Part Six



It was the first week in October when Brian got the call from Emmett. “Um, Brian, I think maybe you need to come home.”



“Is it Gus?” Brian asked with concern, ignoring the looks of the other men in the conference room.



“Yeah, he’s changed,” Emmett said. “And I’m pretty sure that… yeah, you should definitely come home now.”



Brian hung up the cell phone and made his apologies to the clients before rushing from the office. He called Justin on the way. Justin was between classes and promised that he would skip his last class of the day and be home in twenty minutes. Brian, meanwhile, was driving like a mad man for the mile between his office and home. He made it there in record time and rushed into the house.



When he found Emmett and Gus, they were in the nursery. Emmett was cowering in the corner while an angry little lion cub bared his teeth at him and growled.  Brian paused in the doorway to laugh at the sight. “Fuck, Honeycutt. You let a cute little cub corner you?”



“Cute he may be, but those little teeth look very sharp,” Emmett said feeling relieved that Brian was home.



“What did you do to piss him off?” Brian asked as he walked right over and picked the cub up. Gus immediately began to purr his satisfaction as Brian scratched between his ears and petted him.



Emmett sighed. “We were playing and he wanted to play with my phone. When I told him no, he shifted and began that little display. Every time he settled down and I thought he’d be okay, he’d get riled up again as soon as I would move.”



“Well, that was very naughty,” Brian told Gus as he continued to pet him.



Now that Brian had him, Gus really was very cute and cuddly and Emmett took the opportunity to stroke his soft fur. “He’s really soft.”



Brian snorted but didn’t have time to reply because the mudroom door slammed and Justin shouted, “Brian? Emmett?”



“We’re up here,” Brian said and waited for Justin to come running up the stairs. “Hey princess. Look who figured out how to terrorize the nanny.”



Justin rolled his eyes at Brian but walked over to pet Gus. “Hey there, Gussy. You aren’t supposed to scare the sitter.” Justin looked to Emmett. “What did he do?”



“He had Emmett cornered when I got here,” Brian said with a laugh.



Emmett sighed. “He was just a little peeved with me for not letting him chew on my phone.”



They all went downstairs and Justin cooed over Gus while Brian and Emmett talked about what he could do to control the little lion cub. It was true that Gus’ teeth were pretty sharp when in that form, but Emmett was going to have to suck it up and teach the cub that he wouldn’t be intimidated. Shifters, especially young shifters, responded to authority. If Emmett showed fear or nervousness, Gus would terrorize him daily.



“A low angry growl and grabbing him by the neck should settle him down,” Brian explained. “If that doesn’t work, you can swat his nose, but not too hard. Just enough to remind him who’s in charge.”



“He knows who’s in charge,” Emmett muttered. “And it isn’t me.”



“It is you when we aren’t here,” Justin said as he took a seat beside Brian on the sofa. Gus was prowling around their feet, enjoying the freedom of movement that this form gave him. As a human, he was crawling but it was much harder to coordinate that body’s motions.



Gus stopped in from of Emmett again and narrowed his eyes. The three adults watched and Emmet knew that this was a big moment. If he backed down now, Gus might always see him as lower in the pack. Emmett glanced at Brian for a moment before narrowing his eyes at the cub and growling. The cub hesitated and Emmett grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and growled again.



Gus’s tail tucked between his legs and he lowered his eyes and head.



“You did it!” Justin praised with a smile as Emmett let go of Gus and sat back in his chair with relief. Gus sniffed at his pant leg and then leapt into his lap to be petted. Emmett was happy to comply.



“He’ll need reminded sometimes but as long as you keep your head and don’t let him get away with shit, you should be fine,” Brian told him.



BJBJBJBJBJ



Over the next few weeks, Gus seemed to spend more time as a lion than he did as a baby. Brian theorized that he liked being able to get around, but Justin worried that if he didn’t spend more time as a baby then he’d fall behind in learning how to walk or talk. But since there really was no way for them to force him to change, they let it play out. Brian and Justin often spent time in the evenings with Gus, the three of them in cat form. The mountain lion, lynx and lion cub all wrestled and played until Gus would be too tired out to keep up his form and shifted back into a baby.



Gus’ first birthday was quickly upon them and Debbie insisted that he needed to have a party to commemorate the occasion. Even though both Brian and Justin thought it was a bad idea, they finally relented. The guest list was limited to just Debbie, Emmett, Vic, Ted, Michael, Lindsay and Melanie. Lindsay had recently made the announcement that she was pregnant again—this time the father was from a sperm bank—and she and Melanie seemed to glow with happiness.



Michael, unknown to Brian and Justin, thought it would be a good idea to bring a date with him. Since Brian and Justin had moved in together, Michael had been feeling more and more neglected. Sure Brian still made a point of having lunch together a couple times a week, and sure they still danced at Babylon when Brian and Justin went out, but it wasn’t the same. Justin and Gus took up most of Brian’s attention and Michael was beginning to feel like he was being left behind. So he had decided that he needed to find a life of his own.



Ben was a great guy. He was a college professor specializing in cultural studies and he had traveled all over the world. Michael thought that he might have just hit the jackpot with this one. Though Brian had yet to meet him, everyone else seemed to like him. So Michael hadn’t thought it would be a big deal for him to the birthday party.



