Chapter 27: Everybody is Moving Out

In the morning, or what seemed like morning, Doc and I woke up in the spooning position. My inner thighs felt like they were punched a thousand times. Thankfully, I have enhanced healing so they will feel better in an hour. I arched my back and stretched my entire body until I cracked out all of the stiffness from my body. "Good morning, baby." Doc whispered in my ear as he sucked my ear lobe into his mouth.

"Mmmm. Don't do that or we're never going to leave this room."

"Well, maybe that is the goal." He chuckled out as he started to kiss down my neck and across my shoulders.

"We should really go back out there, babe. I want to see how my mom is doing, actually, I want you to check on her to make sure her cancer has gone."

"Yeah, I was planning on following up on that at some point today as well." And with that, we stood up and made our way back to the main cave room.

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When we turned the last corner, I see my mom in a fighting stance with Alfie in front of her. I knew that he must be training her, so I stayed as quiet as possible as I walked into the room. Suddenly, my mom shifted into a ginger colored mountain lion as she ducked Alfie's lunge. "Wow, that's pretty impressive Mom." I said as I walked into the light. She turned to me and tackled me while licking my face. "Mom, you can turn back." I said between chuckles. She stood up and shifted back into a human and held her hand out to help me up. "Thanks." I said as I grabbed her hand and stood up. "Mom, I want Doc to take a look at you, just to make sure the cancer is completely gone." Her smile quickly faded as she nodded and walked back to sit on the bed.

"Okay, now can you please lay back…" Doc said as he was searching for what to call my mom.

"Mom. Just call me Mom. I heard about you and my daughter mating, so anybody that my daughter loves and that loves my daughter can call me Mom." She said as she laid on her back, waiting for Doc to use his gift on her. Doc smiled before closing his eyes and checking throughout her entire body to make sure her blood wasn't cancerous any longer.

"Well, looks like your blood is perfectly normal for a true form, Mom." Doc said as he opened his eyes, testing out the name for my mom. She chuckled and stood back up.

"Good, me and Alfie have been training all night, so what are we going to do today?"

"Well, I was thinking since the sun is out and the rain paused for the day, we could go to the town and introduce you guys to our big family. How does that sound? And I'm sure Royce would like to play with his friends." I said as I looked at Royce. He lowered his head to the ground to avoid my gaze, but I didn't mention it since I knew he would want to talk in private, later.

"That sounds amazing. Now, I know this may be sudden, but I was thinking about where we are going to live, me and Matt. I mean, I know you guys are going to want to grow your family, and I know that having your mom and Matt here isn't the most private arrangement, but if we are going to stay here, then we should probably have our own place to live." I was taken back by my mom's words. I wasn't expecting her to want to leave so soon.

"There is a lot of space in the mountain side near our cave that is saved for the alpha's family, so we could build you guys a cave nearby." Alfie interrupted my shocked thoughts that were about to flood my mind.

"That would be great! Then we can still be close enough to see each other often!" my mom responded with a slight hop in place.

"Yeah, and Alfie, maybe we could have a tunnel system to connect our caves for when the weather is bad, and we can't go out to see each other. We can close it off, but just to have it there for when we need it." Alfie nodded as he leaned in for a kiss. I kissed him back, and he grabbed my waist to pull me closer to him. "I'm sorry about not telling you about…" he stopped me mid-sentence with a kiss.

"You don't need to apologize; I was in the wrong. I love you, Alyssa." He said before kissing me again and interlocking our fingers together. I did the same with Doc as he carried Pauline in his other arm, and we walked to the town center together.

The looks we got from the townspeople were a mixture of surprised, confused, intrigued, and excited. They were surprised that Doc was my second mate, confused about the 90 pound brindle dog following behind me, intrigued as to who those two other people were with us, and excited that I was now open to mating with other men, or so they thought.

We all walked up to the platform in the town center and Alfie cleared his throat to quiet the citizens. "Hello everybody! I hope you are all staying well during the spring storm. I wanted to introduce a few new additions to our town, and to our alpha family. This…" I said as I motioned to my mother and she stepped forward. "is my mother, Kristie. The man beside her…" I motioned towards Matty and he stepped forward to join her. "is her mate, Matthew. They will be building a cave near ours and will be a part of the alpha family in this town. They have traveled far from our home, so please be welcoming towards them." Everybody in the crowd bowed their heads to them as they stepped back to their spots. "I noticed some of you were confused at the animal following us. This…" I said as I patted Gobi's head. "is Gobi. He is my pet, and you are not to hurt him in any way. I know that pets are not something you have around here, but where I come from, they are common. Please treat him well." Everybody in the crowd looked around at each other, confused as to what the hell a 'pet' is, but I didn't think if I explained any more it would help in any way, so I stopped there. "I also have one last announcement. I know a lot of you have already realized, but for those of you who haven't, Doc and I have become mates. He will be moving into my cave, so if any of you need a doctor, you will need to come to our cave for any help. If it is an emergency, be sure to howl, screech, or roar loudly to alert him to come to you. Are there any questions?" Many people started talking at once, asking various questions, and I couldn't make out any specific one. "Okay, one at a time. Raise your hand if you have a question and I will call on you to ask."

