#postchange

   With the Change completed, everyone stood still for a moment, each taking a moment to get used to their new bodies. I was the first to move, picking up blankets for everyone and passing them around, while Ayasha and Tate began to cry. Kaya hurried to console them, her tongue wrapping awkwardly around foreign syllables. I wrapped a towel around my waist before I took her and her children blankets, throwing one over Kaya first, then around each of the two children. At the side of the room, the owner stood, slightly dumbstruck, staring at us, humans who just a few seconds ago had been Wolves.

   At Kaya’s distress I pulled the two children into a hug, clutching them to my chest and murmuring to them in my deep and scratchy human voice.

   “I feel horrible,” Kaya murmured, watching her children slowly calm down in my arms. “They cry and yet I know not what to do.”

   “They’re only crying because they don’t understand,” I explained. “All they need is comfort. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.” I made a motion to her and she wrapped her arms around the children and turned them to herself, kissing both their foreheads and then clutching them close. I smiled and nodded and then stood again. The lady of the house was still watching in shock. I walked to her side and held out a hand.

   “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name last night,” I said, even though she’d never actually mentioned it, just something that slipped her mind. Her eyes immediately snapped to mine and she took my hand with a smile, recognising my eyes undoubtedly.

   “I’m so sorry, my name is Alison,” she said. “This is just… Unbelievable… Sorry, your name? I didn’t quite catch it last night.” I smiled wryly. I liked her already.

   “The name’s Mikasi, but everyone calls me Mika,” I said, gesturing to the pack when I said everyone. “Most of us have shortened names. The one there by the mirror looking pleased and cranky at the same time is Meoquanee, but call her Meo, it’s much easier. The one checking out his muscles, that’s Nikan, but call him Nick, it’s more common among humans, he’s Kaya’s brother. The alpha male is Micco, no shortening. And the guy staring at his hands is Lonan, Micco’s brother. And Kaya is the mother of the two kids, Ayasha and Tate. Call Ayasha Aya though, bit easier and again, more common.”

   “There’s so many of you…” Alison murmured. A few postures in the room tensed.

   “We’ve lost three. That’s why we’re here,” Micco said suddenly, his voice a deep vibrato. Everyone looked at him when he spoke. He still held a commanding tone even as a human. Alison looked around the room, taking in our faces staring up at Micco. “We need to find them.”

   “I’ve never heard of Wolves searching for lost members of a pack before, especially not in human form,” Alison said, raising an eyebrow.

   “It is highly irregular,” Meo interjected suddenly, making a few people jump slightly in surprise. Her previous gratitude toward me seemed to have all but disappeared and she was now glaring at me. “I can only suppose that someone made a fuss over the matter.” If we’d had hackles at this moment they would be raised, teeth bared. As it was, we were no longer Wolves but humans. No hackles to raise, though both our teeth were bared in a grimace.

   “I’d like to remind you, Meo, that this was by my order to come here, no one else’s,” said Micco, turning on the tall, mahogany haired woman. For a moment the environment in the room was tense, the rest of the pack members and Alison, watched as our two Alphas’ stood opposite one another, each glaring the other down. After a moment Meo took a step back and lowered her head, breaking the standoff. There was a collective sigh of relief around the room. Giving a slight nod of thanks to Micco, I turned to Alison again.

   “I think next on the list is, er… clothes,” I said, indicating our blanketed forms.

   “I don’t have enough sizes for everyone, but I can probably dress you and Micco out of everyone. We can head to the mall and buy you all clothes.”

   “Sounds like a good idea,” Micco said, joining our conversation. I nodded in agreement and Alison showed us to a room upstairs, before laying two outfits out on the bed and leaving us to dress. We dressed in silence, admired each others outfits, and then left the room, descending the stairs to the lounge.

   There was an admiring gasp as we entered the room, our outfits made us look quite attractive I suppose. Mine included tan jeans, maroon Vans, and a checker shirt under a knitted jumper. Micco’s was made up of jeans and a t-shirt under a leather jacket, a pair of boots on his feet. After casting our eye over the pack again to determine what size they might be, Micco and I followed Alison out to her ute. Micco took the front passenger seat, while I took the middle-back.

   It wasn’t a long drive to the mall, and it felt like it took longer to find a car park than it had taken to get there in the first place. Inside, the mall was bursting with energy. I tucked my hands into the pockets of my pants and followed Alison through the shops to a clothing store, Micco at my side. Once in the store we set out to find clothes that would fit and suit the rest of the pack. The kids were the easiest to find clothes for; Aya got a purple dress, blue jacket, dark blue leggings and black shoes while Tate got a pair of denim shorts, a red shirt and some runners. The adults were harder to find clothes for. I found a button down tee for Kaya, a jacket and a pair of shorts as well as some boots – but she was the easiest of them all. We had no idea what Lonan and Nick would want, and none of us could dare to choose for Meo without fear of being ripped apart when we got home. In the end for the boys we chose something between the two styles that Micco and myself were wearing. I ended up pulling a pair of shorts off a rack for Meo, Micco grabbed a black shirt and Alison topped it off with a soft leather jacket and boots. It was hardly likely that she’d love the ensemble but that was all she was going to get.

   “She can get what she’d given,” I muttered to Micco.

   “And she can be happy about it,” he replied.

   “At least it’s better than having to be wrapped in a blanket all the time,” Alison added. I raised a brow at her.

   “She’d just drop the blanket. No one wants that,” I told her, shaking my head. “Well. Actually, Lonan might.” Micco made a noise in his throat that sounded like laughter and then frowned at me.

   “No jokes at my brothers expense.”

   “Sorry,” I said, taking the now paid for clothes from the cashier. “Didn’t mean to be disrespectful, Micco.”