Acceptance

by Grace R. Duncan

  Miles chuckled. “I know what you mean. I wonder, though….”

  Quincy raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

  Miles nodded. “I wonder if that would count a honeymoon?”

  Quincy stopped breathing for a moment. “Honeymoon?”

  “Yeah. I thought maybe we might consider doing the legal human thing. Then maybe go to, I don’t know…. Japan for our honeymoon.” Miles wouldn’t look at him and both cheeks were turning red.

  “You want to marry me?” Quincy managed to say.

  Miles smiled and nodded. “If you’re okay with that.”

  Quincy nodded. “Yes! Yes, I’ll… holy shit, I never thought of it.”

  “I’m gathering that.” Miles finally met his gaze. “So… Japan?”

  “Um… duh?”

  Miles laughed. “We’ll talk about that after we get settled at home, yeah?”

  “Yes,” Quincy said, settling in. “What made you think of it?”

  “Well… Tanner and Finley were the first. Chad and Jamie committed to each other in Rome, but want to have a legal human wedding too. I really liked the idea. Especially since legalities can get sticky with just partners.”

  “That makes sense, if we want it all legal… until we’re too old.”

  Miles nodded. “Right. But we’ve got some time before that’s an issue.”

  “Yeah, we do.” Quincy pulled Miles down to him and kissed him softly. I love you.

  I love you, Quince.

  Quincy closed his eyes and settled in against Miles. He didn’t even hear the pilot announce takeoff.

  THEY LANDED in Denver long enough to drop off Noah, who would be meeting Carol at the airport a few hours later, and to refuel. Once they were in the air, Aubrey turned to Quincy. “Could we talk?”

  Quincy glanced at Miles and dropped a kiss on Miles’s lips, then moved over to sit across from his father. He took a deep breath and let it out. “Hi.”

  Aubrey laughed. “Hi. So… do you know where you are going to live?”

  Quincy didn’t sigh, though he wanted to. “We’re going to live in the Pittsburgh area. Forbes pack lands.”

  Aubrey nodded, looking down. “I have to admit I’d hoped you’d changed your mind.”

  “Father, if this whole thing has taught me anything—aside from being more resourceful in hiding—it’s all the places I’d fall short for a tepey. I was pretty sure before this, but….” He shook his head. “I couldn’t have handled any of this nearly as well as you did.”

  “You could be taught,” Aubrey said.

  Quincy took a breath. “Probably. But… Father, Miles needs his pack. He’s been uprooted enough, and Forbes pack is his home. I can’t take him away from that.”

  Aubrey nodded. “I had to try,” he said, smiling wryly. “Who’s going to take over?”

  “Maybe you can convince my uncle or cousin to come back. I know they don’t want it, but I’m pretty sure Danny would be much better adept at dealing with the politics than I would be.”

  Aubrey looked thoughtful for a long moment. “Maybe. I don’t plan to go anywhere for a good long while, so there’s plenty of time to teach Danny what he needs to know.” He chuckled. “My brother’s going to kill me for that.”

  Quincy snorted. “No, he’s not. If it’s what Danny wants, then Uncle Alan won’t get in his way.”

  “True.” He sighed and looked up. “Does this mean no grandcubs?”

  “Um… I’m not built for giving birth,” Quincy said, deadpan. He waited a heartbeat. “But that doesn’t mean we won’t consider surrogacy sometime in the future. Neither of us is ready for cubs or pups yet.”

  Aubrey gave a nod to this. “That’s fair. So….” The attendant interrupted them for drinks, and after putting in their requests, Aubrey took a deep breath. “I thought, maybe, I might… I don’t know, make a trip now and again to Pittsburgh. If I’d be welcome.”

  Quincy blinked at him without speaking for a long moment.

  Baby? You okay?

  Uh, yeah. Tell you in a minute.

  “You want to visit us?”

  Aubrey shrugged a shoulder. “Unless you don’t—”

  “I’d like that,” Quincy said quietly. “Maybe… maybe Miles and I could visit New York a few times a year… when we don’t have to hide it. I still want to attend festivals.”

