---Milo's POV---

Zayne huffed and growled, tugging at the toy as I held the other end firmly between my teeth. Felix was laying underneath the shade of the trees, head resting on his paws and eyes following our hesitant play.

Each time I let a playful growl slip, Zayne would cringe into himself, as if expecting an attack before he managed to relax once more. It was more of a reflex, a force of habit after years of abuse. I had the same reaction whenever someone closed a door behind me, locking me in a room.

My wolf did not like to be trapped and had let it known on several occasions by demolishing the door, even if the trapping happened by accident and I could easily shift back to open the door.

Last time it was a mere mistake, when I had been helping out with the laundry and Wyatt had accidentally knocked the door closed as he walked by. That split second of being trapped in a small, confined place, alone in the darkness had instantly set me off and before I even knew what I was doing, I was ripping the door off of its hinges while gasping for air.

It had alerted the entire pack and made them more aware of the situation. They now knew to avoid locking me in at all cost. Oddly enough, I didn't respond the same if Felix was in the same room with me; I didn't respond at all.

A swift tug pulled me out of my thoughts before my wolf wagged its tail at the sight of Zayne loping towards Marcus, the toy firmly in his tiny muzzle and pride shimmering from his fur. The Omega wagged his tail as he dragged the toy with him while Marcus' eyes sparked with joy.

"He's come a long way..." I glanced to the side where Alpha Lee was lying down, head resting on his paws and eyes following Zayne's squirming body as he had reached Marcus, presenting his mate with the toy.

My paws took me to Felix before I even knew it, muzzle lowering to burry my nose in the fur on his neck. Inhaling deeply, my wolf growled happily as the scent of our mate permeated my body and I flopped down beside him.

His head quickly came to rest on my neck, a soft content sigh slipping from his lips as he nuzzled my neck gently. In return I nuzzled closer to him, body curling around Felix as much as I could. Just being near him brought calm and peace to my mind.

Pack life had been great and joyful, even with Felix' parents coming over from time to time. Alpha Lee was placed in a difficult situation though, when Felix decided to take a page out of my own book and shifted back in front of his parents.

To say that they were flabbergasted was an understatement and Alpha Lee had guided them towards his office while sending Felix and I a scolding glare. Both of us had simply cocked our heads in confusion.

At least they knew, right?

Still, apparently it had taken the Alpha quite some time and even more persuasion for Felix' parents to calm down and listen to him. He had explained the entire situation to them, though he had to speculate on why exactly Felix shifted, as there was no actual research or proof on that matter.

I didn't care for the specifics though ; Felix was still himself, my one true mate. Huffing happily, I nuzzled closer in his fur, taking a deep breath and sighing contently. Even resting against him like this, I could feel our hearts beat in unison as unconsciously even our breathing started to synchronize.

Though that changed when I huffed, nipping at my shoulder with my teeth. Felix helped, nuzzling and grooming the area as well as the skin was itching terribly. It had been happening on and off the past few days but there was nothing there to be suspicious about.

Finally the itching seized and I yawned, huffing a laugh when Felix reluctantly yawned along before standing to shake himself out. He nipped at my ear, making me grumble softly before I followed his example and trotted after him towards the house.

Like clockwork, the second that we reached our room, I could hear a car turning on the driveway and huffed in understanding. Felix' parents had arrived precisely on schedule and of course, Felix was right on time to prepare himself for their visit.

He shifted with a sigh, stretching his arms above his head with a contented groan, one I unconsciously copied and succeeded in creating a fierce blush on Felix' cheeks. My love proceeded to quickly scamper into the closet, hiding himself from view as I flopped down on the floor, huffing silently.

Why do we need to shift and get dressed? They know it's us anyways...

Stretching out on my side, I waited patiently for Felix to finish dressing and most likely stalling the encounter with his parents. He still loved them dearly, I could sense that, but each encounter with them brought Felix a sense of discomfort.

My teeth bared at the notion, an annoyed grumble rolling through my throat as my fur bristled. They needed to stop babying Felix and treat him like the adult he was, special needs or not. I couldn't understand what was so special about his needs anyways.

All Felix wanted was some peace and quiet, for people to respect his boundaries and personal space, more importantly to not overwhelm him when he was in the same room. I huffed, panting happily when soft hands brushed gently through my fur and squished my cheeks.

I was up on my paws the second he pushed himself on his feet, pressing against his side before hopping along with him. His fingers slowly sank down, tangling gently in my scruff and alerting me to the fact that Felix was starting to feel nervous.

Pressing further against him, he smiled warmly at me, going down the stairs before stilling at the doorway. Both of us could hear Felix' parents just fine, quietly inquiring about their son's health and wellbeing.

