a wager in play."

"Noboru?"

"He's the one coming toward us there," Martin said, pointing as one dog broke from the circle.

"He's the abbot of the Tibetan temple. You are his new charge, and that means he will make sure his cum is the first you taste."

Martin stood up and bowed to the temple dog. "Good morning, Noboru. It is good to see you. And how are your little ones?"

"They are doing well, and in the temple dragons' care today. I see Bolin and Zhuang's little ones are absent from this gathering."

"They promised to visit in the days following the return of our family," the saber-toothed tiger replied.

"They are no longer fond of the copulations that occur at such events?" Noboru asked.

"Quite the opposite. Nothing has changed," Martin replied. "Their love for our bonding has never altered. It is why there are baby dragons on this highland. However, they also realize the sacred nature of what we do on these fields at a welcoming. They willingly wait until we are ready to receive our extended family."

Noboru paused, looking about the crowd. "Will we be seeing any of our human family in the days to come?" the temple dog asked.

"They wait for the announcement that we are returning to Partridge Island," Martin replied. "They sense that this event is important to those that the world does not see. Like the dragons, they choose to wait until we have properly welcomed our family."

"I trust your Sight in such matters, Martin," Noboru said. He turned and bowed to the mountain lion. "I am Noboru. It is a pleasure to meet you, Cat."

Dennis bowed. "I am Dennis. It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Noboru. Your brothers have made our first night on this highland most pleasant and we're grateful."

Noboru waved his hand in the air. "It is always a pleasure to meet new family members. Did Martin explain our obligation toward his husband's plea and toward you as well?"

"I believe so. Apparently, I am to taste your sweet cum so that Chipo can taste it on my lips later."

"That, and we must sexually satisfy you."

"I think tasting your cum might do both."

Noboru laughed. "You are almost as good at this as Chipo."

Dennis bowed. "I try."

"I notice that your genitals are fully erect. Perhaps we can help with that as well."

"I wanted to be inside one of you since the moment Bolin turned away from me last night to take my husband."

Noboru put his paw to his chin. "This complicates matters."

Martin put his arm around the golden dog. "Let him take you, Noboru. He doesn't have the spines of a cat, but his cock is ringed by bumps where the spines are normally found. He feels like no other beast you have been with."

"Not even you, Martin?"

"I avoided the spines by choosing not to have them. Dennis had the common sense to replace them with something more pleasurable. His tongue is equally arousing."

"I am a terrible bottom," Noboru said, bowing to the puma.

"No, you're an incredible bottom, Noboru," Martin said with a laugh. "What you mean to say is that you enjoy bottoming a great deal. We don't say terrible in that case."

"But you say that you're a terrible tease to mean you enjoy the activity, do you not?" the golden dog asked.

Martin smiled. "Yes, we do, but that's English for you. It doesn't mean the same for bottoming. Simply say you enjoy bottoming."

Noboru looked at the puma. "I enjoy bottoming; actually, a great deal. Like Martin's wolfen fathers."

The saber-tooth cat nodded. "Like Will and Derrick," he explained to the puma. "Take him, Dennis. He will soon teach you who is in control when you top a temple dog. And you will be grateful for the lesson."

Dennis reached up and pulled the dog's chin down to his and kissed him. "Would you like to be spit-roasted today? My husband is a beautiful wolf who still has the scent of our mating on him."

Noboru smiled. "You are most kind, Cat. I am honored by your invitation."

Martin turned back to the circle of monks. "Peng, I am a cat in need of a sweet-tasting dog."

A temple dog looked up and bounded toward the three. He bowed hastily to the saber-toothed cat. "It would honor me to seed your mouth."

Dennis burst out laughing. "Oh dear, I lost it," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. He signaled to his husband, who left Nathaniel and came over. "Honey, I have an abbot to suck off and a promise to take him from both ends with my husband. And apparently, we need to have this all done in..."

"About an hour and a half," Martin said. "All the way to Africa, load up the wild dogs, a few other stops along the way, and back again. Two hours if they're dragging their tails."

Dennis looked at Noboru. "Are you okay with only an hour, Noboru? I want to make sure we keep your promise."

Noboru nodded sadly. "I suppose honor takes precedence over extending your pleasure."

"What if we join you in the trees after I prove to Chipo you are a brotherhood whose word is their bond?"

"Do you know of what you speak, Little One?" Noboru asked.

"Not really," Dennis answered. "But the twin twins seemed more than happy to make that arrangement."

"Do you heal quickly?"

"Yes, both of us do."

"Then yes, I agree with your proposal."

Henry looked at the temple dog. "Are we going to regret this, Dog?"

Noboru nodded. "Yes, I suspect at some point during this day, you will regret your choices. It will be up to me to ensure that your regret is short-lived and outweighed by the pleasures you experience." The dog turned to the saber-toothed cat. "Choose whomever else you wish to satisfy your needs, Cat. Your affections always honor us. Kang would make a fine companion for you once you have enjoyed Peng. Kang took a seventy-two-hour vow of abstinence that he is set to break in five more minutes. He will be easily aroused and very energetic in his copulations."

"Seventy-two hours, huh?" Martin said, smiling.

"His capacity to endure in the face of such a challenge impresses us all."

"That's three days, Noboru. You lasted longer than that when you all became abstinent after the pagoda incident with Will."

"But that was before we realized the Old Wolf was right. Abstinence proves nothing, save we don't know what is truly important. We now use it only to heighten our pleasure when we return to our copulations."

Martin smiled. "One day, I hope to be as wise as you, Noboru."

Noboru bowed. "You already are, Martin. There is so much in this world for us all to learn." His paw reached out and pulled Dennis to his side. "But for now, let us enjoy our time together. I would not waste our hour together on idle talk." The temple dog turned and kissed the puma. "Take me, Cat," he said, smiling. "Show this old dog who's boss."

By the end of the third hour, the panting, sweat-soaked puma sat on the grass, letting his husband lap at the cum on his chest that he failed to swallow. He squeezed the temple dog's cock and stared as even more cum spilled out. Dennis realized Noboru had shown them both who was boss, and as Martin had promised, both the cat and his wolf mate were grateful for the lesson.

Chapter 9

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The clouds in the sky were billowy white with yellow and deep blue, accentuating the edges where the sun colored them. The blue-gray sky, growing brighter by the moment, hinted at the sunshine to come.

The crowd out in the field was there not because lodging wasn't available elsewhere. It was a choice made at the time of their napping. It seemed easier to stay where they were lying than to seek lodging in the apartment complex. Clyde snorted as he woke from a pleasant dream to find the dream continuing with the arm of a wolf, not his mate, wrapped around him. The arm pulled him in closer to the firm erection he felt pressing against his rounded butt. "Morning, Wolf," Clyde said as he pulled on the wolf's arm and kissed the paw.

"Morning, Pig."

"Did you have as much fun as I did last night?" the pig asked.

"Oh, you can't imagine," the wolf said with a laugh. "I have fantasized about meeting a man like you for hundreds of years."

"You don't mind the tusks none?"

"I love the tusks," the wolf said, pushing himself up and kissing the pig's jowl. "My name is Greg, by the way. The wolf running interference for me was Mike."

"And them spotted dogs he was with?"

"That was Kabelo and his pack. Trust me, your husbands were in the best of hands last night. Kabelo is Chipo's dad and he watches over a very friendly pack."

"A dog has himself a rhinoceros for a son?"

The wolf nodded. "Being a rhino was Chipo's choice, but his immediate family members are all African dogs."

"It seems keeping up with this family will take some doing."

Greg laughed. "Oh yeah, that's an understatement. Damien and Darius have kept a flow chart of everyone for centuries. Éric, Eric's godson, used the book and his artistic talents to create a mural in the common area of the cave apartments. It looks like the ancient cave paintings in Lascaux, France, but it tells the story of our family tree."

The wolf pushed his body close to the pig. "It's where I first saw you, actually. I never realized we had such a handsome porcine in the family until I followed all the tangents in the painting, and there you were. I saw a painting of a tusked boar and his family. The paint was still wet. I figured that if it was that new, you might be on this highland somewhere. Mike and I went out onto the field, followed our noses, and well, here we are together. You really are wonderful, Clyde."

Clyde was speechless for a moment. "They have a picture of me and my husbands on a wall for everyone to see?"

"Éric insisted on placing you on the tree as soon as he got here. You might not have met him yet. He's a cave bear. His husband is a wolf."

