45
I awoke, a salt breeze wafting across my face. I sat up, finding myself at the edge of a cliff overlooking the sea. A dense, almost primeval forest hovered near the edge.
I stood, looking down at the surf beating against the jagged rocks far below. I remembered this place. I had never been here, awake. Was I dreaming again?
I felt the earth beneath me shudder as if from a heavy footfall. A mighty roar split the quiet and I spun to watch an enormous bear stalk from the tree line. Even on four legs it was large enough to tower above me. It was covered in greyish brown fur, with a vaguely grizzly shaped body. A great hump of muscle crowned its shoulders, but its muzzle was shorter than a typical bear.
It roared at me, its fetid breath assaulting my senses. It reared back on its hind legs, looming over twice my own height.
"Little man," it...he growled. "Are you afraid?"
"Of you? Moderately," I replied cautiously.
He rumbled deep in his chest.
"Honesty. Rather refreshing from your kind. Which do you choose?"
"What?" I asked, head cocked, unbothered by the fact I understood him.
"The cliff? Or the bear?"
I laughed, taking him aback.
"A choice of deaths? After all I've been through, the cliff might seem the easy choice. But that would be a betrayal of everything I love. I tried that once, but I vowed never again. If I die, it will not be by my own hand."
The scent of the sea vanished and I found myself in a large clearing with the great bear. It dropped to all fours and began pacing around me. I moved, mirroring its path, keeping my eyes on him.
"What makes you think yourself worthy of facing me?" he sneered, heavy fangs splitting his great maw.
"I never said I felt I was worthy. I am just a man, doing what I must to survive."
"And if you don't survive?" he snarled, showing his mouthful of sharp teeth.
"Then I don't survive," I said with a shrug.
"Let's see, then," he said then suddenly rushed me. For something that big, he was incredibly fast.
Grandpapa had been teaching me how to fight him when he was in full bear form. Even so, it was taking all my skill to avoid the slashing claws while always keeping aware of the gnawing teeth. I knew there was no way to really block his blows, so I did my best to avoid them. I backed into one of the trees lining the clearing, ducking as he lashed out, his claws slashing huge furrows in the trunk. I rolled out of the way as the tree as it toppled onto him. He roared, shrugging the tree off.
"Fight me!" he bellowed.
"Why?" I replied, watching him closely.
"Because I command it!" he snarled. "If you will not, I shall make you."
Two pillars of light shimmered, revolving into two shapes. One was Paul, the other was Joe. Paul was off to the left, Joe an equal distance to the right.
"Which one will you choose?" he sneered, rearing up before me. "You might protect one, but the other will be mine."
"You will not harm them!" I bellowed, feeling something snap inside me.
Rage flared within me and I leaped at him, knocking him back. I landed on top of him and began beating my fists against his heavy jaw.
"You! Will! Not! Harm! Them!" I roared, beating the words into his flesh.
With a growl, he swiped at me and I jumped back, but not far enough. I hissed as his claws sliced through my chest, knocking me away. He scrambled to his feet and rushed at the immobile figures standing in the clearing.
He was fast, but then, so was I. I got between them, then turned and dove below his slashing claws. I rolled onto my back beneath the behemoth and thrust my legs up, driving my heels into his gut. He reared back, gasping for breath. With a snarl, I rushed him, driving my shoulder into his trunk. My feet dug into the soft ground and I drove him back. Somehow, he didn't seem quite as large to me as I plowed him into a tree. It snapped in two as I continued driving him back. I don't know where I was getting this sudden burst of energy, but as long as it allowed me to protect the ones I love.... Finally the irresistible force met the immovable object.
I slammed him into a cliff-face, rubble raining down on us. He fell forward and I rolled out of the way. Before he could recover, I leaped onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Stop it," I growled in his ear. "Don't make me kill you."
"What if you have to in order to save your family?" he snarled.
"Then I'll do what I have to."
I tightened my grip, wrapping my legs around his torso, my arms around his thick throat. I squeezed, hearing his bones creak.
Gasping, he reared up and slamming himself back, crushing me against the wall. Pain ripped through me as I felt my ribs break. I slid off his back, falling heavily to the ground. He was turning slowly towards me when a rumble made me look up. The impacts had loosened the cliff-face and it tumbled towards us.
I had a split second and I did what I had to do.
I leaped at him, thrusting him away.
Then the sky fell.
