Looking To Belong (A Runt's Story)

EPILOGUE

* * * EPILOGUE * * *

"Nancy! Get out of that tree this instant! I don't care what Uncle Jisk tells you!"

I glanced over as Will ran over to haul our five-year-old daughter out of the tree.

She squirmed in his grip. "But Mommy does it all the time!"

"That is beside the point," he said, shaking his head. "If I had my way, she wouldn't do it either."

Jisk and Ruby rounded the corner of the house with a chuckle as they overheard Will's words. Ruby shook her head in mock sadness, "Nancy, remember what we told you? Don't climb trees if your Dad can see you."

"Ruby!" Will was not impressed. I laughed, and he turned to face me. "You are not helping."

Nancy pouted. "But Nigel gets to climb trees!"

Will shook his head. "Not if I catch him, he doesn't."

Jisk and his wife wandered closer. A young pup ran around Ruby's feet while an older one stalked through the bushes. Their two kids were bundles of energy and most determined to use it.

"Uncle Jisk! Catch me!" Will jumped in surprise as Nancy's twin jumped out of the tree above him into Jisk's arms.

Will shook his head in exasperation. "What is it with you people and trees?! We are wolves, not squirrels."

Nancy gave Will a big hug. "They are really fun to climb! Honest, you would love it if you tried it. Just like when you told me that I would like brussel sprouts."

Jisk smiled softly at the child. "Nancy, your father is simply too heavy for most branches. They would break under his weight."

Nancy looked sad as she exclaimed, "That is terrible! You mean he is stuck on the ground?!"

I started laughing as Will made a face at her perspective. I paused and took a deep breath before looking at Ruby with an incredulous expression. She blinked in surprise as she noticed, clearly knowing what I had just scented.

Jisk put my son down and took Ruby's hand as he commented, "I told you so."

Will asked, "What am I missing?" He knew the three of us had a rogue's sense of smell and picked up more than anyone else in the pack.

I explained, "It is a good thing that Jisk chose a house with three rooms for kids. All three will be in use by midsummer."

Ruby said, "I thought that Jisk's claims were out to lunch when the pregnancy test came back as negative, but if you picked it up, then the test was obviously faulty."

Jisk looked amused at her reaction, as if he couldn't figure out why she would even doubt his word. Will turned his head as he looked around before asking, "Where did Tim get to this time?"

I had been keeping tabs on my two-year-old son with my senses. "In the garden, eating your carrots."

Will sighed as he put Nancy down. He wrapped his arms around me instead as he said, "Why do you three insist on teaching the kids to climb and hide?"

Jisk replied for me, "You have three kids and a mate. If they happen to be in different areas and an attack occurs, you can only go rescue one at a time. Being able to escape into the trees gives them an edge in case trouble shows up. Your mate can run down a rabbit burrow, but your kids can't do that. So, they have to learn to climb very well. We are simply ensuring that they have the best chances of survival."

Will grumbled, not liking Jisk's logic. He had grown more tolerant of my underground explorations as long as he knew ahead of time and only if the burrow was unoccupied.