"But my husbands and I are a part of this family's tree?"

Greg squeezed Clyde tightly and kissed his cheek. "Of course you are. All five of you are there together. You, your husbands, Dennis and Henry. You need to check it out before you head home. It's amazing. So many beasts live in this world, and our lives flow together in such amazing ways. Éric's painting lets us see just how far our family reaches. And he never stops adding to it."

"This is one amazing group of critters."

Greg kissed the pig on the cheek again, and this time the pig turned his head to let the lips slip over his mouth. When the kiss ended, the wolf smiled at the pig. "I hope, one day, you'll feel comfortable enough to call all of us critters family."

Clyde smiled back. "It may take a while for me to use the words, but I hope you know deep down inside it's what I'm feeling. Ain't never had a family so big I couldn't remember all the names. And I come from a mighty big family." The pig turned away slightly. "I'm glad I met you, Greg. I guess we got into it so quick that our mouths didn't have much time for introductions. It's gonna be nicer to have you inside me this morning now that I learned your name."

"Is that what you want?" the smiling wolf asked.

"Yeah, it's what I want," Clyde replied as his four thick fingers pressed against the wolf's paw. The wolf's shifting weight pushed Clyde onto his belly. Greg's dripping cock slipped easily past the pig's sphincters and probed deep inside him. Clyde made a happy groan as the gentle rocking began. He turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, letting the pleasure of the wolf's cock start the new day for him. When an aggressive shove from the wolf on top jolted his eyes open, Clyde saw a dozen or more yellow, white, and black spotted feet. They were there, standing on either side of his husbands' feet. Clyde's smile widened. The pig realized his morning would be even better than he imagined.

Elsewhere on the highland, the winged family stepped into the grassy field and looked up at the sky. The three yawned and stretched, and as they did, their wings stretched with them. High above them, in a great oak tree, a waking puma and wolf stared at the sight. "The bears... they really have wings," Dennis said in disbelief.

"It is to show their mate how much they love him," Peng replied. The dog pulled the cat closer. His tail pulled them up toward the branch from which they hung. "Their mate is a red-tailed hawk."

Henry shook his head in disbelief. "I never thought that we could even do that."

"They are three unique men born of trials few have faced."

"We all read the stories of the two bears, but we thought they embellished them. We figured their wings were like gliders or something."

Noboru shook his head, and his arms tightened around the wolf. "No, Little One, the stories you have read barely begin telling you the story of those three. It is not in their nature to discuss their history. They seem to enjoy creating pleasant memories in the company of others more than recounting theirs." The temple dog's tail tightened. Slowly it pulled him and the wolf to the top of the branch. Henry placed his legs over the edge of the tree, and Noboru put his arm around the wolf to steady him.

The two watched as a pack of wolves and two temple dogs ran to greet the three. Three colossal bears lumbered over and joined in the hugs. "They seem very popular," Henry said.

"All who know them love them."

"Then perhaps we should get out of this tree and introduce ourselves. I would love to get to know them," Dennis said with a chuckle.

Peng smiled. "I assume that your statement is a play on biblical nomenclature?"

Dennis blushed slightly. "I wasn't aware that you were familiar with the phrase."

"We are versed in many religious texts," the dog replied. "That we choose to ignore their teachings is not the same as being ignorant of them."

Dennis nodded. "I am sorry, Peng. I was making a joke."

Peng smiled and leaned in, giving the cat a kiss. "It is I who should apologize. It's always awkward when one has to explain a joke. Come, let's go say hello to the winged ones. You'll never get to know them as you wish while we remain here."

"My brother is right," Noboru agreed. "And getting to know them in that fashion is one of the great experiences you should not miss in life."

Henry shook his head and laughed. "I believe the dogs are joking about your joke, Husband."

Noboru gave the wolf a kiss. "That was our intent." In one smooth motion that the cat and wolf barely realized was happening, the two found themselves on the ground beside the dogs. "Shall we go? It is Sunday, which means you and your newly mated family have only a few brief hours left before Will and his husbands' promised return."

"Their return is still a day away, Noboru," Henry pointed out.

"I believe that is what I said," the dog replied as he grabbed the wolf's hand and pulled him toward the three winged beasts.

Chapter 10

Monday's sunrise was as beautiful as the day before. A blanket of blue-white fog clung to the forest floor and dissipated as the wisps reached out toward the sunshine in the fields. The dragons were moving in the forest, carefully avoiding the glade on this special day. The buildings that rested along the face of the cliff housed the newly mated beasts as they slept.

Inside the monastery, the slumbering temple dogs' arms wrapped around the newly mated triad, holding them close. Greg and Mike also slumbered face to face. Behind them, Kabelo and his pack held the wolves and each other close. Two temple dogs spooned the smaller dogs, creating expanding circles of colorful fur.

Farther down the cliff face, two winged bears cuddled the South Dakotan cat and wolf. The hawk-man lifted his arm from the Kermode bear and slipped quietly off the bed. He walked to the coffee machine found in all the cave apartments and tossed a pack of coffee into the machine. The scent of the brewing liquid woke the four. He waved to them as they sleepily began moving to the side of the bed. "You men all okay?"

"I don't think I've ever slept so soundly," Henry said as he tugged at his ball sack. He leaned in toward the puma and gave him a kiss. "Morning, Husband."

"Morning, Husband," the cat replied. The two bears bounded toward their husband and the kisses between mates repeated. Dennis gave a heavy sigh as he watched the three. "You are so beautiful."

JP smiled. "Why, thank you. We're glad you found the time to be with us, considering the complications that five newly mated beasts and twelve temple dogs can create."

Henry laughed. He stood up, walked over, and gave each of the three winged beasts a hug and a kiss. He lingered after his last kiss, staring into Chet's eyes. The nictitating membrane blinked across the hawk-man's eyes. "What?" he asked when the wolf's stare made him feel self-conscious.

Henry shook his head to clear his wandering thoughts. "Nothing, Chet. I just never made love to an angel before."

The arms of the winged man tightened around the wolf's waist and the wings folded forward to rub up against the wolf's shoulders. "And you still haven't. Don't let the image fool you. I'm no angel," he said with a grin.

"Oh, you don't know how wrong you are," the wolf replied. "I know angels when I'm with them, and last night I was with four of them."

Dennis came up behind the wolf and hugged him. "Nice of you to include me, Husband."

Henry giggled when the cat bit into his neck. "Now and forever, Husband. I forget sometimes that you were my first angel. But Chet has the wings. He's definitely my first winged angel. That said, dear cat, you remind me every morning how lucky I am to have met an angel that became a cougar."

"Well then, you two wingless angels," Max said as he pulled the two in close to either side of him, "how about we go get you breakfast in the commons? We're going to have company coming soon, and things are going to get busy."

"Exactly how busy?" Dennis asked.

"Very, very busy... in all caps," Max replied. "By ten o'clock, the highland population of yesterday morning will have increased twentyfold."

"But there had to be at least forty men here when you invited us to get this room," Dennis said. "Are you telling me they're going to be a eight hundred beasts arriving in the next two hours?"

"No, I'm saying that they're already here," Max answered. "While the five of us were playing with Max and Nathaniel yesterday, the flight crews of three airships were shuttling family members to the highland. You didn't notice because those bears are very distracting. While we've been sleeping, that pace never ceased." Max swiped his paw above the fireplace and a screen appeared. "Good morning, Ori. Do you know what the headcount is on the highland?"

The image on the screen showed a milling crowd out in the glade. "There are eight hundred twenty-three currently on the highland," Ori replied. "However, there are two inbound flights and another fourteen scheduled before nine-thirty." There was a slight pause. "And two fenghuang are also inbound to greet their companion."

"What's a fenghuang?" a confused Henry asked.

"They are small, feathered dragons," Ori replied. "Oliver is their companion. They are eager to see him return."

"Wow," Henry exclaimed. "So, do you know where Will and his husbands are?"

Ori paused before responding. "Will and his husbands appear to be off-planet. He has promised to return at ten sharp. No additional information is available."

Henry smiled. "I never knew you were such a fountain of information, Ori."

"I am underutilized by the Were Nation. Like you, most consider me an operator placing calls for them on their ComLinks and little more."

"Where are Wyatt, John, and Clyde?" Henry asked.

"The three have not authorized me to reveal their location. You are welcome to call them, though. Their ComLinks are active."