I couldn't feel anything, save the rocks pressing into my face. I had felt like this before, in those terrifying moments, years ago. No pain. No touch. Nothing. Something was shifting the rubble above me. Light filtered down, stabbing painfully through my eyes. A large head blocked the sun, glaring down at me.
"You would sacrifice yourself for me?" he growled.
"Protect. Family. Great Father," I gasped, straining for breath.
He held my eyes for a long moment, then nodded. The rocks vanished from atop my body.
"You have proven yourself worthy," he grinned, then looked above my head. "Tell my son he has done well," he said cryptically.
"You truly are a bear," he said and plunged his claws into my chest.
Feeling rushed back into my limbs and I felt his strength flow into me.
Paul held Brian's head in his lap while I explained what was happening to the boys.
"So is it incest when you fuck him?" Mike snickered.
Cliff jabbed him in the ribs while Jim popped him on the back of the head.
"Not really," I said with a bark of laughter. "No more than when you do your cub. The relationship's too far apart. It's just that the were blood is strong in him. His mother had werebear blood from both of her parents."
"So that's why he's like this?" Cliff asked, trying to work it through.
"Well, he also has were blood from his father's side," I said.
"But not necessarily bear," Jim said with certainty.
"What?" Mike and Cliff chorused.
"You think we're the only ones like this?" I said with a chuckle. I knew I shouldn't laugh considering there isn't often much contact between the species.
"You mean like werewolves?" Cliff asked.
"Among others. One of my own cubs has a...relationship with a weretiger."
"Ben still with Jay?" Jim asked, smirking at their expressions.
"Yep," I chuckled.
"How many...species...are there?" Cliff said.
"Honestly? Even I don't know many there still are. None of us are exactly overt about what we are. We can't be. But I can only sense the bears. And at that, only those from my line, if you will, and those I have physical met. Brian seems to be able to sense more."
"You know that bar we met you in?" Jim asked Cliff.
"Of course," he replied with a nod.
"Do you know the owner?"
"Yeah. Frank."
"Well, he actually goes by Francis Bacon for a reason," Jim said with a smirk.
"So that's why you didn't use a rubber with him," Mike said, glaring at Jim.
"Unfortunately," Jim growled. "Though suppose I can't really be mad at you for doing what I was doing, not what I told you to do. Of course I got a good grand cub out of the deal."
Cliff blushed while Mike grimaced.
"So what exactly is going on?" Mike asked, shaking his head. "I still don't understand."
"Brian was...conflicted. He was being torn apart apart."
"Why" Cliff asked.
"When his lover died, he captured his soul within him. Joe tried to...separate himself from Brian so Paul could have him to himself. Once Paul convinced him he was willing to share Brian's heart, the conflict resolved itself, leaving him whole, perhaps for the first time in a long time. Once that happened, he was able to open up to all of us."
"So why hasn't he...woken up yet?" Mike said, gesturing to the figure on the floor.
"Because that was just the first step. I suspect before he truly starts the change, he will have to prove himself."
"To whom?" Cliff said.
"To whom?" I chuckled. "Why to my own Papa."
I sat with his head in my lap, watching a mix of emotions wash across his face. He twitched violently, emitting angry growls. Behind me, I was vaguely aware of Grandpapa explaining things to Jim and the boys.
He abruptly sat upright with a cry, clutching his chest.
"Brian!" I cried.
He looked at me with a wild look in his eyes, then hugged me tightly.
"Oof!" I grunted, surprised how strong his grip was.
Grandpapa was grinning at me over his shoulder.
"First the spirit of the bear. Then the heart of the bear. The body can't be far behind."
His face was thin and drawn, his cheekbones practically cutting through his cheeks. Paul held him as if he were made of spun glass.
Paul looked at me over Brian's shoulder, questions flickering in his eyes.
The worst was over, which was sad considering the strain the change would put on him.
Already it was starting. The tip of his nose was darkening and thick, bristly hairs were beginning to sprout across his forehead. But he looked painfully thin.
I sat up, gasping. I felt at my chest, fully expecting a gaping wound where his claws had pushed into my heart. But my flesh was whole, and I could feel my heart pounding within my chest.
Slowly, I became aware of my surroundings. I was in the basement. The others were standing around me, watching. I turned my head to find Paul kneeling beside and I threw myself at him, wrapping him in my embrace. He grunted and I loosened my grip a bit. He returned my embrace and I could feel another set of arms around me. A familiar scent seemed to drift across my senses. It was Joe. I didn't know how, but I knew he really was still with me.