Justin watched as the gang milled about the room munching on the food and talking and laughing. Gus was eating up all the attention and had yet to shift, thankfully. The only person who had yet to arrive was Michael, and as soon as the doorbell rang, Justin smiled and went to answer it. Gus, ever the inquisitive child, followed right behind him, so Justin picked him up and they opened the door together.



That’s when all hell broke loose. Michael was not alone. There was a man with him and Justin had to assume that he was the person Michael had been dating. Before Justin could do more than register that there was an extra body there, however, Gus had shifted and was growling and snarling at the stranger.



“Holy shit!” Michael shouted and proceeded to take a step back. Ben, however, was blocking his way and held him in place.



“I’m sorry,” Ben said. “I shouldn’t have come.”



Justin nodded to Brian’s office and carried the still angry cub in there. Ben steered Michael into the room behind them. Justin growled at Gus and stroked his neck until he settled down, though the cub was still tense. Justin knew why that was, but it was obvious that Michael didn’t.



“What the hell is going on?” Michael asked.



Ben and Justin exchanged a look. Justin ignored Michael and said, “Ben, you’re welcome here. It’ll be fine. I’m going to go put Gus in his room and get Brian. Maybe you two should talk in the meantime?”



Justin left and closed the door behind him quickly, but not before he heard Michael say, “Will someone please tell me why Gus just turned into a lion?”



“That was not nice, Gus,” Justin scolded as he carried the little cub up to his room. “You are on time out. We don’t growl at people just because we don’t know them.”



Brian came up behind Justin as he sat the now unhappy cub into his crib. “Everything alright?”



Justin sighed. “Michael brought Ben. Did you know he’s a shifter?”



Brian’s eyes widened in surprise. “He is?”



Justin nodded. “Gus caught his scent and got all territorial. Scared the crap out of Michael. I left Ben to explain it to Michael in your office, but you probably should go make sure that Michael isn’t going to go screaming into the street.”



“I’ll do that,” Brian said. “And I’ll send Debbie up to stay with Gus until he settles down. I think you should be there for this discussion.”



Justin nodded. It only took a few minutes to get everything under control. Justin told the others that Gus wasn’t feeling well and they were going to have to cut the party short. Emmett raised a brow and Justin nodded to him. He went up to help Debbie rather than going home with Ted and the girls. Justin headed for the office where he could hear raised voices.



“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Michael was shouting. Justin entered and took in the scene before him. Ben was sitting in the wingback chair by the book shelves while Michael paced and ranted. Brian was in his mountain lion form, just casually grooming a paw while he waited for Michael to finish.



“Fifteen years, Brian,” Michael said. The anger had faded and was now replaced by hurt. “In fifteen years you couldn’t have just mentioned this? I mean really, don’t you trust me at all?”



Justin leaned against the desk and watched as Brian shifted back to his human form. “I didn’t tell anyone until a few months ago. And then it was only because Gus needed someone to watch him.”



Michael looked at Justin. “He knows.”



“Because I’m one too,” Justin said.



Michael looked around the room. “So all of you…?”



Ben nodded. “I would have told you eventually, if things between us looked like they were going to work out. But this isn’t exactly something you share on the first date.”



Michael sat in the other wingback chair and sighed. “So, explain this to me.”



Brian and Justin shared their stories and then sat back to listen to Ben as he shared his own tale. “Unlike these to, I didn’t choose to leave my pack. I was forced out because I was caught in a compromising position with Greg, the Alpha’s son. It was not a pleasant ousting, either. The Alpha didn’t bother to wait for a formal meeting of the council. He tried to tear my throat out. Only the fact that Greg intervened saved my life. I ran and have kept running since.”



“What do you mean?” Michael asked.



Ben gave him a fond smile. “I mean, a lone wolf sounds very romantic, but in truth, wolves prefer to be in packs. I traveled and went from university to university because it kept me from dwelling too hard on the fact that I was alone. And then I took every opportunity to take research trips once I had my doctorate.”



“So you’re a wolf,” Justin asked. “Makes sense why Gus reacted that way, then. He hates when Brian’s a wolf, and he’s his father. And he doesn’t like my coyote form either. He must have something against canine forms.”



“Wait, you can change into more than one animal,” Michael asked Brian.



“Four,” Brian said. “So can Justin. And before you ask, no, it isn’t common.”



“So you are both Omnis,” Ben said with a nod. “I’ve met a few in my travel, but none with more than two forms. In some of the African packs, they would treat you like gods.”



Brian smirked at that knowledge.



“So now what?” Michael asked.



Brian and Justin shared a look before Brian turned to Michael. “You think you can keep this quiet? I mean, you can’t tell anyone about this that isn’t in this house right now. Debbie and Emmett are the only other humans we have entrusted with this knowledge. I want to trust you too, but I need your word that you will put our pack’s safety first.”



“Of course I will,” Michael said. “I would never do anything to hurt you or Gus. Or Ben.”



“In that case, welcome to the pack, Michael,” Justin said with a warm smile.



“I should go,” Ben said. Justin could feel the longing and wistfulness coming off the wolf in waves. He knew that Brian didn’t have to be an empath to feel it, it was so strong. And Brian’s next words proved that.



“You’re welcome to join the pack as well,” Brian said and looked at Ben. “We won’t kick you out for fucking anyone or anything. As long as you don’t mind the fact that we’re Omnis.”



Ben blinked at him and then let a smile grow across his face. “I think I could live with that. It would be an honor to join your pack, Alpha.”