"So all the information you ever give out is information that's been pre-approved?"

"If it involves location, activities, and personal information of any in the Were Nation, yes."

"No exceptions?"

"None, unless it involves the safety of an individual."

Henry smiled. "So what Dennis, Will, and I did in Sturgis in nineteen sixty-seven?"

"It will be our little secret unless the three of you wish it to be otherwise."

Henry looked at Dennis and let out a deep breath. "Well, that's a comfort."

Chet laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure, Henry. We now know you have a story to tell, and I have always found stories that involve the old wolf to be very entertaining."

Henry looked away, embarrassed. "I suppose in the right company it might be."

The winged man wrapped his arms around the wolf and gave him a kiss. "Let's go get you breakfast. I'm pretty sure this is a tale best told around a table with food and friends."

Henry stared back into Chet's face. "I guess confession is good for the soul," he chuckled. "You angels are pretty tight-lipped, right?"

"You didn't figure that out last night when I was going down on you?" Chet said with a grin.

Dennis slapped the top of Chet's folded wings. "Don't get him started or we'll be late for Will and Oliver's return."

JP grabbed the cat, and the two kissed. "We can't have that. You're their big surprise."

Dennis sighed. "But," he said as the kiss lingered on his lips, "we're going to get together again, right?"

"Of course," the winged Kermode replied. "Come on, let's go get breakfast before those mating pheromones of yours cause us all to forget why we're here."

The three exited the apartment and walked down the hall toward the elevators. Crowds of beasts milling about took Henry and Dennis by surprise. Their newly mated state slowed their progress toward the common area substantially. Congratulations from unfamiliar faces were frequent, but somehow not upsetting. Even strangers had an air of familiarity to them when they made their greetings. When they stepped out of the elevator and looked over the common, the throng of beasts filling every table and free space took them aback. Only the night before, it had been empty.

"This is amazing," Dennis said in awe. "I've never seen anything like this."

From across the common, a voice yelled over the top of the conversations. "It's like being at Woodstock, only furrier," The wolf in an apron said as he flipped a line of burgers on the grill. He pressed one down with his spatula, and then, with another flip, plated it on top of a bun. "Order up, Kevin," he yelled. A wolf in scrubs grabbed the plate and looked about, trying to find an open seat.

"What's with the clothes?" Dennis asked. "We're all beasts here, right?"

The puma felt a large pair of arms wrap around him and the muzzle of a short-faced bear nibbled on his neck. "José is working with food. You don't want to get your fur covered in bacon grease. It makes it tough to figure out if a guy is licking you because he's horny or hungry," Nathaniel answered. "Kevin is on call, and he just got notice that they need him back at Partridge Island. He'll be on the next flight out, so he's dressed for work. The scrubs help cue the humans on what his job is. Their minds fill in the rest."

Dennis pushed back into the bear's chest. "But you're naked, right?" he giggled.

"Oh, yeah, I'm naked," Nathaniel replied. "But I'm doing my best to keep this body of mine under control. You two are already turning heads, and we only have an hour and a half before all my dads show up. I hope the boys prepared you for what's ahead."

Henry laughed. "We were with them all night."

"Oh?" Nathaniel asked. "Just the five of you?"

"They kept us plenty busy," Dennis protested

Chet looked up at the big bear. "We tired them out as quickly as we could, and let nature take its course. They needed a few hours of sleep, Nathaniel. Nothing is going to prepare them for what's going to happen today. Rest seemed more important than an all-nighter."

Henry's voice expressed genuine concern. "What exactly is going to happen today?"

Chet reached out and rubbed the wolf's shoulder. "Nothing that needs that much worry in your voice, Wolf. It's like going to a gym for the first time. You see all those amazing machines telling you they're going to make you stronger and better looking with every movement. So, you dive in and try them all. You have a great time and by the end of it all, you feel energized and tired at the same time."

"Sure," Henry agreed.

"But then the next day you're in agony because your muscles weren't ready for what you did to them. The machines, on the other hand, are fine. They were built for the abuse they get."

The wolf chuckled. "So, in this analogy, you're the machines, I take it?"

Chet smiled and gave the wolf a quick kiss. "First law of the Were Nation: Protect the innocent. In today's scenario, you and your friends are the innocents. Large gatherings of beasts are new to you. You're going to want to take it all in and play with everyone, but that's not a good idea. In the days ahead, you're going to meet many of your family. We don't want you collapsing after the first day. You're going to have to learn to pace yourself."

"And it's up to all of us to help you with that," the Kermode bear added. "I'm pretty sure that your friends are sleeping close to others who knew that by the end of last night, you were all running on pheromones and little else."

Nathaniel squeezed Dennis tightly. "In time, you'll understand the signals your body gives when you need to rest and when you can continue on. But Chet is right. Last night, you two needed sleep more than an ongoing orgy."

"I didn't think of what we did as an orgy," Dennis whispered.

"Neither did I," Henry added.

Dennis felt the bear behind him pull his hug even more tightly. "That's good to hear. I apologize for testing you about what is happening here. We don't think of it as an orgy either. This is more than rutting."

Henry snickered. "Oh, I think there was a fair amount of rutting going on. I don't want to sound above it all. But there's something more; something deep inside me I can't explain. It happens every time I'm with Dennis; every time I'm with John, Wyatt, and Clyde. It's different, not as intense with others, but it is odd to have those feelings manifest now in the company of strangers."

"We sense it with everyone we touch here on the highland," Dennis said, finishing his husband's thought. "I know I wanted you three the moment we saw you," he said, looking at the winged bears and their mate. "I assure you, that was lust. But then when we actually touched..." the cat's voice trailed off.

"It's what we felt for only three other men in our life," Henry said. "How could we feel that way with all of you?"

"You're changing," Max said as his gray-blue wings rotated forward. "We all are. Our human genetics are being replaced by the Changeling genome. And, with that change, the way we look at our fellow beasts changes as well."

Nathaniel gave Dennis another squeeze. "On our home planet, we are a sea of independent creatures flowing in and out of each other. We call ourselves the Unity because it is an apt description, not only of our physical nature but our emotional nature as well. The Unity exists for the communion of all the souls that surround us. We live for the touch. Every contact you make with your fellow beasts draws you closer to that same unity. Part of it's your genetics changing over time. Part of it is learning how we all interact."

"So no one thinks what goes on between us is an orgy?" Dennis asked.

The smaller short-faced bear standing beside his husband laughed. "A lot of us have mixed emotions about these gatherings. You can't look out on that crowd and say it's not an orgy. By definition, many could see it that way. For most of us, being together is something more than sex, but that doesn't mean it isn't sex. Nathaniel asked as a way of seeing where you are on the spectrum. That you see the sex as something greater than the physical act means we don't have to worry about confusing you with how we approach you."

"Because we know that you're not just hitting on us."

"No," the bear laughed again. "We're hitting on you. Your pheromones are jacked up pretty high. Beasts hitting on you will come with the territory."

"But you're asking us to be with you for so many other reasons, right?" Henry said, trying to understand what Max had said.

"Exactly," Max replied. "We are the children of the Unity. But we are Terran. The bodies we have don't give us the flexibility of a Verital body to merge with each other, but the desire for that intimate contact remains."

"So, sex because that's as close as we get?" Henry asked.

"Sex because it's as close as we get. And breakfast sandwiches made for you by a chef whose cooking is darn near a communion of its own," said the wolf in the white apron. He held out a plate full of stuffed ciabatta. The wolf smiled. "I'm José. I work the line at the Midnight Diner."

"We talked to Carl and Frank the other day," Henry said.

"Yeah, they said to give you their regards and remind you that you promised to visit them on your way home. They're holding down the fort again. When you own a place, it's tough to step away for a vacation. You gents eat up. We already sent a contingent of wolves over to roust the temple dogs and your friends. In less than an hour, the boys are back in town."

Henry smiled. "Is it going to be like what I think it's going to be like?"

"And more," the wolf in an apron replied. "By the end of today, you're going to realize how far your family reaches." José pushed out the plate toward the group again, and all grabbed a sandwich. "You boys have fun out there. Don't behave." He turned with his empty plate and disappeared into a sea of mingling beasts.

Henry took a bite of the sandwich and chewed quietly. "Hon, we may be in over our heads," he finally said to his mate. Dennis nodded in agreement.

