Metamorphose [7]

Chapter 8: Family Acceptance

As he got closer to rounding the corner that would finally take us into the dining room, I proceeded to lightly tug at his fur with one paw, causing the canine to come to a silent and softened halt, his ear twitching as if to ask me what was the matter without even saying anything. I leapt down from his back and shifted into my human form, patting Hyde on the head ever so gently as I now made sure that the hood of my sweatshirt was up as I tucked my large, fluffy tail into the back of the hoodie, giving a final sigh as I walked forward, being followed by the dark-furred canine as I turned the corner and went into the dining room. Of course, everyone was already there, talking amongst themselves and enjoying their food like it was just another normal morning and somehow, that brought me slight comfort in all of us - seeing everything being our usual routine. I decided to just treat everything like it was and go sit down at my chair among my friends that I knew as my beloved family. There was a slight feeling of being tense and a little nervous, but it was me, so I wasn't very surprised. My beloved companion stayed by my side the entire time as I made my way over to the table and sat down, looking down at the warm french toast and eggs in front of me, accompanied by a glass of ice water and a mug of hot chocolate. I could already heard my stomach growling at the sight and I did not waste time to grab my fork and dig into the french toast, being very hungry after not having much hunger after the holidays. "Good morning, Rebecca." I heard Beck's friendly voice from beside me, but thankfully, I was able to give a nod to him with my mouth being full of food at the moment. My heart was racing, wondering if and when people would start to notice how suspicious I was being right now. Hyde laid down on the carpet underneath my chair and I decided to just eat while enjoying my morning as much as I could. Henry, who was on the opposite side of Beck, was stuffing his face with the tasty food, as usual, but took a moment after he finished his plate to glance at me from beside his mate, seeing how my sweatshirt hood was up and covering my face. It confused him ever so slightly to a point where he got a bit curious and glanced at the brown-haired male before sinking into his chair and disappearing under the table, shifting into his feral form as he snuck around the other male's legs to made his way to where I sat. Henry glanced at his older brother, who was under my chair with his eyes closed, appearing to be asleep and content in a way. Then, like a wave of realization had come over him, the smaller wolf-hybrid noticed that my scent was different than usual. He slowly crept closer to me under the table, sniffing slightly. However, he did not get very farther before the bushy tail of the other hellhound smacked him across the face and Henry almost jumped in surprise, coming close to banging his head on the table that was still above him. Hyde stared at him with darkened red-hued eyes, silently telling his sibling to go back to his seat and just like that, Henry obeyed and shifted into his human form as he sat back down in his comfortable chair. "Where did you go off to?" The feline-hybrid asked him with a raise of an eyebrow, making the canine-hybrid give a small chuckle of nerves. "I was just checking up on something - it's nothing." He said, apparently lying, but it was too early in the morning for Beck to deal with his mate's antics. I did not know how to handle such things at this time, feeling so silent and nervous of everything like they would throw me out. Why was I like this? I had always been like this since the very beginning and yet there was no improvement whatsoever. I needed to stop being so scared of everything. With that moment of thought, I actually finally wracked up the courage to push down the hood of my sweatshirt.

When doing this, I said nothing about it, letting the fabric fall against my back as I blinked a few times, adjusting the bright lights that were now in my eyes as I continued to eat my breakfast that Hyde had prepared with the help of Charlie and Freddie. I picked up the steaming mug of hot cocoa with one hand and held it in front of me as I took a gentle sip of the heated beverage, feeling the warmth go through my system and relaxing all my muscles just like that. However, as I did this, there was no doubt that I could feel various eyes now on me. I risked a glance up from my beverage, seeing every single hybrid at the dining table completely silent as they all looked directly at me, various expressions on different faces now. I gritted my teeth together at this as I slowly set down the mug back onto the table. "And the hood goes back up," I said, slowly under my breath as I gently pulled the clothing back up and over my head as I just wanted to dig a hole and bury myself within it more than ever now. An abrupt hand rested on my arm and I jumped slightly, looking at the person who did this, who, of course, was my older brother - Beck. "Hey now, don't be like that." He said with a smile now coming to his face, "We were all just taken by surprise, that's all. I'm sorry for calling you by the wrong name, little bro." The taller male said with a gentle chuckle rumbling in his throat, "Ryder, right? Or just Rye, like those drawings on your social media." He gently let go of my arm as I returned it to my side now. I didn't know how to take this. Well, this was my brother - so I suppose it was typical for him to be supportive? "Just call me Rye - like Quinn does." Beck simply nodded, brushing my hood off my head to let it fall to my shoulders again. "Don't hide that handsome face of yours from your family." He teased me, making myself once again become the center of attention and I felt like I had a spotlight on me. I decided to address this as the best way I could manage at the moment. "Don't worry, everyone. It's me, your leader and whatnot. This is just temporary, nothing permanent or anything - just an experiment I'm trying out. Heh." I said, weakly trying to play this off as something silly, but Hyde heard me say this, of course, and hopped up into the empty chair next to me at the table, casting a little glare in my direction now. He parted his jaws to speak, but surprisingly, someone spoke up before he had the chance to. "What did I tell you yesterday, Ryder?" Scruffy barked at me from across the table, "Give us a chance and stop being so down on yourself." I was not surprised he would be doing this. Piper, who was sitting beside him in her weasel form, nodded with a bright smile on her face. "Yeah! I think you look great, Rye." She squeaked. The two feline brothers, Freddie and Charlie, exchanged a glance with each other and smiled widely. "Hey, we can finally call you sir without it being weird!" Freddie mewed, both of them giggling as Amber rolled her eyes at the two young boys, but giving a nod. "You look nice. You deserve to be happy, Rye." She said, the orange saber blinking at me. "You look awesome, Rye, I bet you'll do great as a guy - I mean, as long as it makes you happy, of course! Ryuu and I support you!" As Sebastian said that, Ryuu peeked out of his boyfriend's head, nodding in agreement with the purple-haired male. "Quite right. We'll always support you, no matter what." The red-furred tomcat murmured. I didn't know what to say about any of this, my face growing red with embarrassment, but I was more than happy with all this respect and support that I was getting. "You should know better about us," Henry mentioned, his tail wagging back and forth behind him as he smiled at me from beside Beck. "We'll always be there for you and love you, no matter if you are a male or female - as long as you are happy, Ryder." Hyde nudged my shoulder with a look that just seemed to scream 'I-told-you-so' as he peered at me. "I told you it would be better." The raven-haired male said, resting his hand on my shoulder.