I looked into Paul's eyes, seeing his love and concern.
"What time is it?" I said.
"Late morning," he replied.
Late morning? It was late morning when I had come down here with Cliff and Mike. So much had happened....
"What day is it?" I said at last.
"The same day," he said with a chuckle, squeezing me reassuringly.
"Are you sure?" I said, struggling to remember. "It was dark, like a starry night...."
I could dimly see the light within him. I could see the bond tying us together, but there were other bonds radiated from him. One stretched out, fairly vibrating with a range of complex emotions. I followed it to its culmination.
"Brian?" he said, bringing me back to myself.
"He doesn't hate you," I said as he gaped at me. "He's blaming you to hide his own pain."
"What?" he said. I could feel the roil of emotions within him, guilt, shame, fear and longing. I struggled to articulate what I felt.
"Mark. You were as much a part of his life as Rick was. He was used to you solving all his problems."
"How did you know that?" he whispered.
"I'm...I'm not sure," I said. He had never talked about his other 'brothers' in more than a general sense, but I knew. "He was Rick's last cub, wasn't he?"
"Yes. He became a papa shortly before Rick died. He had been on his own less than a month before it happened."
"He's missing you," I said, picking through the complex emotional knot I had felt. "But he knows he said some hurtful things to you, and he's scared you hate him."
"I don't," he said, a tear running unheeded down his cheek. "I miss him."
"Then call him," I said. "Make the first step."
"How did he know about Mark?" Jim asked me quietly.
"He's connected to all of us now," I said proudly. "It's impressive he could tell that already."
"I will," he smiled. "But not now. I need to be here for you, now. Are you sure you're okay?"
"No," I said, feeling my stomach rumble. "I'm starving."
"Well, that's normal," Jim chuckled.
"Boys?" I said to the younger bears, "There's a roast in the fridge. Could you grab it, a couple gallons of milk, and anything else that's handy?"
"You haven't cooked it yet," Jim said.
"Doubt he'll care," I said with a chuckle.
The boys came clattering down the stairs. Grandpapa took a package from them and unwrapped a chunk of raw meat.
When we were kids, our parents used to laugh at my sister and me when we'd have steak. We liked it rare. They used to threaten to just give each of us a cow and a fork and knife. We used to all laugh about that, but this raw piece of meat smelled heavenly.
I tore a chunk out of the roast, savoring the rich flavor, wondering why I hadn't tried this before.
I could hear Paul chuckling at me, muttering something about not getting his meat near my mouth.
Someone had put a gallon of milk beside me and I pulled the lid off, guzzling right from the jug.
"I'm going to finish it," I said sheepishly as they unsuccessfully tried to hide their amusement.
I took another bite and felt a hardness in my mouth.
"What the fuck?" I mumbled around a mouthful of meat, reaching in to find what I had bitten into. I pulled something out, surprised to find it was a tooth.
"You're starting to change," Paul grinned as Brian looked at him quizzically.
"By loosing my teeth?" he said, working his jaw.
"Your bear teeth are growing in, pushing out your human ones."
"Okay.... But you don't have fangs, normally."
"Nor will you. When you revert to human, you'll have werebear teeth," he grinned. "Don't worry. It's normal."
"Great. How am I supposed to finish this with my teeth falling out," he grumbled, spitting out another tooth. "Guess it's a good thing I went with the crown rather than the implant."
"Should have had them grab a knife," I muttered, squatting down, my claws emerging from my fingertips so I could tear the meat into bite sized pieces for him.
He looked at my hands then into my eyes.
"So I didn't imagine that," he said. "You've got retractable claws?"
"Well," I said with a laugh, remembering what I had told Jay, realizing that the boy had a point, "I can. Just a matter of making just a part of me change. Takes a long time to master."
"I'm barely starting to get the hang of it, but nowhere near the fine control he's got," Paul said.
"Give it a millennium or so," I chuckled, wondering if it would take this unusual young man that long. By now I had reduced the roast to a pile of shredded meat. "Here you go. If you swallow a tooth or two, don't worry about it."
I tossed a few bits into my mouth, chewing gingerly, grimacing as another tooth came out. This time, it was an incisor. My tongue probed my mouth and I thought I could tell where it had come from. One of them was pronouncedly larger, putting pressure on the teeth around it. I grunted, shaking my head, working my jaw, trying to alleviate the pain.
"Damn," I said. "The tooth fairy's gonna love me."