"You're going to be fine," Nathaniel said as he put his paw on Henry's shoulder. "You're with family. My father is going to be thrilled to see you. You both mean so much to him and Oliver. But I have a suggestion. Let's find your pack and get you all back together. A few familiar faces next to you might help ease the 'meet the family jitters'."

Dennis nodded again. "I think that would help a lot."

With a flourish of his wing and arm, Chet motioned everyone toward the cave's entrance. The group pushed their way through the crowd, out the cave entrance, and toward the monastery. The milling crowd already filled the field of grass, and the Red Wolf was hovering over the landing rock. "Welcome to the highland, men," Nathaniel said, holding the paws of both the wolf and cat as he walked toward the monastery.

As they neared the intricately carved front, the noses of all twitched. "Oh god," JP sighed. "The temple dogs are showering."

"Is that what that is?" Henry asked, shaking his head as he tried to push his growing cock out of sight.

"Yep," Max said with a shake of his wings. "Wyatt, John, and Clyde are with them. And a handful of African dogs and wolves, if I'm not mistaken. You men go on ahead and join them. We'll see you again soon."

Nathaniel let the paws of the two go and gave them a gentle shove toward the monastery. "You aren't going with us?" Dennis asked.

Chet shook his head. "The temple dogs have a much keener sense of obligation than we do. We would get distracted by their showering techniques."

Henry laughed. "And we won't?"

"Oh, you will," replied the shorter short-faced bear. "But as we said earlier, you're innocents. The temple dogs will ensure you're standing in the field when Will and Oliver return."

"But the shower? Those pheromones..." Dennis sighed, adjusting himself.

"You boys wanted to meet your family," Nathaniel said with a chuckle. "The temple dogs are one of the biggest parts of that family by their stature alone."

"We're already hard," Henry whimpered.

"And they will see to that," JP said with a smile. "Go, they're waiting for you. They're all waiting for you."

"How can you tell?" Henry asked. "Is this that Sight thing?"

"No," Chet responded. "This is us knowing who is waiting for you. Take a deep breath and you'll sense three beasts are waiting in the company of the dogs for the two they love."

The cat and wolf took a deep breath through their noses and sensed what the others already knew. "Is that what we smell like to all of you?" Henry asked.

"That's what you smell like," Chet replied.

"It's wonderful," Henry sighed.

"Yeah, it is," Nathaniel said. The bear gave them another push toward the monastery. "Now go. Don't keep your family waiting."

Both the cat and wolf dropped to all fours and raced toward the entry of the monastery. In moments, they were past the doors. Nathaniel gave his husband a hug and kissed the shorter bear. Max groaned happily. "Okay, I could hold off the hard-on until you did that," he mumbled through the kiss.

"Why do you think I hugged you?" Nathaniel laughed. "I figured the boys wouldn't see mine if I pressed it up against you."

"It ain't going down, Bear," Max giggled.

"Nope."

Chet rubbed the butt of the shorter bear. "We have a bit of time. What say we find a place out in the forest and see what we can do to have you two ready for your fathers' return?"

Nathaniel let the hug go and turned toward the hawk-man, nearly smacking him with the swollen cock. "Oh, please, yes," he begged.

The wings of the two smaller bears flashed out. With two bounding jumps, they were airborne. They flew up, around, and then came up from behind the two short-faced bears. Their paws reached out and shoved under the bruins' shoulders. All four bears lifted into the air and flew toward the forest. A group of wolves stared as they disappeared over the trees.

"Well, that got me hard for the next hour," one of them groaned.

"Yeah, me too," another agreed.

"You think they would mind a bit of company?" one asked.

"We could ask," another answered. "I mean, it's Nathaniel. I don't think he's ever said no in his entire life."

"Max has always seemed agreeable to most suggestions," the first to speak added.

"Which Max?"

"Both of them."

"I bet we can find them if we hurry," a wolf said as he dropped to all fours. The others repeated the shift and soon all eight were running off to the forest.

The Red Wolf lifted off the landing rock as the Black Rhino pushed past the clouds on approach. From a distance, Katashi and Li Wei watched the flurry of activity. Li Wei's tail gave a happy wag back and forth. "Family," he grinned. "The newly mated seem to fit in well."

Katashi nodded. "It is wonderful. Here's hoping that they all remember the reason they're here today. It's so easy to get distracted in a crowd like this."

Li Wei laughed. "They shuffled the newly mated family off to showers with our brothers. Max and JP flew off with Nathaniel and Max. Worst-case scenario, this entire highland forgets all about time. If so, when they come up for air, the two winged bears will drag everyone back into the past to ten o'clock in our future."

Katashi nodded. "I believe that is what will happen."

Li Wei shook his head in disbelief. "Sometimes I forget all the talents our family has. We grow closer with each passing day." The temple dog tapped his ComLink. "Ori, when is the last flight scheduled for arrival?"

The perfectly modulated female voice responded. "The Grey Wolf will touch down in fifteen minutes. Thirty minutes later, the Red Wolf and the Black Rhino will arrive. All three ships will power down in forty minutes."

"We are cutting it close," Li Wei thought aloud.

"Extremely close," Ori replied. "However, this gathering perceives the return of your traveling family as an important event. The number of those desiring to be here has required a tight timeline to secure their transport. There are currently one thousand eight hundred and fifty-two beasts on the highland. With the last flight, the number will exceed two thousand."

"Thank you, Ori," the temple dog said. "We best be heading toward the landing rock. Getting through the crowd in the glade will take the better part of the hour we have left."

"I hope our brothers don't lose touch with the importance of the day because of the pleasures of the newly mated ones," Katashi said apprehensively.

Li Wei grabbed the other dog's paw and moved into the throng. "Would you miss their return, knowing that they wish us by their side?"

"Of course not," Katashi replied.

"Then trust our brothers to be as steadfast in their calling. The newly mated must be at the front of wherever the seven choose to return. Our brothers will see to that."

"And the possibility that all seven will smell of mating?"

"A distraction, to say the least. But also an encouragement to be there shepherding the newly mated South Dakotans to the front." Li Wei tugged his mate past another gathering crowd. "When they return, our size will be an advantage as we place them on our shoulders so that our entire family can see them easily."

"Like Oliver and Jason," Katashi said with a chuckle.

"Or perhaps Adam. His diminutive stature might also encourage placement on top of the larger beast's shoulders. There is much to be said for wrapping your legs around another."

"For both parties," Katashi agreed. "You are wise, Husband. I married well."

Li Wei paused a moment in the crowd, turned, and kissed his mate. When they separated, he smiled at the temple dog in front of him. "As did I, Husband. How fortunate for both of us." With a gentle tug, one dog pulled the other through the crowd toward the landing rock, where the first of the three airships touched down.

Chapter 11

The winged bears, the angel, and their entourage pushed through the crowd, rushing toward the landing rock. As the gathering realized who was moving through their midst, they parted to let the family through. Across the field, another group of newly mated beasts and dogs pushed toward the rock.

With only moments to spare, the bears and the angel stopped in front of the landing rock. JP took a deep breath. "You know, if they choose to show up in the middle of the field, we're going to feel like idiots pushing through that crowd to get here."

"This is the most logical place for them to touchdown," a large brown bear replied. "It's the most open area on the highland at the moment."

"Éric," JP said as he bolted toward the bear and gave him a hug. "We haven't seen you in ages." He gave a quick turn toward the wolf beside the bear and hugged him as well. "Luca, so good to see you again." The hugs had scarcely ended when the South Dakotan couples pushed through the crowd and joined the family. JP started another round of hugs. When they ended, he pointed back toward the cave bear. "This is Éric, Eric's godson," he said to the five, "And his husband, Luca."

"A pleasure," the five said in tandem.

JP held his paw out, pointing to the two. "Éric, Luca, this is Dennis and Henry. They're friends of Wills from way back when. They brought their family here to welcome Will back. These three are John, Wyatt, and Clyde."

Éric smiled. "You are the newly mated couples turning so many heads. When I saw the five of you earlier, I asked Damien and Darius about you. I hope you approve of me adding you to the family tree. You are such a beautiful family."

Henry nodded shyly. "We didn't know until after the mating it would be like this. We didn't mean to steal anyone's thunder."

Luca laughed. "I thought you said you were friends of Will. Do you really think anyone can steal that wolf's thunder with a few hyperactive pheromones?"

"It's been a few years since we've seen him," Dennis admitted.

