His Apprehensive Mate - Brea Alepou Page 0,69

of their eyes. “Would it be okay if I called you Papa instead Uncle Morgan?”

Morgan sat up, too stunned to respond. Ava looked over to Kenny. “And you Dad?”

Her question hung in the air. Joy flooded the bond, but Kenny stayed still. Morgan could tell he was waiting on him to respond. Morgan stood up and embraced Ava, happy tears spilling from his eyes.

“Of course you can.”

Kenny was up and wrapping his arms around them both. The smile on Ava’s face was well worth it. She sighed in relief and hugged them both back.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

Morgan understood it, understood the joy of having a family that accepted him. He hugged her extra tight, not caring about the onlookers around them.

“As much as I’m enjoying this, you two are embarrassing me,” Ava muttered, but she didn’t let either one of them go.

Their waiter came back but excused himself until they finally stopped hugging. Ava’s face was beet red as she tried to hide behind the menu. Kenny threw his arm behind Morgan and played with his hair as they waited for their waiter to make his way back over to them.

“Are you ready for school?” Kenny asked.

Ava tucked a blue strand behind her ear. “I think so. Are we still meeting with the principal on Thursday?”

Kenny nodded. “And a few of the teachers.”

Ava looked excited about the news. She was more than ready to go to school. She was unbelievably smart, especially with math. Kenny had mentioned she was already doing algebra problems with ease.

“What if I—you know.” Ava put her hands up and curled her fingers down to show fake claws and bared her teeth.

Morgan couldn’t help but laugh at the display.

“You will have to miss school for a bit till you have control over your shifts, but from what Morgan has explained, it might be easier for you.”

“It’s harder for us to shift and takes a lot more energy to switch back and forth. Extreme fear and anger can trigger it, but even then it’s a little hard.”

“Even if I’m a part of the pride?”

Morgan nodded. “It makes it easier, but still, you have to know your limitations.”

Ava nodded; she seemed perfectly fine with that knowledge. It helped that no one in the pride ridiculed them for being runts. They were just accepted.

They placed their order, and conversation quickly changed over to Ava’s schooling. She still had to choose a language to learn and an extracurricular activity.

“Choir is out of the question. No one should be tortured with the sound of my voice,” Ava said.

“It can’t possibly be that bad,” Morgan said as he drank some of his water.

“Oh, it’s the worst. Think five-car collisions and all the horns are being pressed at once.”

Morgan choked on his water. Some dribbled down his chin as he tried to breathe. Water ended up going down the wrong pipe, inadvertently making him choke more and resulting in him having a coughing fit.

“Exactly my point,” Ava said.

Kenny let out a deep chuckle as he handed Morgan a napkin. Once Morgan had his breathing together, he glared at Ava.

“You waited till I drank some water for that.”

She smirked at him and shrugged.

“Then art it is,” Kenny said.

She groaned. “My stick figures aren’t exactly something to gloat over.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll still hang your pictures up on the fridge.”

Ava’s cheeks went a bright shade of red. “Please don’t. I will never bring an art project home.”

It was all so family-like, heat radiated throughout his chest as Morgan sat there with his little family.

“I would like to stay here in the Bliss Pride territory. I am more than willing to get my own place. I just need some time to find a place of employment,” Indigo said.

Dezi crossed his arms, going for intimidation. “What is your purpose for staying here?”

They all knew why Indigo wanted to stay, but no one had outright asked either one of them. Indigo’s face scrunched up, and he opened his mouth a few times only to close it and remain silent.

Hodge stepped forward. “Indigo is a good shifter. I hate to see him go, but each man has his reasons.”

To have Hodge vouch for him was basically saying that Dezi would be an idiot to deny Indigo. But the way Dezi ran things was a little different than most shifters.

“Are you wanting to join the pride or just live in our territory?” Kash asked.

Indigo once again opened and closed his mouth as if he wasn’t sure which was the right answer.

“If