Page 49 of Shifters Unifying
Of course, Salali didn’t waste any time.I sighed.
When I straightened, I counted five shifters waited on the front porch, seated in the row of rocking chairs. Smiles wreathed their faces as we approached. Two had shaggy strawberry blond hair, sticking out in all directions, but clean-shaven faces. One brunette tugged on the tip of his Van Dyke beard, while theremaining two females waited, each in frizzy double gray braids, both nearly identical to one another in appearance. They all chittered and clicked at each other as though they were speaking squirrel to one another even as humans.
“Should I send them away?” Phil asked. “Logan should be returning soon. You could rest.”
“Now that wouldn’t be rest, and you know it.”
Phil chuckled. “Still…”
I shot him a tired smile. “No, there’s no sense in putting it off. I promised whoever sent the first five would get my attention. Salali made it happen, so we’ll start there.” I waved to the warriors, and the porch decking creaked as all five stood as one.
“Multimorph, you’ve come,” one of the females said. “I’m Amelia, but they call me Ah-mie. This is my twin sister, Evie.”
Phil zipped away on the four-wheeler.
When I reached the top step, I stuck out my hand, and Amelia shook it. “Not sure I can tell you two apart,” I said, nodding between them. “Ah-mie,” I repeated her specific pronunciation. “Not Amy?” She shook her head in response.
“Evie,” I said to the other.
Evie grinned. “We’re only different by scent, and even then, not always. We’re used to it, and we answer to each other’s names.”
“But not in bed,” one of the light-haired ones quipped.
Evie rolled her eyes before she turned to the others. “That’s Levi, with the mouth. Benjamin is quieter at least, and the bearded one is Reuben.”
These each stepped forward in turn and shook my hand.
“We’re the best of East Nuttal Delta,” Reuben offered.
“Me and Ahmie are better than these three blow-hards,” Evie interjected, her mouth twisting into a smug smirk. “But they’re decent.”
Reuben’s gaze narrowed, but he didn’t argue.
Levi snickered. “It might chaff Reuben’s ass, but Ahmie and Evie fight as two parts of one, and they outfight all of us.”
“What was your territory called?”
Benjamin stepped forward and gave a small bow. “East Nuttal Delta, multimorph.”
“How far from here?”
“Three hours as the raven flies, but four hours by car,” he answered. “You’d probably prefer the car.”
Olivia jogged up the front steps to join us. “Hey, Emma,” she said. “Logan’s still in a foul mood, and you’re probably the only one who can get him out of it.”
I sighed. “Likely. Between the two of us, it’s been a long-ass day, and we could both use a night off. Where is he?”
“He snuck around the backside of the manor, probably slinking in through the backdoor to get to his bedroom.”
“I’ll take care of it,” I said, making a promise I wasn’t sure I had enough time to fulfill. “Where are the four shifters who arrived yesterday? Maybe they can sit in on a training session today.”
Olivia leaned on one of the porch support columns. “Who?”
“I found four young shifters and brought them back from Willow Creek earlier. Jasper’s supposed to be putting them through their training paces.”
“Ah,” she said, glancing toward the warehouse gym. She chewed her bottom lip a moment. “Want me to go get them? Bring ‘em back here?”
“No, take these five with you. Maybe they can train the four newbies a little before we head to East Nuttal Delta.”