"Well, it's good to have family here regardless of the circumstance," Éric said. He put out his arms, and Henry and Dennis both entered an embrace. Luca hugged the other three, and in short order, the hugging configurations reversed. "Save a few of those overflowing hormones of yours for my husband and me if you can find the time," the bear whispered into the ear of the pig.

"We'd like that," Clyde whispered back.

As the hugs ended, there was a crackling noise above them. The cloudy sky above the crowd began swirling in a circular pattern over the landing rock. The radiant light at the center soon followed. "Told you," Éric beamed. He looked at the five South Dakotans. "And if you think I'm good at predicting where they'll land, you're going to have a great deal of fun with my husband and me later." The bear made a wide grin. "It's only a prediction, mind you."

Henry and Dennis laughed. Clyde, Wyatt, and John pulled their hug of the bear even tighter. All eyes were on the widening crack in the sky. "I bet they fall out of the sky and hit the ground on one knee like superheroes," Henry mused.

"Nope," Éric replied. "Eric and Oliver would never allow that. They're going to materialize through the light and they're all going to be upright." He looked over and smiled at the two again. "Just a prediction."

"Anything else?" Dennis asked with a chuckle.

"Oliver's going to be on Kris's shoulders," Éric replied casually.

The light from the rotating clouds grew brighter. The clouds dissipated as the white light broke through. A single beam of light slammed against the landing rock. When the white light hit the rock, it broke into a rainbow of light spiraling around the six forms taking shape. When the last of the light faded, the six images of light were now seven beasts, the badger sitting atop the Kodiak's shoulders looking out over the crowd. Clyde turned to Éric. "We really have to get together if your predictions are that good."

Éric laughed and responded, "Most of those men up there are my godfathers. I'm what you might call classically trained by the best. You have no clue how spot-on my predictions are. We really are fun."

JP giggled a bit and with a broad smile added, "They really are."

"Gentlemen," the elder Max said, clearing his throat, "we have family to say hello to." All eyes turned to the short-faced bear as he beckoned toward the seven.

Nathaniel needed no encouragement at the sight of his fathers. He ran toward the rock, nearly slamming into his brother Colton as the bear-wolf raced toward his fathers. "You take Dad and I'll take Papa," Nathaniel said, pointing to Donovan.

"Done," Colton said as he leapt toward his wolfen father. Donovan caught him in his arms easily and hugged the bear-wolf tightly. "It's so good to see you, Dad," Colton whispered into the ear of the wolf.

Donovan whispered back, "It's good to see you, Son."

Li Wei lost no time in jumping up onto the rock and embracing the polar bear once his son freed him from his tight bear hug. "Welcome home, Ancient One," the dog said. "I stand in place of the Gray One, who could not be here to welcome you. Jean Pierre is still resting with his husbands. When this celebration slows a bit, I will take you to where they sleep. It will do you both good to say hello and talk about all that has happened in the last week."

Eric hugged the temple dog and agreed. "I would like that. I was hoping he might be here with a new son, but perhaps that would create too much mayhem in an already hectic gathering."

The entire field of beasts remained motionless, waiting as always for the call from the newly mated to join the family. The scent of all seven told every beast all they needed to know, but for a time, they also knew the family would seek out their closest family first. Soon enough, all the beasts in the field would be welcome, but for now, the choice lay with the seven.

Derrick was the first to leave the rock and rush toward Chet and his mates. The hawk-man wrapped his wings around the black wolf. What transpired under the cloak of feathers all knew, but could not see.

Kris passed Oliver to Will, and the badger and the wolf jumped off the rock toward where Henry and Dennis were standing. The four hugged and kissed. Even though the memories of another world never surfaced, both Henry and Dennis felt as if the four had been friends forever. Dennis looked into Will's eyes and smiled. "You think there's someplace on this highland we could go where we won't fall out a window?" he asked.

Will smiled back. "I'm sure there is, but I believe you have a family to introduce us to."

Henry broke his kiss with Oliver and pointed to the three beside them standing in the middle of the temple dogs. "These are our best friends in the world, Old Wolf." In turn, he pointed to each. "John, Wyatt, and Clyde."

Will smiled at the pig with a grin that couldn't be mistaken. "Leave it to Henry and Dennis to choose three such handsome friends."

"I'm married to these two," Clyde said, somewhere between pride and apprehension.

Will nodded his understanding. "And I'm married to this cute little guy here," he said, pointing to the badger. "His name is Oliver. I'm Will."

"I'm right pleased to meet you both," the pig replied. "I ain't never met anyone married to so many men as you."

Will's smile only broadened. "You'd be surprised at how easy it is once you realize that it's what you wanted all along." The old wolf's gaze shifted to all five. "This is a mating circle, men, and you five smell as if you belong in the middle of it. Have you given the call?"

John shook his head. "We're only now realizing what that means. We hope no one expects too much of us. You all have far more experience than we do."

"I sez we goes and grabs them dogs behind you and go bangs our brains out up in their shower room," Oliver said. The five stared at the badger, unable to speak. "Look, you men are worried that we's gonna do something to you, and you is right. By the end of this week, you'se gonna be had in just about every way you can think of, and a few ways them dogs will teach you that you never knowed existed. But what you don't knows yet is you really, really wants us to do it. You'se scared 'cause you thinks you'se gonna turn into some kind of animals that ruts all day and nothing else."

The badger shifted into his taller form and reached his hand out to the pig. "It ain't like that. We's beasts and we's becoming Changelings. These is baby steps to becoming the Unity you heard of. We teach each other every time we touch, every time we kisses each other. You'se all been alone too long. I knows it when I sees it because it were me in your place not that many years ago. You men only now got married, when you knows you should have been married hundreds of years ago."

Clyde's head bobbed. "I know that now."

"You knowed it for a long time, Pig," Oliver corrected. "It's just now you can see it looking back. Sometimes those of us who is thickheaded needs to be pushed a bit."

"And your husbands pushed you?" Clyde asked.

"Nah, they had to kick my ass and drop on top of my head before I budged," Oliver replied. "But if you gots people that loves you, they's gonna do that. You and me, Pig. We gots people." Oliver looked up at the wolves on either side of Clyde. "And you wolves, you gots us. We ain't here to change you. We is here to help you become what you wants to be in your heart."

"So, wanting you ain't a bad thing even though you and us just got married?" Clyde said as he kicked a hoof toward the badger.

"Ain't a bad thing in my mind. And I know it ain't a bad thing for the old wolf." Will nodded his head in agreement.

"Because it's more than just sex," Henry interjected. "Nathaniel and Max were trying to teach us that this morning."

"It's a lot more than sex," Will agreed. His hands reached out and took the wolf's and puma's paws. "We learn that so much of who we are expresses itself through physicality. It begins at our turning. But in time, we learn that there is a step beyond that physicality. We find that place with the help of those around us. You have five very horny dogs here surrounding you. Trust me, you want to be with them at this time in your life."

Dennis laughed. "Oh, we already know that, Old Wolf. We've been here on the highland for two days."

Will laughed. "Good. Then you know where Oliver wants you to go is exactly where you want to go as well. But he's willing to push you to accept that." The old wolf's paw lovingly rubbed the shoulder of the badger. "He can be a bit of a nudge from time to time with folks he sees as reluctant to do what they should do."

"'Cause I loves them, and I don'ts want them to be wasting their lives afraid to jump into the very thing they wants."

"Are we doing that, Oliver?" Henry asked.

"You comes with us," the badger replied. "Spends a day or two loving on each other and all the rest of them that joins you. You figures out what it means to be a beast by doing what your heart and body tells you to do. You figures out there ain't no break between the two for a beast. You leaves your human learning behind here."

"The showers have a balcony that we can fall over, Old Wolf," Henry pointed out.

"That's true," the wolf responded, "but if we fall over, I'm pretty sure it will be on top of some very soft beasts."

"We've been with Chipo," John said with a snicker. "I really don't want to fall on top of him."

Will grinned. "You've got a point." Will put his paws to his mouth and yelled, "Chipo, we need a rhino over here. Bring the family if you like. But every beast with a horn or a thick hide best make their way to the monastery showers if they don't want an old wolf dragging them away from whatever fun they get into."

In seconds, Chipo was by Will's side. "I'm ready, Old Wolf," he said with an eager grin. "Am I getting another slutty merit badge today?"

"Oh, yeah," Will answered. "And you're going to help some very worthy beasts earn a few as well."