  Aubrey smiled. “Good. I’d like that. So, tell me about your art,” he said, sitting back.

  Quincy hesitated for another moment. “You’re different,” he said instead.

  “I’m going to tell you something I’d never say in front of another cat.” Aubrey dropped his gaze to his hands, then met Quincy’s again. “When I couldn’t find you, I was terrified. Not scared, not a little afraid. I was terrified.”

  Quincy swallowed, blinking at his father. “Terrified?”

  Aubrey nodded. “I know I will never be a candidate for Father of the Year—even among the cats. But I always loved you. I always cared about you—not just because you were tepey-sa, but because you are my son. And the thought that you might be gone….” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then shook his head. “It woke me up,” he said, looking back up at Quincy. “As tepey, I am supposed to put the pride before everything else. But there is still a balance between the pride and family. Yes, we’re solitary, but maybe we shouldn’t be as solitary as we are. We still have a human half, a part of us that needs people. And the most important of those should be your family.”

  Quincy glanced over at the wolves, then back to his father. “That’s something I’ve recently understood better too.”

  “So, I realized I needed to pay more attention to those closer to me. Relax a little more. Remember what’s important.”

  “I… that’s….” Quincy shook his head, at a loss for what to say to that. He stared at his father for another moment, then smiled. “Miles asked me to marry him.”

  Aubrey’s smile lit up the entire cabin of the plane.

  THAT HAD to have been the most surreal flight Quincy had ever taken. He was still trying to deal with talking to his father about Miles and his art for the better part of two hours. There’d been too many revelations, too much for him to absorb. By the time the plane touched down in Latrobe, Quincy wanted time to not think. It seemed the other three were already thinking something similar.

  Tanner picked them up from the airport and drove them back to his place. The four of them were barely out of the Outlander before they started stripping. Finley managed to get them in the house to leave their clothes inside before he too stripped.

  “It’s been way too long since I’ve been in my fur,” Chad declared as he waited for the rest to finish undressing.

  “I imagine it’s worse for you than the rest of us,” Miles said, nodding.

  “I don’t know, but he’s been pushing me for a while. Come on, babe. Race you to the stream,” he said, then immediately started shifting. Jamie was only a couple of seconds behind him, and they took off for the trees.

  Quincy let his cat take control, growling in pleasure when he landed on four paws. Definitely too long.

  Same here. Let’s see what we can scare, yeah?

  Quincy would have laughed if he’d been in human form. As it was, he immediately took off. If you catch me, you can top!

  I am so catching you!

  “YEAH, WE found a rental place on the edge of Latrobe,” Miles said to Carol. “Just until construction is done. It’ll take a while, of course, but we’re not far from pack lands, so it’s good. And it’s close enough to the office we’re looking at for my practice.”

  Carol nodded. “I wonder, though. Didn’t Tanner and Finley offer you one of their rooms?”

  Miles grinned. “Yeah, but, uh….”

  “We prefer a bit of privacy,” Quincy said, deciding to save him.

  Carol smirked. “I suppose I can see that.” She sighed. “Well, I’m going to miss this place. I mean, Denver is beautiful, but this is home.”

  “Is
Noah still in shock?” Miles asked.

  Carol laughed. “And stressed.”

  “How can you tell he’s stressed?” Quincy asked. “He’s so….”

  “Stoic?” Carol asked.

  Quincy nodded.

  “He used the word hell the other day.”

  “Wow,” Miles said, eyes widening.

  Quincy blinked. “What am I missing?”

  “My dad is, like, allergic to cuss words,” Tanner said, joining them, Finley, Chad, and Jamie right behind him.

  “Ohhh… and he used hell?”

  “Yes. You could have knocked me over with a feather,” Carol said, chuckling. “Well, I’ll leave you kids to talk. I see Laura’s here.” Carol waved and took off.

  “Well, that’s… something,” Quincy said, shaking his head.

  “I think my dad is still expecting to wake up. He keeps saying he must be dreaming… or in a nightmare. No one was more surprised than he was when they voted him alpha prime.” Tanner chuckled. “Of course, that means I now have to be alpha.” He wrinkled his nose.

