Page 34 of Fractured Fang: Omega

“Okay, that’s… We’ll try that.” Wilder rubbed his scruff.

“I don’t know how far the distance is for it. We’ve never tested it or anything,” Gabe said.

“Let’s just see what we can do. Macs and Gabe, you’re the only ones who know his scent well. Shift, and go. The rest of us will pick up what we can out of the car. Let’s find him and bring him back.”

“Alright.” I was already shucking my clothing.

“After that, we’ll have a nice long heart-to-heart on why no one needs to worry about anyone getting kicked out of this pack, no matter what job they hold or skill sets they provide, even if it’s no job or skill at all.” Wilder looked at Phillip directly.

I shifted and followed my mate as we navigated through the woods. I kept my nose to the ground. Gabe seemed to have a read on Levi’s scent. We followed him to the riverbank, where the scent seemed to cut off, but we found it again quickly over the bridge. Thank the Goddess because if he had fallen into the water… I did not know what would happen.

Across the bridge, the forest grew thicker. Levi’s scent was stronger because he had to brush up against several different trees to get through. Hopefully, it would slow him down.

Finally, twenty minutes in, in a thick part of the forest, we found Levi huddled in a hollowed-out log.

Am I in trouble?he said as we approached.

Gabe laid down at his side, putting his head in Levi’s lap. I don’t know what Gabe said because I couldn’t hear his words.

No, I assured him.You aren’t in trouble. We shouldn’t have been arguing like that in front of you. Come on back. We need to go.I jerked my head toward the way we came.

I got a little turned around,Levi said.I did not mean to go so far.

I still wasn’t sure if he was directing that to both of us, but I answered.

It’s alright.

The man yelling, was that Gabe’s dad?he asked.

I nodded.It was. He means well.

He’s going to have to learn how to be a better grandpa.

I choked. Gabe must have heard Levi’s words as well because he chuffed out a laugh.

Come on back, little pup. You’ve got to be hungry, and while Phillip might not be your favorite person right now, he does make good food.

Levi sighed and put his hand on my back and then Gabe’s.

I promise it won’t be so bad.

I let out a howl that I hoped the others heard and understood as “Levi was found, and we could go back.” It seemed they did get the message because when we stepped foot back onto the center of the territory half an hour later, everyone was already there.

Gabe and I both shifted back to our skin. Both of us put a hand on Levi’s shoulder.

“Everyone, this is Levi,” Gabe said. “Macs and I have adopted him. We have the paperwork from the council with their approval as well.”

Phillips stepped forward first. He put out his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Levi. I’m sorry if I scared you. If you give me a chance, I’d like to make it up to you all. Since I knew you’d be arriving today—well, I didn’t know about you—but since I knew your dad would be back, I made some of Gabe’s favorites.”

Gabe translated as much as he could to Levi, but to his credit, Phillip was speaking both slowly and loudly.

“He reads lips a bit,” I said. “but it takes some time and can go horribly wrong.” When Jacob came, he showed me a video of someone doing horrible lipreading. It had been hilarious, but the lips looked right even as the words were horribly wrong. “Doing what you are doing helps, but sign or your fur are the best forms of communication for him.”

“I guess we’ve all got a lot of learning to do,” Phillip said. “About a lot of things.” He stood firm and looked Gabe in the eye. “I’m sorry. Maybe it’s about time you knew more about where your mother and I came from.”

Gabe’s brow furrowed. “Your original pack. What about them?”

“Well, we were kicked out of there. It took several years before we found another place to settle. It took us petitioning a few different packs before we were brought in. This was a different time, mind you.”

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