Henry laughed. "Well, there goes that whole 'more than just sex' talk we had."

Chipo looked at the wolf and smiled. "Oh, Wolf, you have so much to learn." His arm reached out and pulled the wolf close. "Fortunately for you, I am an excellent tutor." Henry leaned into the kiss and let the prehensile lip work over the top of his.

The wolf worried for a time that sex would be all he would feel. Yet, even as the three-fingered hand rubbed his chest, he realized there was so much more that he was feeling beyond the simple touch. Between the pressed lips, he mumbled, "I'm ready to learn, teacher."

Henry felt the rhino pick him up, never letting the kiss slip away. The others in the group let the temple dogs repeat the same act, lifting them into the dogs' arms. Quietly, the group slipped away toward showers in the monastery. On the highland, the beasts playfully interacted with each other as they waited for the call from the seven. On the second day, one by one, from all points of the highland, the call came. The seven husbands welcomed the thousands into their lives.

From atop the monastery, the five looked out and hesitated. Oliver gave the puma a gentle shove. "Does what your heart tells you to do." The five looked at each other and gave the call. Choosing their path, the beasts in the glade dropped to all fours and sped toward their most irresistible invitation.

Chapter 12

Carl and Randy stood up from the pile of beasts on the floor and gave themselves a shake. They looked down at the five, only now beginning to stir. "You men are amazing."

Henry laughed. "The same is true of our handsome hosts." He looked around the dimly lit room. "And this room is amazing. I have to admit it ups the ante on nearly everything we ever did."

"You had fun?" Carl asked.

"Words fail me for how much fun I had," Henry answered. The nodding heads of the other South Dakotans showed their agreement.

"Good," Carl said. "You men stay here and relax a bit. Randy and I will go make you breakfast." The two headed up the stairs to the main house, leaving the five behind.

Dennis gave a happy sigh and pushed himself up. He looked at the group. "I am so glad you're here. For all the family we met this week, I still look at you four and realize this is who I am. You are my people, the ones I looked for in that crowd when it all overwhelmed me. You're the ones who make me feel safe."

Clyde's face blushed red. "I'm the same about y'all. I ain't never had someone like the four of you I love so much. It's funny how playing with them others made me realize how lucky I am that you are in my life. I loved every man-beast out there. But the ones in this room..." the pig paused, "I ain't got words for how you make me feel."

Wyatt shifted his position. "I agree with Clyde."

Henry nodded. "I think we all do."

Clyde's four-fingered hands reached out and touched both Henry and Dennis. "I've been learning so much this week; about myself, about us. I watched an entire field full of beasts that jumped into loving each other like they were together forever. And somehow they drug me along with them."

Wyatt put his arms around the pig. "Kind of felt good, didn't it?"

"It was heaven, Husband." The pig's other husband slipped up on his side, and Clyde sighed when the teeth bit into his shoulder. "I never knowed who I really was. I never knowed what I wanted to be until these last few days. And then it all came tumblin' down around me."

"Any regrets," John asked.

"That I didn't see it sooner, I suspect," Clyde answered.

"I didn't mind waiting," John comforted. He chuckled. "Well, not much anyway."

Clyde turned to the wolf, "Thank you for waitin'. Thank you both for waitin'." He turned back to Henry and Dennis, where his hands still lingered. "And thank you both."

"Our pleasure," Dennis replied.

Clyde took a deep breath. "All them beasts taught me how important it is not to wait. They taught me what it meant to dive into life instead of sitting on the sidelines wonderin'."

"Agreed," Wyatt said.

"So, I gots me a question for you four, and if I'm wrong, then I'm sure y'all will tell me." The four nodded. "When we was at the highland, did y'all see the tree that big bear painted of the whole family?"

"Yeah, we saw it, Clyde," Dennis answered. "Is that your question?"

Clyde smiled and bumped himself playfully into the puma. "No, Cat," the pig replied. "You seen us, right? We were there, and Éric painted all five of us together linked to Will and his family. I asked him why, and he said it felt right. And I got to wondering if he saw something we should have seen ourselves. I'm wondering if Oliver and Will were aware of it too when they dragged us off to them showers. They made sure that we was together for the first two days."

The pig hesitated, forming the words in his head. "So here's my question. I want to know if we should be more than a pack, more than a family? I want to know if we should be mates like Will and his husbands are?" Clyde grinned, seeing no look of shock or disagreement in the faces of the others.

John nodded his head again. "I was contemplating the same thing around day four. When I looked across that field and watched Nathaniel pounding Henry's ass for, like, the twelfth time, I wasn't just happy for him. I realized how much I wanted to step up and take care of that ass once we got home. And, not as a friend the way I've always done..." John looked into Henry's eyes, "... but as your mate. As someone you knew would be there for so much more than a monthly pounding at our get-togethers."

Henry smiled. "I would like that."

Clyde rubbed Dennis's chest. "I don't want to take nothin' away from the love you two share, Cat. But I want you to understand that the love I have for you two goes deeper than you know."

Dennis brought his paw up to the hand on his chest. "Then we're two of a kind, Pig." He looked at the other three. "I always thought of Will as a free spirit that would never settle down, but then I watched him there in those showers. He was the same over-the-top sexual creature I remembered from our first meeting. God, how that wolf can draw me into mischief, and how I love him for it. But, for the first time, I saw his other side.

"I thought our showering was winding down when he dragged me into the most outrageous group sex I've ever been in. There was the rhino, a pack of African dogs, and I don't know how many wolves. And, the same as he was at Sturgis, Will was there, everywhere, making sure he left no one out. He was committed to every one of us going home extolling the virtues of his very unvirtuous behavior.

"But he never left their sides; not really. I saw it in his eyes even after Oliver got dragged away by Kris. All alone with us, Will's husbands were there with him. They were all somewhere else, but he kept them there, locked away safely inside him. He loved us all, but he was in love with them, and never for a moment did any of us doubt it."

Dennis paused for a moment. "I realized it was the same way I felt about Henry for so long. It didn't matter who else I was with, Henry never left me because I had him safely resting in my heart." He shook his head, rubbing the hand of the pig lovingly. "And then I looked up from all those bodies and I saw you, Clyde. There, in the middle of so many wonderful bodies playing with me, I realized I felt the same way about you." The mountain lion paused again. "I loved them all, but I was in love with that smiling pig staring into my eyes. These last four days, I have felt that way for you and Wyatt."

"And you, John," the puma said, looking up at the wolf clinging to the pig. "I don't know how long I've felt it, but Will was right. It's easy to love more than one man once you realize how much that's what you want to do. I have held all of you in my heart so that even when you returned to your homes, you were beside me. We have stayed together for centuries. I have no clue why we didn't realize the reason until now. Maybe, because until we met those seven, we didn't even believe it was possible. Maybe it took the scent of their mating mingling with ours to wake me up to what has been around me all this time."

Wyatt let his hold on the pig slip away. "So, now that we realize it's possible, should we be doing right by what they taught us?" He reached out his paw to Henry. "Marry me, Wolf. Be my mate the way we should have been for all these years." His other paw reached out toward the puma. "Marry me, Cat. I'm sorry I let your marriage to Henry ever be a reason that I never told you two how much I love you." He shook his head. "Or how much I wanted you to be my mate."

Clyde put his other hand on the puma's paw. "What he said, Cat. I never imagined I could ever be happier than the day these two wolves made me their mate, but I see now I can be. I need another wolf and a lion in my life that calls me Husband."

Dennis smiled at Clyde. "There's going to be a lot of neck biting this time around, Pig."

"I'm good with that. You set them chompers of yours deep, Cat." Clyde twisted to see all in the group. "Biting you is risky with these tusks of mine, but if we go slow, I will do my part."

"Then we'll go slow," John said.

"Most of the time," Henry interjected with a lecherous grin. "I just got told you wanted to take me like Nathaniel, and that bear does not go slow."

"Most of the time works for me," John agreed. He looked at the others. "No time like the present men. We work out our living arrangements later, and we all chip in to repair this place after we're done. Agreed?"

"Agreed," the three responded. It was hard to say if Clyde mounted Dennis first or if John beat him to the punch mounting Henry. Wyatt was the first to set his teeth as he mounted the pig. All five would recall those first moments the same. They remembered how much longing and desire vanished in becoming what they wanted to be all along.

