One
Leveret
There were four—wait, now five—children crawling on my head.
Literally.
Peals of laughter pierced the air as my five nieces and nephews turned me into a living obstacle course. The only reason my head wasn't crushed was because they were in their animal forms. Azure and Celeste, in their wolf and fox forms respectively, slipped off the back of my skull. Their soft paw pads couldn't find purchase on the round surface. Autumn, the bear cub, sat more on my shoulders. She carefully threaded her claws through my hair, braiding it. Next to her was Annabelle, the beaver kit. Her human-like fingers gave her an advantage when it came to braiding hair. The girls were helped by Jace, who in his mouse form, also had dexterous little paws.
"Stop moving," Autumn admonished the canines. "You're ruining Uncle Lev's hair."
Azure and Celeste tumbled into the grass. They were a blur of black and red fur as they wrestled.
"Pass me that, please," I heard Annabelle say in her small voice. Then I felt Jace's tiny fingers grab a chunk of my hair and move towards Annabelle. "Thank you."
A cute bear snout appeared in my peripheral vision. "You're the best model, Uncle Lev," Autumn said cheerfully.
"You're the best hairstylists," I said.
All three of them giggled.
A moment later, a fox butt landed on my head. Celeste's bushy tail thwacked her cousins as she wagged it playfully.
"Hey, no fair!" Azure cried. "Magical wings are off-limits."
"Says who? I was born with them, so they're part of me," Celeste said proudly.
"You weren't born with them," Azure argued. "That scary spirit gave them to you after."
From the corner of my eye, I saw the black wispy edge of Celeste's wings. At first, the sight of a fox kit with shadowy wings surprised me, but I'd long since grown used to it. That was just the way my niece was. She happened to be blessed by the dark spirit, Animus.
Why? I didn't know. Not even her parents, Quinn and Farley, knew for sure.
But there must've been a reason. People—and spirits—always had reasons for their actions.
Celeste blew a raspberry at her cousin. "They're mine and I get to use them, so there."
Azure made a grumpy face. "I wish we were near water so I could usemymagic spirit powers."
"Me and Jace don't even have magic spirit powers," Annabelle said.
I couldn't tell for sure, but I thought she sounded a little sad.
"It's okay, Annabelle. You’re perfect without magic spirit powers," I said, hoping to reassure her.
"Thanks, Uncle Lev."
I wasn't the best at comforting my family, but I always tried.
"Well, Jace got a magical sword for omegas. That's pretty cool," Azure pointed out while scratching his ear.
Jace was the youngest of all my nieces and nephews, so he didn't understand the whole sword thing. He just thought he got to play with a special toy when he was older.
"Yeah, and Animus made that sword, too," Celeste said, sticking out her chin.
Azure snorted. "Just 'cause he gave you wings doesn't mean you have to stick up for him all the time. The guy is evil."
"No, he's not!"