Truly Ours ✔️

Chapter Two

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑜 / 2 / 𝒜 𝒩𝑒𝓌 𝐸𝓃𝓋𝒾𝓇𝑜𝓃𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉

    The summer passed by rather quickly, and Taz was fully comfortable and relaxed with Cadence, Trinity and Micah. He was content and happy. Today was the first day of school, Cadence had said. Taz was still wary around large crowds and groups, but Cadence assured Taz everything would be fine. Taz had surprised everyone, including himself at how quickly he picked things up that Cadence taught him.

    They'd signed Taz up to attend twelfth grade, despite having no academic history, and let the school administration board know of Taz's situation, and they promised that they would keep an eye out for Taz.

"Taz! You almost ready?" Taz heard Cadence call from downstairs. They'd just finished breakfast, and Taz was shoving the few notebooks he had left in his bag, grabbed it and flew downstairs, nearly taking Cadence out as he came up to look for Taz. "Woahh, easy there tiger." Cadence chuckled. "I know you're excited, but let's not have any causalities today, okay?" Taz nodded enthusiastically, and Cadence just laughed.

"Have a good day, boys!" Trinity called from the kitchen. Micah had already left for work, and so it was just Trinity at home. She would go off to her job in a couple hours. Taz climbed into the front seat of Cadence's car, and then they were off to school. Cadence had warned Taz that there were multiple other shifters, and there were some people that were probably best to avoid, given their "history" at the school. Taz didn't really understand, but he trusted Cadence.

The ride to school was Cadence talking, explaining to Taz how everything worked, and Taz listened intently, memorizing everything that Cadence told him. When they parked, Taz got out of the car, backpack hugged to his chest, and glanced at Cadence. He could feel all the other presences of supernatural beings around him, and he felt that strange stirring inside of him that he hadn't felt in years.

Imp had woken up.

Trying his best to ignore it, Taz followed Cadence into the building, tilting his head at the people who greeted Cadence, waving. Three boys approached rapidly, two of them screeching and throwing themselves at Cadence. The third boy looked at Taz curiously. He had mussed up black hair and blue eyes, and he looked quite tired. Taz lifted a hand in greeting, and he was surprised when the boy immediately signed to him.

Hey there. What's your name?

Taz. What is your name?

I'm Arielle. The boy with the amber eyes and brown hair is my brother, Estra. The taller and more muscular one is Jamie.

Before Taz could respond, the taller one - Jamie - turned his attention to Taz. Before Jamie could open his mouth, Cadence slid an arm around Taz's shoulder, ruffling his hair and Taz beamed. He loved it when people ruffled his hair. It filled him up with warm fuzzy feelings and made him incredibly happy.

"This is Taz, my adopted brother."

"Oh! Your parents were talking about adopting an older one." Estra said, tilting his head at Taz and regarding him with an almost calculating look. Taz blinked, and Arielle suddenly slapped him upside the head. "Ow! Ari!" Arielle scowled.

"Don't stare at him like that." Arielle said, voice quiet. "He's a phoenix shifter. So his eyes are typically sharper than others." Arielle explained, turning to Taz, who nodded.

Are you all friends? Taz signed. He caught the surprised look Estra and Jamie shot him, and Arielle nodded.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Cadence suddenly asked, looking at Jamie, who flushed a little bit.