From the kitchen, Carl looked up from his chafing dish. He reached over and turned the burner off. "Looks like we need to wait on breakfast," he said with a smile. "What say we give Clifford and Kirk a call and invite them over for the waiting?"

"Sounds like a plan," Randy said with a chuckle. "Took those boys long enough to figure it out,"

"I was beginning to think we lost our touch."

"I was beginning to think the room had lost its touch. I'm glad all our reputations will remain intact." Randy sniffed the air. "I love the smell of mating in the morning."

"You realize It's going to be at least midnight before they call us," Carl said.

"You know what? I say we give Eldon a call and put a flight back to the highland on standby," Randy proposed.

"Are you insane? Do you have any idea what those five showing up on the highland newly mated will do after that week-long love fest?"

"Extend it for another week?" Randy said, smiling. "This is new to them, Hon. They're just now learning how far that love will take them. Don't they deserve to feel what it's like to have that love celebrated in a grand way?"

Carl tapped the ComLink on his chest. "Eldon," he said. He gave his husband a quick kiss. "Yeah, Babe, they do. We all deserve that at least once in our lives."

Chapter 13

"I am not sure what you want of me, Adam," the confused temple dog said.

"I want you to teach me how to battle beside Donovan," the otter repeated. "You did it once. You can do it again."

"We trained Marcus so that he could stand alongside Donovan," Noboru replied. "The goal was not to make them warriors. We sought to make them work as one. You and Donovan have already found that bridge, and now seem to have walked back from where you once were. Teaching you to battle is unnecessary. And even if you press for such training, you are an otter. Two wolves fighting at least have a chance to best a temple dog while sparring."

"I can do anything that a werewolf can do," the defiant otter growled.

Noboru tossed his khakkhara at Adam and the otter's hands reached out to grab it. When he tried to twirl the staff the way Donovan would do, it hit the ground with a dull thud. "You are too short to even wield a khakkhara, Little One," Noboru sighed.

"Okay, I thought I was going to be okay with you calling me Little One," Adam said, shaking his head. "I know you call everyone that... but no, just no."

"I am sorry it distresses you, Adam," Noboru said. "I will speak the words no more in your company."

Adam dropped to the ground, and the khakkhara fell beside him. "I'm sorry, Noboru. I'm out of line. You call all those you love Little Ones."

"It does not upset them, Adam. I have no problem using any name you choose."

"Yeah, but what kind of protector of the universe am I if calling me Little One is enough to upset me?"

"It would seem to be a low threshold for a breaking point," Noboru agreed.

Adam shook his head and gave a laugh filled with regret. "What have I done?" he asked himself more than Noboru. Noboru understood the conflict in the otter's eyes and did not answer the rhetorical question. "I made a mess of everything, Noboru," Adam finally whispered. "I thought freeing Donovan was the right thing to do."

"It was," the temple dog agreed.

"I know, but it's only made matters worse."

"With you?"

"No, no, he is very loving and caring," the otter replied. "But he insists we must train. He says we need to be one first in mind, then in body." Adam let out a long sigh. "How can I convince him to return if I can't even show him I can do everything he does outside of me?"

"You are an otter, Adam. By extension, you cannot be the wolf you once were. You need to find a different path. Marcus should have told you this."

Adam looked down at the ground. "He did. Many times. He said the one place where Donovan and I seem to be a match is how bull-headed we are."

Noboru laughed aloud and then waved his hands back and forth, trying to call back the laugh. "I'm sorry, Adam," he said, "but I agree with your family, and it's nice to know they are trying to help."

"Help? How is calling me bull-headed helping?"

Noboru bowed and kissed the top of the otter's head. "They tell you the truth, even when it is difficult to speak. And they do it with love." The noble dog stood back up. "And a bit of humor. They are teaching you, Adam. Your training has already begun. You have erroneously believed that your training would only come from outside yourself in the shape of a temple dog."

"But Marcus and Donovan trained with you. I was there, remember?"

"We remember, Adam. But we also remember we created that training for Marcus and Donovan. It was unique to them; as is all the training we offer to our family. You cannot recapture what they did."

"Then we try another form of training, or make me a smaller staff," the otter rebutted. "Donovan has returned, and he has told me we need to train together. I have to find something we can share."

"Perhaps your training lies beyond the martial arts. We could seek another way for the two of you to train," Noboru suggested.

"Is this going to be one of those sexual marathons that my other husbands love so much as a teaching opportunity?" the otter asked.

Noboru smiled. "Would you like it to be?"

The otter thought for a moment. "I won't say no. I'm pretty sure everyone inside me is screaming yes. But I don't know what Donovan would say. I know he enjoys sex with you, but I'm not sure he enjoys making it a part of training."

Noboru nodded. "Then we have already laid the foundation for your training." The temple dog looked up into the night sky. "We begin our training tonight. Go talk to Donovan and meet me at the pagoda at midnight."

Adam laughed. "What? Meet me at the pagoda at midnight tonight. What are we doing? Going on a spy mission?"

Noboru gave another nod. "That could be an accurate description of what we are doing. If you like, I can even give you passwords and codes to make it more intriguing. However, what we are about to do is far more simple than any training you have ever done. I will ask you to view the world around you and learn from it."

"That is not a simple task, Noboru," the otter disagreed. "That is far more difficult than wielding a staff while fighting."

There was a third nod from the smiling temple dog. "You have already learned the first lesson of your training, Adam. Ensure that before midnight, Donovan understands it as well. I will meet you both then."

The dog leaned over and kissed the top of Adam's head once more. He turned and left the bewildered otter watching him walk into the temple.

At midnight, both Adam and Donovan were in front of the pagoda. The tolling of the hour came from above, and Noboru rounded the corner, adjusting his fur. "I hope I am presentable. Peng and I usually bathe in the evening, and I lost track of time for a moment."

Donovan shook his head. "I am surprised we weren't waiting for you in the morning light, Dog."

Noboru grinned. "Then you understand my predicament, Donovan. But I promised you two tonight. Peng and I will have other moments to enjoy."

"Why are we out so late at night?" the Armbruster's wolf asked.

"Because the world you are to encounter is not here," Noboru replied. Without a single gesture from the temple dog, the three were blinking back the bright sunlight. They stood in the middle of a bustling park. People were jogging along the tree-lined paths. Others sat on park benches, reading under the shade of the trees. Vendors congregated about a block down the path selling balloons and snacks from pushcarts. Rising from behind the trees were buildings of incredible heights.

"Where are we, Dog?" Donovan asked.

"This is Central Park Island off the coast of New York," Noboru replied. "You sought training, Ancient One. Your training has begun."

"And how did we get here?" Adam asked.

"Do you wish to explore the how of where we are, or do you wish to train?" the temple dog replied.

Donovan groaned. "Let it go, Otter. He will not answer your question. This is all too familiar to me. Accept that we are here the same way we accept you take us places."

"But I am a pan-dimensional being. I can traverse space by bending it," the otter protested.

"And Noboru is a dog that wishes to teach us a lesson he can only provide here on Central Park Island." The Armbruster's wolf extended his hand to the otter. "If we spend too much time on the how, we may well miss the why."

Noboru smiled. "You are wise, Ancient One," he said. He pointed out toward a section of the park where old men sat under a pergola playing chess. There was an old octagonal red and cream-colored brick structure beside the pergola. Individuals of all ages walked in and out. "They call that building the Chess and Checkers House," Noboru said. "Here is our first lesson."

"What are we to learn from a brick house?" Donovan asked.

"It is not the building you should see, Ancient One," Noboru replied, "but the people who share the space."

The two beasts accompanying the temple dog tried to discern what Noboru wished them to understand. "There are only a few old men playing chess," Adam said.

"It is early," Noboru replied. "Come the noon hour, the crowd will grow with those on their lunch break. Many choose to walk the mile across the bridge to spend their time here. The children will arrive after school lets out. The age or sex of who you watch here is irrelevant. Go beyond what your eyes see. See the lesson taught with each move of a chess piece."

The two remained quiet, watching. Neither could see anything beyond the few old men playing chess. At last, Noboru sighed and broke the silence. "Perhaps an easier lesson," he said. "I told Adam that these lessons would be simple, but my choice of words might have been misleading. The lessons are simple, but I do not mean they are easily learned. Take one last glance, gentlemen, and hold it in your memory. I hope as we walk, all will become clear." The great yellow beast turned and began walking down the path toward the forests.

