Page 30 of Those That Are Lost

“It really is you.” The oldest looking male assesses Ty. When I say oldest, he doesn’t look much over twenty-five. From what I know, however, wolves age much slower once they reach adulthood, so he could be well over a hundred considering they live a couple thousand years like the rest of the supernaturals.

“In the flesh, Colton.” Ty dips his head in greeting.

“Didn’t you say there were three of them?” the female interjects, looking at Ash as he takes his own seat.

Henry walks into the room at that moment, slowing as all the wolves pause to look at him.

“Hi.” He gives them a warm smile. “Sorry if I’m late. Your showers are too nice to rush.”

“No bother, grab a seat.” The oldest one, Colton, gestures at one of the remaining empty chairs.

Theodora joins us then from the other entrance, followed by another two male wolves.The fact one of them pulls out a chair for her, and the quick glance they share as she accepts the gesture, I can tell they’re mates before I catch their scent.

The final one, who looks considerably different with olive skin and russet hair, walks straight over to one of the males. They smile in greeting before kissing as the russet haired one takes the chair the clearly saved for him by his mate. They have very similar scents too, confirming my assumption.

“Has anyone done introductions?” Theodora asks. The younger grey wolves all pause in grabbing food to look guiltily at each other. Theodora tuts. “I thought we’d raised you better than this.”

“Sorry, Mom,” Ash replies, “I should’ve.”

“You were busy getting the food ready.” She glares at the rest of the table.

“Ty, it's great to see you again,” Theodora’s mate says. “And you must be Aurora, and Henry?”

We both greet him. I offer a shy smile. Whilst radiating power, he’s gently spoken and smiling warmly at us.

“Sorry about this lot, wolves are terrible when they’re hungry. I’m Eetu, by the way.” He chuckles.

“Indeed,” Theodora adds, before going round the table. “You’ve met Ash. Next to him is Colton, our eldest.” She gestures at the oldest looking of the siblings, who Ty had named. “Then there’s Millie and Rawson, our youngest twins.”

They both look younger than me, barely adults and still lanky. There is that extra bit of similarity in their appearance, the gestures they make are almost identical.

“Then there’s Kai and his mate Raff.” Another grey headed male and the russet coloured one. “And finally, Rune, Kai’s twin.”

Wow, this is a lot of kids. And two setsof twins.

“I’m sure you’ll meet Joey soon too, he’s our other brother,” Ash adds.

Gosh, seven siblings.

“Where is Joey?” Eetu inquires.

“Him and Altair had that surprise date planned for Neo tonight.”

“Ah, yes.” Eetu nods. “They picked a good night for it, the sky’s completely clear.”

“We should go out after dinner, light a fire, and watch the sky too,” Millie jumps in.

Plans get made quicker than I can follow them.

“The northern aurora is promised to be strong tonight,” Eetu explains for us. “Joey’s mate Neo loves it, so he and Altair, that’s their other mate, have surprised him with a hike to one of the best viewing spots.”

“Have you ever seen the lights, Aurora? It's your namesake after all,” Theodora asks me as she’s busy buttering a chunk of bread.

“Actually, no. My dad said they named me because they loved the magic of them, and always tried to watch them on live streams. They said if they named their daughter after them, it would give them an excuse to visit here one day to see them in real life,” I explain, a sudden pain of sadness coating my insides.

“Well then, you must see them,” she responds.

“I didn’t know that.” Ty turns to me.