Page 17 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 1

“This is my team. Our leader, Michael.” He gave a little wave, as did each of the rest of them as I listed off their names.

“Promise you’ll bring him back,” Hannah demanded of Michael.

“I promise,” he assured her.

We hung out and talked with my family for a while longer. I hated that Dad was off to work already and not able to meet the team, but I really didn’t know they’d be here, and I already said goodbye to him last night.

On the drive over to the airport, they kept looking at me funny.

“I still can’t believe you never mentioned your family to us,” Walker said.

“Your brothers are just a little younger than my kids,” Michael said.

“It’s not that big a deal,” I insisted.

I wasn’t great at letting people in and sharing my family history and personal information with them. Maybe it was why I had gone into psychology to begin with. It put all the focus on others and not on me.

“Do we need to talk about it?” Colin teased.

I just rolled my eyes and stared out the window as we drove through the city to a remote airport just on the outskirts.

When we arrived and got out, someone called out my name.

“Lachie!”

I turned around to find a bloke I’d gone to school with. I wouldn’t exactly call Siggy a friend, but we’d got on well enough.

I'd attended a mostly normal, human school until going away to the ARC. There were shifter schools here, mostly boarding schools though. I hadn't wanted to go away and my parents hadn't forced me.

I nodded my acknowledgment.

“Hey mate. It’s been a while.”

“Mate? Lachlan has a mate?” Tucker whispered low enough that I knew Siggy wouldn’t pick up on it, though my canine ears heard him loud and clear.

“And he’s gay? What the hell is going on?” Colin asked.

I elbowed him in the rib cage. And talked to Siggy a bit more.

“Are you on this flight?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Good on you. Heard you were living in America.”

He suddenly broke out into song with a random mix of songs starting with “Living in America” and ending with Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA.”

What a togger.

“Good to see you, Siggy. I think we’re boarding now.”

“It’s good to see you, yeah. Catch you later, mate.”

“Mate? What’s going on here?” Colin asked.

“Mate just means friend here. Stop being such an arse. If I’d found my mate, you’d all know it because I won’t fight that bond. I’ll mark her as mine right there on the spot.”

Walker snorted.

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