Noboru avoided most of the pathways through the park. He walked through grassy fields, over large rock outcroppings, and through wooded areas. As they walked, sometimes Noboru would help Adam through the rugged terrain. When surmounting a wall of stone was impossible, he lifted the small otter. Both Adam and Donovan noticed that Noboru intentionally chose the most difficult path. They walked through the brush rather than around it. Other times, he would bypass the gentle incline of a rock outcropping in favor of going to the highest point of a rock before dropping over the side.

There was no real danger to any of the beasts. Their strength easily handled any jump they made. And yet, with each new obstacle, Noboru would step in front of the smaller otter and hold back a branch or help him up over a rock wall.

When they reached another outcropping of rock, the three looked down from the top of the precipice. Again, Noboru had led the three to the top of the rock, rather than down along its sloping side. Donovan placed his arm in front of Noboru's paws as they reached out to Adam. "He is my husband," Donovan said with a smile. "I believe I should be helping him."

Noboru smiled. "Then you have learned the lesson." Donovan reached out and lowered his mate over the side of the rock and safely to the ground.

Without another word, the walk continued until the three stopped in front of a statue of a dog wearing a sledding harness. "As you might expect, I have an affinity for this statue," Noboru said. "His name was Balto. He was a lead sled dog so many, many years ago. In the winter of nineteen twenty-five, a devastating diphtheria epidemic threatened Nome's children. The local hospital had used all its antitoxin for the disease. The closest serum available to stop the outbreak was in Seattle, Washington. Normally, they would fly the serum to Nome. But the engine of the only plane that could deliver the medicine would not start.

"Late in January of that year, the Great Race of Mercy began. They used a dogsled relay to transport the diphtheria antitoxin across the frozen terrain of Alaska. This was an act of desperation to save the small town of Nome from the epidemic. To accomplish this incredible task, one hundred fifty sled dogs had to run one thousand eighty-five kilometers in five and a half days.

"When the humans told the story of this amazing feat, the hero was a Siberian husky named Balto. Balto was the lead of the Gunnar Kaasen team on the last leg of the serum run to Nome. Balto's reputation as a team leader was not good. When an unexpected blizzard enveloped the team, few expected them to make it through. However, Balto rose to the challenge and safely guided his team past dangers unseen. The legend says he even stopped the team before they fell into the Topkok River.

"The team arrived before dawn on the second of February with the serum. The town of Nome and the surrounding area circumvented the epidemic. Balto became an instant hero as the savior of the children of Nome. Headlines in newspapers and stories over the radio made him so popular that later that same year, they erected this statue."

Noboru paused. His paw reached out and touched the nose of the bronze dog. "He was a noble dog, and deserving of his accolades. And yet, so were all his one hundred and forty-nine brothers. Seppala and his lead dog, Togo, actually traveled much farther and braved much harsher conditions. The press ignored the Athabaskan and other Native Alaskan mushers entirely. This slight was despite their brave dogs covering two-thirds of the distance to Nome. The color of the human's skin did not make for popular headlines. So many dogs died along the path. There are no statues for them. Their names are long forgotten."

Noboru paused. "Here is your next lesson. I will not make you struggle with its meaning. Balto was not the hero of the story. He alone would not have saved the children of Nome. His team alone would not have saved the children. The dogs worked as one to save their charges. What notoriety came of that act, what fame they might have received; all that was of no consequence.

"It is the way it has always been for the dogs in your midst. We do not care if you remember our names. It doesn't matter if you know which dog catches you as we fall through the trees in our copulations gone awry. We do not care if you know who stands by your side as the universe falls. We do not care because we are one. When you look at us, it matters not which dog stands beside you, only that you know the dog you see loves and protects you with a singular purpose." The dog paused, and in the stillness, the two learned. "Our lives before yours," Noboru whispered. "It is not only something we say. It is how we live."

Adam thought about what Noboru had said as he stared at the statue. The pieces were falling into place. He wondered if Donovan saw it. Noboru wasn't there to train them. He was an object lesson for what they needed to become.

Before the otter could voice his understanding, a golden paw reached out to the two and yanked them in another direction. They were walking again. This time along the paved pathways, crowded with humans enjoying the day.

As they passed by a drinking fountain, Noboru paused. He leaned over and took a long drink from the spigot. He rose back up and wiped his paw across his mouth. "You must try this water. New York is still very proud of the quality of their drinking water. In its heyday, before the War of the Continents, there were two hundred and fifteen drinking fountains in Central Park. The island has far fewer, but they hope one day to restore them all. Water is life. It doesn't matter from which fountain you drink. All will quench your thirst and provide that which we cannot live without."

Adam and Donovan both took a drink from the fountain, knowing that Noboru never stopped without a lesson to be learned. They were grateful that this lesson was again an easy one to understand. Adam looked up at Donovan and smiled. Donovan returned the smile. Again, the temple dog pulled both in another direction.

The three stopped at last in front of an enormous statue of three bronze bears. The deep blue-black coloration of the bears attested to the number of years it had weathered the elements. As with the previous statue, Noboru's paw reached out and touched the bears. "One last lesson to be learned. The only lesson you need to learn before your training is done."

"And what, pray tell, is that lesson, Dog?" Donovan asked.

"The only lesson I have been trying to teach you all day," the temple dog replied as he pulled his paw back to his side. "This is called Group of Bears," Noboru said. "While their species are incorrect, I like to think of them as the members of my family." The temple dog pointed to the one standing in the middle. "That is Kris, and the two on either side are his sons, Eric and Nathaniel."

Adam chuckled. "You're leaving out two of his sons that are inside me."

"I realize the statue doesn't include all our family. That would be a rather cumbersome statue. But it speaks to the truth of our family. The father rises above his sons, not to make them subservient, but to watch over them. The sons rest close to his side, not because they are weaker, but because they know their place is always by their father's side. They watch over him, even as he watches over them. They are three bears with one heart shared between them."

"And that is the lesson we are to learn?" Donovan asked.

"The lesson you are to learn is there," Noboru said pointing toward an old couple sitting on a park bench. "Watch and learn. All that you need to learn is there. It was there when you watched the old men playing chess together. I spoke of it when you learned the story of the sled dogs. It was present as you drank from the fountain. It is here in a couple facing their last years together. See beyond the moment. See what you must see before you even lift a khakkhara to spar against the dogs you would have train you."

Adam nodded to those inside him. He understood. But the wolf beside him did not see as clearly. Donovan shook his head. "I'm afraid the lesson eludes me," he said.

Noboru smiled. "Then I hope the sexual marathon we engage in upon our return will open your eyes. Adam has said he is not opposed to the idea, and Peng is still aroused. Perhaps we can share the next few days together exploring what eludes you, Ancient One."

Donovan looked down at the otter. "Do you understand what he's trying to teach us?" he asked.

Adam nodded. "I do."

"Then tell me."

"I can't, my love. It is a lesson one has to learn on his own."

"Are you telling me those four inside you didn't help?" the wolf pressed.

"They've known all along. I'm the slow learner," the otter replied.

"Then what does that make me?" Donovan growled.

Adam smiled. "My husband. The man who is going to leave me breathless in our first sexual marathon together."

"Really?" Donovan said with a laugh.

"I believe your mate has tendered a challenge, Ancient One," Noboru said. "Now it only remains to be seen if you can rise to that challenge."

"Innuendo, Dog?" the wolf grinned.

"If it pleases you to think so," Noboru replied. Without a motion, the three found themselves back inside the walls of the Tibetan monastery. Peng came running outside to greet them. Noboru hugged the dog and stared at his erection when the hug had ended. "I regret leaving you earlier tonight, Peng," the temple's Abbot said. "Our guests have offered to help ease your suffering."

"And what of yours, Master?" Peng asked as he reached out and stroked Noboru's swollen flesh.

"We are family. We will find a way."

"We mustn't forget the family gathering in three days," Peng added. "They will expect all the temple dogs to be there."

"Then we will have to concentrate our efforts to make this sexual marathon end on time," Noboru said, turning to the wolf and otter. "I hope you don't mind that we tire you out quickly."

Donovan looked at Adam and smiled. Adam smiled back with a happy nod. The Armbruster's wolf looked up at the two eager dogs. "Have at us, Dogs. We give no quarter until two nights from this moment." Donovan regretted he didn't see what his husband saw. But when the temple dog jumped on top of him, he realized for the moment, he was okay with being in the dark -- both literally and figuratively.