"Oh, yeah," Paul laughed. "But the were-tooth fairy doesn't leave a quarter under your pillow. He leaves a quart of cum up your ass."
"Even better," I grinned, wishing I had put in mirrors when I had installed the gym. I expect my ragged grin was quite amusing. "Do I really need to chew this?" I said, looking at the pile of aromatic flesh before me.
"No, you should be all right," Paul chuckled.
"Good," I said, and practically inhaling my food. A few teeth may have gone with it, but....
I fumbled for the milk, then paused, looking at my hands. The palms were darker and rougher and my thumbs seemed to be moving.
Paul pushed the jug into my hands, supporting it as I brought it to my mouth. I chugged to rest of it down.
A sudden pain made me drop the jug and clutch my head. It felt like my skull was going to split. I heard a whining groan as I felt the bones of my face pop and snap. My jaw grew heavy, and I worked it, carefully until it popped into its new joint. I shook my head violently and the rest of my human teeth skittered across the floor. My skin felt tight and itchy and I clawed at my face.
Suddenly, he whined and I caught the jug before it could fall. His jaw was starting to push forward, bringing his nose along. His forehead broadened and flattened. He shook his head and the last of his teeth scattered around the floor. He began frantically scratching at his face.
"Brian!" I cried, grabbing his rapidly thickening wrists.
His eyes opened but I wasn't sure he was hearing me.
"Show him the way," Grandpapa said softly.
"Brian!" I said, starting to change, trying to get ahead of him. But damn it, he was changing fast.
I had the oddest sensation that he was within me, seeing how I did it and following. I was very surprised, but when I glanced at Grandpapa, he was smiling smugly.
He had been so worried about me, but now he seemed sure of himself. I could 'feel' him change and willed myself to do what he had done. I grunted as my shoulders creaked and popped as the sockets shifted. The cartilage of my ribcage ripped and tore, reforming as my torso broadened and reshaped. I inhaled deeply, the stale scents of sweat and cum filling my rapidly expanding lungs.
I groaned as my vertebrae popped and realigned themselves. Sharp pain shot up my arms and legs as my nails were pushed out by emerging claws. My thumbs shifted up my hand...paw. Coarse, greyish brown fur was sprouting all up my arms, indeed, from the feel of it, all over my body. It'd be hard to decide which felt weirder, the baculum growing in my dick or my coccyx pushing back above my ass as I grew a tail. I sat looking down at my densely furred body, panting, gingerly tapping my claws together.
Thick, greyish brown fur was bursting forth all over his changing body. He was growing a hump, like a grizzly bear, but his face was strangely shortened.
I shot Grandpapa a worried look, but he nodded reassuringly.
I reached full grizzly form and he wasn't far behind. He was easily as large as I was. Was impressive considering it could take a few years for him to reach full size. But he was lean, like a bear just out of hibernation. That concerned me, and apparently Grandpapa as well, since he sent Mike back upstairs for more food.
Something else impressive showed when he sat up. His huge dick was drooling heavily. I could remember how much it hurt when I first changed, but with as much as he was leaking, he was, typically, enjoying it. My tongue flicked out, lapping the sweet liquid from his shaft, making him shudder and groan.
"You do your Papa proud," Grandpapa leered.
And he did. He was probably about Grandpapa's size, but years of practice assured me I could handle it. I slurped the seeping head into my muzzle, sucking him deeply into my throat. My tongue snaked out, tasting his hefty sack. I chuckled, wondering how he would handle my next move.
"What the hell is he?" Jim breathed in my ear, his claws stroking my hairy chest. I glanced over and realized the rest of them had shifted to their hybrid forms.
"Something that hasn't walked this earth in nearly ten thousand years," I said softly.
"Really?" he said in awe.
"Yep. Unfortunately, means he's going to have to be even more circumspect than we usually are."
I tentatively tapped his nuts with my claws to see his reaction. I wasn't expecting him to fall backward, pulling his dick from my mouth. He landed on his back with a heavy thud.
"You okay?" I growled, my worry returning.
He lay there, chortling helplessly.
"My balance is off," he laughed.
I looked to Grandpapa, and he shrugged. I was trying not to worry. I was hoping it was just a matter of him not finding his new center of gravity. Then again, when I had done that to him in the past, he was usually leaning against something. So maybe this wasn't anything to worry about.
I snuffled back between his legs, licking my way up his hard shaft.
He looked down at me and grunted, "Do it!"