  Miles laughed. “You’ll do fine. So will your dad. He’s a good leader.”

  “Yeah, he is.” Tanner nodded. “He’s going to officially pass the pack to me tonight.” He took a deep breath and turned to Jamie. “I’d like you to be my beta.”

  Jamie’s mouth fell open, his eyes nearly bugged, and he stared at Tanner so long, Chad reached over and closed his mouth for him. “You want me to be your beta? But… wouldn’t someone else be better?”

  Tanner raised his eyebrows. “I can’t think of anyone I’d want watching my back more than you. Besides, part of the beta’s duties is as our religious guidance. No one’s more devout than you are.”

  Jamie swallowed, looked over at Chad, then to each of the others before turning back to Tanner. He took a deep breath and finally said, “I’d… be honored.”

  Tanner grinned. “Good.” He glanced up at the sky. “We should get started since we have so much to do tonight.”

  They moved over through the pack clearing and stood next to the fire ring. Noah joined them, along with Noah’s beta, Bob, and his wife, Laura. Carol took her place on the other side of Noah between her husband and Bob.

  “Okay, everyone,” Noah called. “We’ve got quite a bit of business tonight to discuss, so we should get started. Gather around!”

  Quincy tried to take a quick count of the number of pack members in the clearing, but couldn’t manage it. He hit fifty and gave up. It was full. He’d never seen so many shifters in one place, except their big festivals. Do all these people gather every month?

  Not always. Tonight’s a big deal, but sometimes they handle the moon at home or, like Jamie was, are stuck somewhere else.

  Ah.

  “Thank you for making a point of being here tonight,” Noah said when everyone was settled. “I’m sure some of you have heard, but I’ll say it anyway.” He shook his head. “I have been made alpha prime by the alpha council.”

  A huge cheer went up throughout the clearing, and Quincy added his applause to the mix.

  Noah waved but still had to wait a moment for it to calm down. Finally the crowd quieted enough. “Thank you. I’m still figuring things out. I will be able to spend some time here, but a big chunk of my time will be in Denver. More than that, though, my duties as prime mean it’s time for me to step away as alpha of the Forbes pack.” He turned to Tanner. “Tanner Pearce, do you promise to put the pack first, doing everything in your power to lead fairly?”

  “I do,” Tanner said solemnly.

  “And do you promise to do all in your power to help the pack grow?”

  “I do,” Tanner said again.

  “I hereby pass leadership of the Forbes pack to you. May you lead with wisdom, strength, and love.”

  Yet again a cheer went up through the clearing. Tanner had the biggest grin on his face. He held Finley’s hand tightly, then leaned down and kissed Finley quickly, earning himself—and Finley—another round of applause.

  “All right, all right! We’re not done yet!” Noah called. He turned to Tanner. “And now it’s up to you to take over.” He grinned.

  Tanner rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Dad.” Laughter followed, then Tanner held his hand up. Quincy was a little impressed how quickly they quieted for him. “First, Bob has an announcement.” He turned and waved Bob forward.

  “I will be resigning my position as beta. It’s been a good run, but I wanna focus on Steeler football and serving beer.” This got some more laugher, and Laura elbowing him. “’Sides, a young pup like Tanner needs another pup watching his back.” He waved and he, Laura, Noah, and Carol all moved over and took seats in the grass.

  Tanner nodded at them. “Most of you know the man who is my choice for beta, though he’s been spending time down in Pittsburgh at college. More recently, he found a mate.” This brought a new cheer. “Yes. First, I’d like to announce my choice for beta.” He turned to Jamie. “Jamie Ryan, do you accept the position of beta to the Forbes pack? Do you promise to do all in your power to help protect the pack, treat its members fairly, and guide us in our faith?”

  Jamie took a deep breath and swallowed several times. “I do.”

  Tanner put a hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “Couldn’t have a better man for the job.”

  Jamie took a few hard breaths, and Quincy smiled. He’s trying not to cry, isn’t he?

  Yeah. Jamie can be a little emotional, but Tanner did kind of blindside him with this.

