knew he shouldn’t, he kept climbing past the branch where his mom had told him he had to stop until he got bigger. He kept climbing and climbing and climbing until the branches got too far apart and he couldn’t go any farther. Curling up against the trunk, he folded his arms and stared at the dark green leaves all around him.
Stupid, they were all stupid, he thought, his eyes burning.
When he heard his mom calling out for him, he didn’t move.
“Dorian! Sweetheart, I know you’re up there!” she called up.
Then the tree shook slightly and he knew she was climbing up to him. “Hey,” she said when she reached his branch. “That’s quite a scowl.”
Folding his arms even tighter, he tucked his knees into himself.
“I see.” Her smile was deep, her blue eyes sparkling like they always did. “No talking, huh?” Hitching herself up beside him, she kicked her legs gently outward, her sunshiny hair in a braid down her back. “You climbed far today.”
Now he was in trouble, he thought, feeling mutinous and not the least bit sorry.
Except instead of being angry with him, his mother winked. “You did well, baby.”
“I’m not a baby!”
She held up her hands, palms out. “Sorry, kitten, but you’ll always be a baby to me. You know Emmett’s mom still calls him her baby and he’s bigger than you.”
Dorian had to think about that. His mom was right. Emmett was a juvenile and really nice, and yesterday, his mom had said, “Baby, come help me with this,” and Emmett had rolled his eyes and sighed but he’d gone over with a grin.
“Okay,” he said, deciding if it was okay with a big boy, it was okay with him.
Reaching over, his mom brushed his hair off his face. “What’s wrong?”
Dorian scowled and huddled deeper into himself. “Nothing.” He wasn’t going to cry. No one would make him cry.
Face softening, his mom cupped his face and rubbed her nose against his. “I love you, my beautiful, strong, perfect boy.”
He blinked really hard so he wouldn’t cry. When she drew back, he could still smell her. It was the smell of his mom and it made him feel like he was being hugged all over. But today, it wasn’t enough. “I don’t wanna come down,” he said, his claws pricking the inside of his skin.
His mother looked at him for a long minute before nodding. “All right, baby.” Leaning over, she kissed him on the cheek. “I’m going to go home and start dinner. Your favorite meat loaf.”
Dorian thought about going with his mom when she left, but he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t cry. And he wasn’t going to cry. Not because of the stupids. Swallowing the thick thing in his throat, he breathed in and out and tried to get his leopard to stop clawing him inside. It hurt, but the leopard was really angry and sad, and it was hard.
Until another scent filtered into the air.
Dorian stared wide-eyed as Lachlan stopped on the branch below him. “Come down, Dorian,” his alpha said, the dominance in his brown eyes making Dorian’s leopard come to attention. “We’re going for a walk.”
Dorian really didn’t want to come down, but his leopard pushed him to obey his alpha. “Yes, sir.”
It was harder to climb down than it had been to climb up, but Lachlan didn’t help him, simply waited for him at the bottom. Even when Dorian slipped and skinned his palms, his alpha didn’t offer to help. Getting down, Dorian looked up with a small grin. “I did it.”
Lachlan ruffled his hair, his hand big and warm. “I knew you would.”
Dorian slipped his hand into Lachlan’s and they started to walk. His heart thudded inside his chest when his alpha led him past the edge of the safe area where the cubs were meant to play—he’d tried to go past it a few times, been scolded. He still tried sometimes, with his best friend, Mercy. They both wanted to know what was outside. Now he was going to see.
Excited enough that he was a little less angry and sad, he looked around at everything as they walked. The trees were much bigger the farther out they went, the spaces between them less. “Is it fun running here?”
“Yeah.” Lachlan grinned and when he met Dorian’s gaze, Dorian saw his alpha’s eyes now glinted yellow-green. “Sometimes, we play a game where we aren’t allowed to touch the ground.”
Dorian looked up at the thick canopy above. “All the way?” he