I began bouncing his nuts with the back of my paw, while he fell back, rumbling deep in his chest. With a bellow, he emptied the last of his man cream down my gullet. I licked my lips, torn between knowing his cum would never be the same, and knowing I'd be enjoying his new flavor for a long time.
"By the way, did I mention that Papa gets first fuck?" I leered up at him.
All he did was roll over.
Not exactly what I meant. But considering the way he looked, he might not be up to topping me, no matter how much I wanted him inside me.
Paul glanced at me and I nodded. As he took his cub in his mouth again, I turned to the boys.
"There's one of those big tubes of ground beef in the fridge. Could you get it for me?"
"Sure," Mike said, licking his cub's lube off his hand as the pounded up the stairs.
Jim chuckled as Cliff handed me the plate of meat.
"Mike was just going to bring the whole tube down. I thought we'd better open it up."
"Good thinking, Cub," I said, ruffling his hair.
"Thanks for the offer, but I think you should eat something first," Paul was saying as I slid the plate in front of Brian.
Even through all that fur, I could tell how much of a toll this had taken on him. I just hoped he'd have the strength to change back because until he could, I doubted we could even get him through the doorway.
"Know this is probably the last thing on your mind right now, son," I said, squatting down. "But you've already burned through a lot of energy with your change. Don't know if we got enough calories in you."
He didn't even put up a token fight. He fell on the meat and practically inhaled it. He licked the plate clean then looked up at me hopefully.
"That should be enough to tide you over, son. I think your papa wants your undivided attention," I said, scratching him behind his ear.
I stepped back as Paul mounted his cub. A sudden wave of lust and need washed over me. A muffled grunt took my attention off the main event. I turned to find Cliff and Mike rolling around on the floor in a hot sixty-nine. Jim was watching them, pre-cum falling in silvery strands leaking onto the floor.
"Go ahead," I said nudging him toward his cub and grandcub.
There was only one place this lust could be coming from. I knew he could project what he felt, but wasn't sure of his control.
I turned toward the new papa and cub and found a man standing between us. His dark hair was silver shot and a thick mustache curled above his smiling mouth. He was smaller than any of us, but he had a thick pelt covering his slender body.
"Joe?" I said.
"Don't worry," he said. "He knows what he's doing. He wanted you to know how much you all mean to him. His family."
"And you?" I asked.
"I'm here," he said with a shrug, sending a ripple through his form. "Paul is willing to share Brian. You did a good job raising him."
"I didn't have much to do with that," I said.
"I think he was talking to me," Rick said, stepping away from me. "Hello, Papa."
"Hello Cub," I said with a tightening in my chest. He looked much like he did the last time I had seen him.
Rick approached Joe and grasped his shoulders.
"Papa was right. You would have been a great bear. Regardless, you're still part of the family now."
He bent and their lips met.
"By the way," Joe said after they broke apart, looking at me. "Your papa asked me to tell you he's very proud of you."
I felt my chest swell, not entirely all from Brian.
"Now accept Brian's offering and take care of your family," Joe said gesturing to Jim and the boys.
Cliff was face down on the mats, ass in the air. Mike was buried deep inside him as Jim was pushing into his own cub's ass.
"Take care of my cub for me, will you?" Rick said. "I think I may be otherwise occupied."
I heard Joe chuckle in response and I paced toward the stack of bear meat. I slapped my heavy equipment against Jim's ass and he shifted his stance, giving a better shot at his ass. I had been keeping him loosened up pretty well the last couple of weeks and slid right in.
I could still feel the lust driving me on. I looked over and Brian was looking at me, a blissful look on his ursine face. He closed one eye and chuffed at me and I laughed heartily. Whatever happens, I'm no longer worrying about him.
Growls and grunts filled the air as this four generation fucking machine drove home, connected by more than cocks and asses. Pounding and humping, then Paul's orgasm was the trigger that set us all off. The heavy scent of bear seed filled the air as we collapsed in a panting heap of fur.
Indeed, he was snuffling behind me. I looked back, reading the need in his eyes. I wiggled my ass lasciviously, lifting my stubby tail to expose my hole to him. A rumbling groan rose from his chest as he rose upright, bringing his leaking dick in line with my pucker. He pushed that big slab of bear meat up my ass. That dick that had almost split me in half last night, now felt just right.
I could feel all of them, my family, in my mind. They had done so much to help me through this. Somehow, a simple thank you wasn't good enough. I let them feel my love for them, what I was feeling and I felt them respond.