How bizarre that they've never asked him in person... Maybe it's a human thing to not communicate with one another?

I tilted my head in confusion before yawning, getting a chuckle out of Felix before he pushed the door open. The conversations instantly hushed, Felix' mom and dad sitting patiently, eyes on their son as he slowly approached.

---Felix' POV---

The second all eyes were on me, my free hand already dipped down into my pocket, finding the little fidget cube to play with.

It had been a thoughtful gift of Matthew, who had been looking up on autism and Asperger's, looking for ways to help me out. He had mentioned he wanted to become a specialist to help out children on the autism spectrum and he had been curious if the fidget cube would help me with my stimming.

The repetition and being able to play around with the different knobs on the cube helped out a great deal and was less destructive than pulling at my nails like I tended to do unconsciously. My fingers tightened in Milo's fur slightly before I relaxed again, allowing him to guide me to the nearest couch to sit down.

I didn't like these encounters. In fact, I dreaded them because I only had previous one-sided conversations with my parents, where my needs and wants were disregarded easily, simply because they didn't understand me.

Now that they knew I understood and could converse in sign language, they had been taking up classes to learn signs, even enlisting the help of Charlie. She had agreed to help them when she had time and had been spending a lot of her free time around the pack house, confusingly without Matthew.

In fact, I've only seen Matthew once or twice, and that was always after Charlie had disappeared somewhere with Dimitri. I had felt the tension and sadness thick in the air when they crossed one another in the hallway once and it had been unnerving.

When they had stopped to talk, Matthew had reassured Charlie, reassured them both that he wasn't angry with them. Just angry with fate. Charlie had been his high school sweetheart after all, so why bring her into his life, only to take her away?

I shook my head, nuzzling against Milo the second he leaped on the couch. The thought of ever losing him was not a thought I liked to entertain. The mere mention of it skittering on the outskirts of my mind was enough to have my heart thump painfully in my chest and sparked an intense need to burry in his fur and stay there.

Instead, I had to sigh and focus on my parents, avoiding their eyes as they smiled widely. Their fingers formed the signs with great difficulty and awkwardness but, they were readable and it allowed me to speak to them without adding anymore unnecessary sound into the mix.

Of course, that didn't stop them from saying the phrases as they signed, or saying what they needed when their knowledge of the sign language came up short.

It was loud, annoying and frustrating. But, they tried. I could tell they desperately tried to remind themselves of the rules, that I was so unlike them.

The sun brightened outside and I hissed, averting my gaze from the window as the room illuminated to a near painful degree. Luckily, Wyatt hurried to the window and pulled at the curtains, dimming the light to bearable standards without plunging the room into darkness.

My mom squeaked sharply, making me look at her to see her eyes focused on the ceiling, a red flush on her cheeks seconds before I felt a warm arm pull me into a comforting hold. I smiled, tilting my head to allow Milo to nuzzle underneath my ear, lips pressing against my jaw until he parted at Father's uncomfortable clearing of the throat.

"Perhaps your partner would like to cover himself so my wife can stop scrutinizing the ceiling?" He spoke, though this time I could hear the humor in his voice, along with the exasperated huff coming from mom as she pushed against his shoulder.

Wyatt once more came to the rescue, rushing in with a pair of shorts and a short barked, "Milo! No, not here- Oh for god's sake!" He threw his hands up in frustration as Milo stood besides the couch gloriously nude, stepping into the shorts without caring for the ever growing blush on my mom's face and the awkward chuckle from dad.

"Reminds me of when Felix refused to keep on his pants as a toddler, right honey?" He teased, mom shooting him a scathing look. "As a toddler. Goodness, my son-in-law is an exhibitionist..." she sighed to herself, waving some cool air to her face while the wolves in the room chuckled at her remark.

Terrance chuckled at that, leaning calmly against the back of the couch as Milo finally pulled his shorts up with a huff, fumbling at the drawstrings before I reached over to help. "An Exhibitionist takes pleasure from showing his or herself of Ma'am. Seeing how a wolf is technically always naked besides his fur, young Milo here doesn't see the need of clothes in either form."

"I see." She remarked dryly though her lips pulled in an amused smile as she watched us with a soft look in her eyes.

I couldn't help but growl lowly at the inquisitive look she was throwing Milo's way, nor the narrowing of my eyes as my hands splayed possessively over Milo's back. He was my pup. No one else's.

He huffed and placed a kiss against my lips in agreement, to which my parents chuckled softly to themselves, but I ignored them as I usually did. I didn't need them. I didn't need the pack necessarily. I had everything right here in front of me, in the shape of one pup.

One pup, that meant everything to me.