I was confused. Last I had heard, the Shining Moon Pack had dissipated. It no longer existed.

"The Shining Moon Pack was dissolved into this Pack about seven or eight years ago when I became River's Luna." It was like she read my mind. "They have their own pack house just a mile down the road, but many choose to mingle here."

Eirenae pulls out a chair at the head of the table. Shocking to me as I realized River wasn't already claiming that seat. He seemed quiet for an Alpha, though. Maybe he just didn't want to argue with his mother-in-law.

"Amethyst, dear," Eirenae says softly, her gaze on the child in the Luna's lap. "Why don't you sit in your own chair, and let your mommy have her chair?"

The girl hesitated but didn't argue, sliding off her mother's leg and plopping her bottom in the seat beside her. Her big round eyes the color of summer leaves never left mine as she moved. I couldn't tell if she was intrigued by our presence or anxious about it, us being strangers in her home. I offered her a small smile, as I often did to May when she was shy about something. The girl didn't even blink in response, just continued to stare me down.

As the food was carried from the kitchen to our table, the hallway door swung open and let three more people inside. Finally, my siblings had decided to join us. They sat on the other side of Mom while the third person took a seat in between Eirenae and the child.

Eirenae smiled warmly at the man, and I noticed her reach over to squeeze his hand. That must be her mate, Emerald's father. While it might be considered rude to assume that in such a first glance, his emerald eyes were so strikingly identical to the Luna's and her daughter's that there was no mistaking who he was. His hair was dark with silver teasing the edges by his ears and neck. His gaze found me and my family and he gave us a polite nod.

"Mommy, I don't like this." Though she wasn't speaking to me, her eyes never left my face as she spoke.

Emerald leaned closer to her, pointing discreetly to the steak on her plate. "Yes you do, Honey. It's streak! You've had steak before." The girl's mouth turned down in a pout as she leaned away from the table. Emerald sighed, "here, I can cut it into smaller bites and you can try some again."

"No!" The girl shrieked batting her mother's hand away.

"Kota!" Eirenae hissed to my left and I saw her nudge the man's elbow.

Kota nodded, leaning towards his granddaughter and telling Emerald he had this. I tried not to stare too long as I watched him encourage the kid to eat. Emerald — relaxed now — took a bite of her own food before starting the conversation back up.

"So, I hate to start the dinner off on a low note, but April mentioned something to me earlier that I can't seem to shake." She glanced at me and I froze mid-chew through my bite of potatoes.

Mom leaned forward to look at me from the other side of Dad. Her face questioned how much I told them.

I gulped the bite down and fiddled with my hands nervously. "I didn't mean to make you nervous. I promise it's nothing like that."

"What, you mean that you're a fox?" May asked innocently, not following our conversation close enough to know that that wasn't really information to be shared that casually.

"May!" Mom hissed and my sister ducked her head between her shoulders in a sulk.

"Sorry."

The rest of the table had become silent, the alpha pairs processing my sister's blunt explanation.

"What does she mean?" Emerald tested finally, her words dragged across her lips painfully.

I sighed, choosing to speak just as slow as she was. "I'm not a wolf. I'm a fox."

Eirenae looked at Kota. "I never read about those." Her voice was a low whisper but it wasn't hard to pick up.

"Me neither," I told her, though I wasn't sure if she was referring to the same thing I was. "When I shifted, I scoured the Royal Information Volumes looking for anything and everything about what I was and what this would mean."

"And you never found anything?"

I shook my head. "Not in those. Other books I read depicted foxes from mythology, not really tying me to the Moon Goddess or anything but everything in the books described many things I know I'm not. Not just personality-wise but physically too. I think I'm mostly like you guys, just I turn into a fox instead."

River frowns, making his first comment ever to me directly. "But there are differences?"

On my peripheral, I could see Mom's warning to tread carefully but I ignored her. We'd opened a hole too big to narrow back down now. Might as well just trust them wholeheartedly. I wasn't nervous though, from what I gathered, these wolves were safe, harmless. Maybe that was stupid of me, but I would be living with them for most likely months; it was better to just tell them the truth from the get-go in my opinion. I made a mental note to respect my parents' wish to act human from then on, though. That was the least I could do.

I nodded, answering River's question. "Subtle, but yes. Like my clothes stay with me for one thing."

Eirenae's eyes grew three sizes. "What?! That's so unfair; that's my least favorite part about shifting!"

Kota chuckled with the shake of his head, but we all ignored her outburst.

"That's really the main difference I suppose. I shifted late, but I'm not sure that means anything. I'm positive more differences will come up as I go throughout my life, but because I haven't found an accurate book on my kind, only time and experience will tell."

"When did you shift?" Eirenae asked me.

"Two years ago about. I was seventeen."

"On your birthday?"

"No. Which I guess is another abnormality about my situation."

Emerald frowned, looking thoughtful. "I wouldn't let on to anyone around here that you're not a wolf. I've found that there are always people looking for, taking, harming those that they deem don't belong. Those that are unique, those that may be a threat of power." Her voice caught suddenly and River draped an arm around her shoulders, kissing her temple to try and calm her down.

Eirenae, too, looked uneasy. I didn't want to pry but from the look of it, both of them had experienced that on a personally level. At least some of what Emerald said. I could tell Eirenae held Royal blood in her. And if it weren't for the obvious aura of power she carried with her that nearly choked me when she entered the room, I had heard the stories. I knew she denied the throne and that her sister Natalia was on it in her place right now. Emerald had some of that aura but it wasn't deafening like Eirenae's. Had they both been hunted for who they were? Could that be why the warning had felt deeply personal?

"We're aware." Mom said softly. That's why we've asked that she pretend she's human when she attends school. Your pack. . . I think your pack should think she's an adopted human. She's aware of wolves but isn't one herself." I could tell mom wasn't the most comfortable making that request with the alphas, but they nodded in agreement, to her relief.

"I think that can be done."

🐾🐾🐾

I was walking down the hall back towards my room after dinner, intending to crash right to the bed and sleep until morning, when I noticed Emerald pacing near my door. She had her daughter on her hip, the child's head buried into her neck.

"April!" She said as she spotted me. She stopped pacing and stood in front of me, her eyes glassy, but motherly. "I hope what I said didn't scare you. I want you to know you're safe here, and the precautions are for when you're on campus and hanging out with friends you meet. I know I met you today, but it will kill me if you got hurt somehow because, because-"

I reached out to touch her arm. "I know. It didn't scare me off, I was already aware of most of the dangers when I made the choice to come out here. I still don't know exactly what could happen to me if the information of my shifted form landed in the wrong hands, but I promise I'll be safe, and I promise you didn't scare me."

Relived, she placed a hand to her chest. "Oh thank Goddess. I was so worried what I told you would make you too nervous to stay."

"Nope," I grinned, "I definitely intend to stay. I wanted to come out here, start a new part of me life, maybe meet a certain someone, and knowing my safety could be on the line isn't enough to stop me. My safety has always been on the line, the second I turned into a fox instead of a wolf."

Emerald grinned, but it didn't reach her eyes. "I'm glad. I've got to get this one to bed, but I'll see you in the morning. Say 'night, Ames!"

The child only buried her nose into her mom's chest, making Emerald chuckle at her shyness. But as she turned to walk down the hall, the girl peeked over Emerald's shoulder at me and I offered a tiny wave. Finally, the girl gave me a smile and lifted her fingers in a wave that matched mine.