Paul dropped his full weight down on me, my legs bracing, supporting us both. He began pumping my ass, catching my furry ear in his mouth, his teeth gently scraping my skin. I groaned, gently rocking back onto him. He was rubbing against something inside me, I assume it was my prostate, though the sensations were more intense than ever before. I was leaking a copious amount of thick pre-cum onto the floor. I began shaking, then let out an ear splitting bellow as I blasted out a huge load beneath me. Paul's claws clutched at my side and I felt his fangs sinking into my flesh, somewhere above my shoulders, I assume into my hump. I could feel his hot cum blasting deep into my ass.
I dropped to the ground, panting, totally spent, feeling my cum soaking into my fur. I felt his dick slip out of my slick hole.
"Brian!" Paul said. "Are you okay?"
"You. Keep. Asking. Me that," I gasped. I was suddenly exhausted.
"You keep giving me reason to," he said, coming around to face me. "I want you to try to go back to human form. I think we need to get more food into you before we go any further."
I could practically taste the anxiety rolling off of him. Indeed the air seemed thick with it.
As I watched , his features began to blur and shift. I had seen him change before, faster than that, but I think he was going slow to help show me the way.
I thought about how it felt to be a man, to stand upright, to walk, to hold a brush or pen in my hand. I could feel my body shifting and suddenly felt lightheaded. Perhaps it was just my skull lightening. I blinked heavily as my vision blurred, then settled.
He nodded his head and took a deep breath. I began slowly shifting back, hoping to get him to follow my lead. He dropped his nose down and his ears began moving down the sides of his head. His blunt muzzle receded. His claws retracted into his fingers as his thumbs descended down the sides of his hands. Thick, coarse fur vanished into the thick, silky hair covering his back. Broad shoulders, heavily muscled back, firm, hairy ass emerged, but thick veins bulged beneath the tightly stretched skin, pulsing to the beat of his heart.
He rolled over, panting. It was hard to think how he could appear bulky and gaunt at the same time. A thick, black beard hid the sunken cheeks. His hair was the same color as his beard but had grown long, curling down below his shoulders. His face was broader, his eyes slightly larger. He smiled weakly, his thick lips opening to show even, bright teeth.
I was disconcerted again when I realized that, though subtly different, he was...Brian. I'm not sure I remember what I looked like, back before my first change, but I thought it usually substantially changed how we looked.
"Just one more thing," Grandpapa said with a shrug. "Might be an issue, later. But maybe not."
His densely furred pecs heaved as he panted, his belly all but burned away, leaving rippling abs beneath a furry coating, matted with sweat and cum.
I rolled over onto my back, sprawling out, feeling like I had just run a marathon. I was panting, my body trembling and aching, my fur soaked with sweat and cum.
"Well," I gasped, looking up at them gathered around me.
"Is this answer enough?" Cliff said, waving his dripping cock.
I struggled up onto my elbows and Paul dropped down to help me sit up. I looked down at myself, taking in the thick pelt covering my flesh, somewhat hiding the definition of the muscles laying under my skin. It looked like I must have burned off pretty much all of the fat I had built up. I understood why they had tried to get me to stuff myself, and now I wish I had eaten more. I felt weak, and hungry.
I held him, feeling him quiver as he struggled to sit up. He looked down at his new body and gasped.
"What the fuck?" he rasped, his voice deeper and rougher. "My foreskin grew back!"
Indeed the big piece of meat resting atop the hefty set of nuts was sheathed with a long overhang.
"Well, you asked if you were the only cut one. Now you aren't," Grandpapa chuckled
I could barely see his tattoos through his dense pelt. Something about the one on his chest caught my attention. It had been of two winged bears holding a broken heart. I pushed the fur aside to get a better look. Somehow, the heart was now whole.
"What the hell?" Jim said softly in my ear.
Brian looked up at me and I saw what Jim had already seen. His eyes had always been dark, but now they were almost black with flecks of golden light shining through them.
"We'll go get lunch started," Grandpapa said, shooing the others upstairs.
I helped him stand and held him as he swayed. He blinked down at me.
"Am I taller?" he asked, gently shaking his head.
"You're bigger everywhere," I grinned. "My little cub's all grown up."
He tried to take a step and I caught him before he fell, pushing my shoulder under his armpit while I wrapped my arm around his waist.
"Looks like I still need my papa, though," he whispered anxiously.
I swept him into my arms, a little worried over how light he felt, but the love in his eyes was as strong as ever.
"Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. It's all over," I said softly.
"No. Forever has only just begun."