  “Now, next order of business, I want to formally introduce Jamie’s mate, Chad Sutton.” Chad stepped forward and waved. The pack cheered and clapped. “Chad is a new wolf,” Tanner said and silence fell. “Yes. He was human when Jamie found him. There is much to go over, but there’s a lot that’s been withheld from us. For one thing, there are human mates out there. Human destined mates. There is also at least one other shifter species.”

  Quincy took a deep breath and stepped forward.

  “I’d like to introduce Miles Grant’s mate, Quincy Archer. A jaguar shifter.”

  A ripple of talk went through the pack. Tanner let it go for a moment, then turned to Quincy and nodded. Quincy tugged off the sweatshirt he wore and handed it to Miles, then turned around, more than a little shy. He still wasn’t used to stripping in front of people, much less a clearing full of wolves. With a deep breath, he shucked his sweatpants, closed his eyes, and let his cat out. When he landed on four paws, he turned around.

  The entire pack had gone silent, all staring in obvious shock.

  “Quincy is now a member of our pack, despite preferring catnip to ham bones.”

  Quincy growled softly and twitched his tail, and the pack laughed, breaking the tension.

  “I don’t have to tell you they are to be kept as secret as the rest of us. In fact, we should be more careful with them, at least for now. The jaguars have many, many less in their population than the wolves do. Quincy is, in fact, the only jaguar in the southwestern Pennsylvania area, possibly the western half of the state.” He waited a beat for that to sink in. “And… that’s it. Thank you for accepting me as your alpha. I promise to do my best for everyone, though I still plan to call the old man quite a bit.”

  Noah rolled his eyes and the pack laughed.

  “Now! Let’s enjoy the moon!”

  Quincy was surprised by the number of people who came up and welcomed him to the pack. He found himself shifting back and tugging his pants on quickly to greet them. He lost count of the number of hands he shook and of well wishes for him and Miles. In fact, it was quite a while later that they finally stopped and he and Miles could get ready to run with them for the full moon.

  When they were both shifted and sitting together for the moment, Quincy turned and worked his head under Miles’s. I can’t believe how welcoming they are.

  I told you they would be.

  I’m sure some of it is because I’m mated to the pack doctor.

  Ha. Hardly. They’re a good gr
oup of people.

  That…. I can see that. Thank you, Miles.

  For what, baby?

  Thank you for accepting me. For giving me a home.

  Thank you for wanting it. Now… let’s go have some fun, yeah?

  Yeah, with our pack.

  Miles gave him a wolfy grin. Yes. With our pack.

  Epilogue

  Eight years later….

  MILES KEPT one eye on the bundles of fur streaking around the outside of the clearing as he talked to Chad and Jamie.

  Chad shook his head and called, “Hey! You really don’t have to chase the cat just because you’re wolves!”

  None of the four blurs even acknowledged his shout.

  Miles had a nagging suspicion about what was going to happen, but he ignored it and turned back to Chad and Jamie. “So… he seriously called you?”

  Chad nodded. “Yeah. Imagine my surprise. I mean, it’s been, what, eight years?”

  “Something like that.”

  “And he’s still calling me for consulting. I mean, I can’t believe the leader of the cats doesn’t have someone else that can do that work for him, you know?”

  Miles shrugged. “He trusts you—you and Jamie.”

  Jamie grinned. “Him more than me.”

  Chad shook his head. “He knows how good you are.”

  Jamie blushed and cleared his throat. He glanced behind Miles and his eyes widened just a second too late. Claws dug into Miles’s legs, ass, and back before a thirty-pound weight settled on his shoulder.

  He shouted, unable to hold it in. “Gods dammit!”

  Three more fur bundles scrambled to a stop at his feet, all looking up at the cub on Miles’s shoulder. One black paw swatted toward them, and all three wolf pups—one with black fur, one with auburn fur, and one with red fur—all started barking.

  Miles glared down at the pups. “All three of you quiet down! Noah and Eric, I will get your dads.”

  The black and auburn pups dropped their heads and whined. The red pup simply rolled over and showed his belly. “Uh-uh, Chad. That’s not going to get you out of trouble,” Miles said, shaking his head. “I’ve told you before to stop chasing your brother, haven’t I?”