It's A Hoot (mxm)

Chapter 23

The small boy in his arms could've experienced something similar. Or worse. Now his own problems might be putting him in danger yet again. He had to deal with it quickly so that they could all be safe.

The boy's breath changed and his heart rate began to pick up as he stirred awake. He pushed his little palms against Toren's chest and leaned back, blinking open his bright green eyes. They were groggy and mildly confused. It was adorable, but not nearly as heart melting as the smile that followed. It was shy and sweet, but as if to say "this is me." It was a brave thing for the boy to shift for Toren. What a brave boy he was.

"Good morning," Toren murmured.

"G'morning." It came out muffled and almost inaudible, but there nonetheless.

"Do you have a name?"

He bobbed his little head and wrinkled his nose, looking down as his face scrunched up. His eyes fluttered as he peered up through his eyelashes and whispered, "Autumn."

Toren cooed at the sweet little thing, feeling his protective nature draw to the forefront of his mind.

"Are you hungry?" He combed his fingers through the soft tufts of red hair, that glistened like fire from the streaks of sunlight piercing through the window blinds.

Fingers brushed over his chest and he sucked in a sharp breath of surprise. Autumn was tracing around the wound there, blinking up at him with innocent eyes.

"Did you get hurt?" He asked.

Wincing as he traced too close, he caught the little hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Yes, but it'll heal. Wounds of the flesh are easy." He tapped his freckled nose. "Wounds of the mind... Not so much. I'd rather be hurt here." He placed the Autumn's hand over his chest, then moved it to his head. "Than here."

Autumn searched his eyes, flicking back and forth between them. He frowned a little and pushed up from the bed so he was resting his weight on his arm. "But... You are hurt here too." He tapped his temple with his finger.

For a child so young to recognize anything remotely close to trauma was surprising. Children were observant and often knew more than people realized, but they didn't understand what certain behaviors meant, let alone could connect them to past experiences.
But, he was not hurt in the mind, not as much as he should be. So he smiled and he pat Autumn's head, rising from the warmth and comfort of the bed.

"Not very much, though. Time will heal it." He rustled through his clothing to find his cellphone, searching for the time and reading the giant numbers across his screen. Still early enough to not be disappointed, but late enough to want to go back to sleep.
He sighed, running his hand over his stomach. It felt empty and gaunt.

"We should find some breakfast." He cocked his head in Autumn's direction and the little rabbit nodded fervently, more than likely just as hungry as he was.

Together they climbed out of bed and began to make their way out of the red room after he made sure they were both wearing something. He gave the little rabbit one his T-shirts that looked like a nightgown on the boy.
Autumn snuck his hand in Toren's and clutched at it, without looking up at him, when they descended the stairs.

The house was oddly quiet, but they all had a long day, previously.
Decker was seated in the living room, but no one else seemed to be around. He was sitting rigid, facing the windows and staring out at the morning sunrise, glinting through the trees and across the fields.
He was human, with only a pair of shorts hanging loosely off his hips.
His lips were pressed together in a thin line and his eyes flicked from shadow to shadow. He was alert and wary, barely acknowledging their presence, that is until he caught a whiff of something and his head whipped around.
He stared, causing both Toren and Autumn to freeze in the doorway. He said nothing and showed nothing, just looking on without a distinguishable expression. He examined Toren before more thoroughly examining Autumn. He ended the long, awkward observation with a grunt and turned back to looking out the window.

Toren looked down at Autumn and the boy started to walk again, leading him towards the kitchen as if that hadn't happened at all.
Though he knew Decker could hear them, he found himself asking, "does he do that a lot?"

Autumn shrugged before he seemed to remember he was human and opened his his mouth to speak. "Sometimes."

They both scoured the kitchen until they decided on making toast with butter and jam.
Autumn munched on his bread until he got a bit frustrated with his human form. His cheeks grew red when he dropped the bread for the fifth time and almost instantaneously, he shrunk and vanished beneath Toren's shirt.
Popping his fluffy head out, ears perked forward, his nose twitched and he leapt up onto the table to sit down and nibble on his toast.

Somehow, Autumn ended up dragging his bread and was sitting on Toren's plate by the time he finished his own toast.

Yips from outside alerted him. He sat up straighter and glanced over his shoulder where he could just barely catch a glimpse of Decker. He didn't seem bothered by the sounds, which relaxed him.

The front door was thrown open moments later, making him jump in his seat and let out a startled hoot.

Taz and Gray came barreling in through the entry, both caked in mud and grime. They smelled strongly of the forest, but had wide grins on their faces. They'd shifted to human before entering, shoving and snapping their teeth playfully at each other.

"Deeeckeeeeer," Taz bolted for the big Eurasian, who shifted into his wolf to dodge out of Taz's grimy hands and glare at him with a curl to his lip. This only spurred Taz on. He shifted, followed shortly after by Gray, both taking chase as it was turned into a game.

The stairs creaked and into the dining room shuffled a sleepy-eyed Onry, the red head yawning wide, showing off his half shifted fangs. He grabbed a box of cereal from one of the cupboards and sat crosslegged across from them at the table. He started to eat the sugary breakfast straight from the bag, stuffing his mouth until his cheeks were full and he looked like a chipmunk.

Toren absently stroked Autumn's fluffy back as the little rabbit finished up his toast and started to clean himself.
He felt a bit distant from everything around him, as if he was an observer.

Onry perked up and tilted his head. His eyes widened before he yipped and jumped to his feet, now wide awake as he loudly proclaimed, "Michael's here!"

The other three boys came charging from the other end of the house, making a mad dash for the front door. Onry was there first, even little Autumn leapt down to join the hype.
Toren could hardly hear his own thoughts, let alone pick out the sounds of a vehicle driving up.
How they knew who was coming was beyond him. They were so attuned to their senses, not to mention how much stronger they were because they were wolves. Smells, sounds, and gut feelings. They listened so closely to their wild nature that he could only sit back and admire it.

He got up, feeling his body protest, still trying to work out the knots in his muscles from all the stress and tension they've been under.
He stretched and groaned, then began towards the open door, the boys having already barged outside.

Pops and a half dressed Landon came down the stairs, both looking tired, but used to the boys' shenanigans.

Wordlessly, the three of them crowded to the front porch.
He felt a bit of excitement spark in him at the prospect of seeing Michael. He somehow missed the big bear's warmth and comfort. Since the past several days, they'd been side by side. He was always this calm and steady presence, hovering protectively, but never overbearing.

There was his police car, the door propped open, Michael's large frame standing up as the boys tried to contain their excitement.

Taz was jumping up into the air to keep from jumping and clawing up the car. Autumn ran between Deckers legs and bolted back up to the porch, pawing at Toren's pant leg. He bent down and scooped the little rabbit up, but didn't take his eyes off Michael.
The bear turned his head as if sensing him, his warm honey eyes meeting his gaze and locking.
Michael gave him a smile, both relieved and happy. If he had a tail, he swore it would've been wagging.