章節 2: Chapter 2
When Cal glanced at the dashboard clock,he blinked in confusion.Then he realized this must’ve been what the whole“nightless nights”thing of Finnish summer was about.It was still light outside.Not daylight bright,but still,he could see into the woods by the roadside.
He felt pretty sure that if he’d shifted and gone into the forest,he could’ve seen just as well he did in daytime.Not that he would be shifting anytime soon.He hoped.
“Dad,you okay?”Kit asked,squeezing his hand—when had he made a fist?—carefully.
“Yeah,”he managed to say,flashing Kit a small smile.
Kit obviously wanted to say something else,but held the words for the time being,and looked out of the window into the summer night.
They got to the farmyard,and Kit vibrated with excitement.This was what he’d been waiting for,Cal knew.Somewhere safe,somewhere he could be in his tiny fox form and not be bothered by bigger shifters.
He’d wanted somewhere clean and quiet,and Cal had understood.He’d tried giving that to Kit once before,a few years ago,in Italy.It hadn’t worked out,in fact,it had backfired hard enough that now he was here,trying to hang onto his sanity.
Shaking his head,Cal got out of the car and took in the Jarvela farm.
Mikael had parked in the middle of the yard,and Cal could see two houses on either side,with a lake behind the smaller one.There was even what Cal thought must’ve been a sauna on the shore
He could smell and hear horses and sheep somewhere nearby.Yeah,Kit would love it here.
“Dad?We’re going inside,”Kit said,gesturing with his shoulder,as his hands were full.
Somehow,Cal had wandered off a bit,and he returned to the car to notice that the bags had been placed neatly on the bigger house’s porch now.
He felt like a patient suddenly.Except his wasn’t a physical injury,it was mental.Instead of not letting a person with a healing broken arm carry his own stuff,the others were now gauging his moods instead.
He tried to smile,knowing it looked like a tight grimace,as he followed Kit to the house.
“We have couple of free rooms upstairs,we’ll show them to you in a bit.But I’d like for you both to meet everyone who stays in this house,so there won’t be any surprises.The wolf pack will stay in the old house across the yard until tomorrow,”Mikael spoke calmly in a way only a human who had been around shifters for a long time would.
Cal nodded and Kit seemed both excited and cautious.Cal knew the caution came from him,not Kit.It was because his son wasn’t sure how Cal would react to being around shifters larger than them both.
“Sure,”Cal grunted.
Mikael showed them into the living room and Kit sat in the corner of a loveseat,leaving the nearest side to the door for Cal.
“Okay,so you know Maxim and me,he’s a Siberian tiger and I’m half-one,my mom was a tiger.I never met her,she passed away after giving birth to me,”Mikael explained.“Maxim,can you get the others?”
Maxim grunted,and soon enough,two men and a boy around Kit’s age stood in the doorway.By scent alone,Cal could tell one of them was a fox—the boy,probably,based on his rangy build—and one a jaguar.The third one was another big cat,but Cal didn’t know the scent.Had to be rare as hell,because there weren’t many shifter species he hadn’t met
“I’m Anton,I’m the fox.I’m nineteen,”the young man said,smiling slightly.He looked curiously at Kit.Cal was glad about Kit having people his own age here.
“I’m Kit,I’m a Fennec fox,”Kit said,waving at Anton.
“That’s awesome.We have two young wolves too,they’re sixteen and eighteen.”
“Oh,that’s great,I’m eighteen too.”
The man with a military posture nudged Anton aside.
“I’m Noah,I’m a jaguar.Originally from the States,as is my mate here.”
The taller man was the mystery shifter,then.He wrapped an arm around Noah’s waist.“I’m Dallas.I’m a tiglon.”
Well,that definitely explained the confusion.Hybrid shifters were extremely rare,just like hybrid animals were in the wild.
Mikael smiled.“Normally,we have two others in the house,Lark and Shani,they’re a lynx and a cheetah respectively,but they’re abroad,visiting Shani’s family.They will be back for Christmas though.”
“How many wolves are in the pack?”Kit asked,excited to be around his fellow canids.
“There are the alphas,Sean and Rider,their two teenagers and then the three little ones,”Mikael said.“So there’s a lot of people here.”
“Yes.We will take you to the Metsala farm tomorrow.For peace and quiet,”Maxim said gruffly.
“Is it close?”Kit wanted to know,because he’d most likely want to hang out with the young people.
“There’s a marked path through the woods.We’ll show it to you tomorrow,”Anton piped up.
“All right,well,we made a lot of sandwiches for you guys,so that’s what’s for late dinner.”Noah grinned.“We’re going to go watch TV in our room.Talk to you tomorrow.”
“I can show you guys your rooms,”Anton volunteered enthusiastically.
Mikael nodded.“You do that,and we’ll make some tea to go with the sandwiches.”Before they could move,Mikael added,“If you two want to eat upstairs,that’s fine.Anton will bring your dinner up,Cal.”
“Yeah,I can get my own or eat in the kitchen,but Dad probably wants to eat in his room,”Kit spoke for both of them,because he was no doubt sensing his energy reserves dwindling slowly but surely.
When Mikael looked at him,Cal nodded.“Sounds good.”
“All right.”Mikael left the room with Maxim in tow.
Kit jumped up and went ahead with Anton to the porch to grab some of their stuff.
“Dad?I’ll leave most of the luggage out here.We don’t need much,right?”Kit called back.
Cal made his body move off the couch and into the open doorway.“Yeah,give me my backpack and leave the rest,please.”
“Here you go,sir,”Anton said politely,handing over Cal’s battered old backpack.
“Call me Cal,”he forced out the words,hoping they sounded neutral or even positive enough
At least they weren’t horrible,because Anton smiled at him and nodded.“Okay,this way.”The fox slunk past Cal like his animal side might’ve and headed to the stairs.
The house was nice and modern,despite being a log house.Cal found the mild scent of wood comforting.
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