A man near the front raised his hand and I pointed at him to allow him the opportunity to talk. "What is a pet? Do they do anything? Is it like a child?" he asked. Mom, Matty, and I all burst into laughing fits.

I had to calm myself down before answering his question. I knew it seemed like a stupid question to the three of us, but it was a great question to everybody else. "A pet is like a companion. They help you emotionally, and they are a great responsibility. Where I come from, we have animals called dogs, cats, and hamsters as pets to keep us company. Gobi is a dog; they are related to wolves. In this world they aren't very useful for protection, but in my world, they protected against many threats as well. They are like a child in a way because you have to care for them, feed them, give them water, and play with them. Any other questions?" I said just as my mom and Matty were finishing up their laughing fit.

I pointed to another male near the front of the crowd. "Do you eat your pets?" I was completely shocked at the question but understood where he was coming from with it. My mom and Matty on the other hand, they began laughing their asses off once again.

"Pets are not eaten. Any questions NOT about pets?" nobody rose their hand after I asked that question. I shook my head at the scene that played out in front of me. It seemed as though it could be a scene in a comedy movie or television show with how confused they looked and the thought of the questions they were asking me.

After we realized every question was about pets, we stepped down from the podium and began walking through the crowd to introduce my mom and Matty on a more personal level to some of the townspeople. Many unmated males were infatuated by my mother, who looked similar to me but with short hair. We began walking through the crowd some more and I noticed that Gobi was growling at a few people around me. They were pulling his docked tail, looking inside his ears and mouth, they were completely confused as to what he was. I whipped around and started calming Gobi before he attacked one of the people. I knew they would defend themselves violently, and I didn't want him to get hurt. "Stop!" I said and each person backed up. "I will show you how you treat a pet." I bent down in front of Gobi so that our faces were level. I scratched and rubbed behind his ears, moved down to scratch his butt, and made sure to show them how to rub his tummy gently when he laid on the ground on his back.

The people were completely mesmerized by the fact that I was petting what they call, a 'wild beast'. Any animal that wasn't a true form, was called a wild beast in this world, and the fact that I had one wrapped around my finger, was amazing to them.

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After Gobi was bombarded with pets and scratches, and absolutely loved every moment of it, we continued back to the mountain around the cave to scout out a good place for the cave entrance of my mom and Matt's cave. We found a place only about twenty yards from our own cave to put the entrance and began digging. By the end of the night, we had completely dug the cave and many tunnels throughout, including one connected to our own, and had even made a bed and fire pit for them to use as well.

As we were walking back to our cave and saying goodnight to my mom and Matty so they could spend some alone time in their new home, Royce pulled me aside. "Mom, can we talk?" he said with his eyes avoiding mine and his head facing his feet. Alfie and Doc must have noticed my absence and started to come over by us. When they got to us, Royce got much more nervous to speak.

"Roycie, you can talk. They are just here to make sure everything is okay." I said with reassuring eyes.

"Okay, just don't hate me…" he said slowly, finally making eye contact with me.

"Royce, I could never hate you. Now, just say what's on your mind." Deep down, I knew what he was trying to say, I just didn't want to admit it.

"Mom, I think it's time that I move out too. I'm fully grown now, and I am able to protect myself. I want to be able to have a cave for if I find my true mate. I know you don't want me to leave, but I know that I have to, it's time I grow up." He said, pushing his chest out and holding his head high.

I was proud to see his strength and knowledge of what he needs, but it still jabbed at my heart to hear the words I have been dreading. "I agree, baby. You're ready now. How about we look for a place for your cave tomorrow. I can tell the rain will still be paused for the day tomorrow as well, so we will have the whole day to prepare it with you. How does that sound?" He nodded his head and placed a kiss on my forehead.

He was now as tall as Alfie and might even be more muscular than him now. I couldn't deny that I hated how fast children grew up here, but I was proud to see how much he has grown into a strong adult.