Griffin watched the wolf in front of him fidget, trying to not push for him to talk but also wanting answers to the questions he had. As the silence stretched on, Griffin realized he'd have to start. He cleared his throat, "So, what's your name and how old are you?"
He watched as the boy flinched before meeting his eyes. "Umm, my name is Nathan Esmeray. I'm 178 years old." Nathan paused before continuing shyly. "What's your name?"
Griffin was startled. "…Oh. I guess I never told you. I'm Griffin DeLuca."
"The light," Nathan said softly. "It suits you. Especially since you've been a light for me ever since I met you." By the end of that short sentence his face was bright red.
Griffin felt his own face flush at the words. "Esmeray. If I'm not mistaken, it means dark moon, right?"
He had to strain to hear Nathan's next words. "Yeah. It was also the name of my pack. The Dark Moon Pack. The name originally came from our home, Dark Moon Mountain. Everyone had a last name that tied them to it."
"That sounds like a beautiful tradition. Were other packs like that?" Griffin, feeling the sadness emanating from the boy across from him at the mention of his pack, tried to keep his questions simple.
Tears welled up in Nathan's eyes, "I'm not sure. I was too young when I lost them to have learned a lot about our history. And it's kinda hard to go looking for information when you're in hiding." His tears had overflowed by the time he finished speaking. "Sorry, I'm trying not to cry but thinking about them hurts." His voice was shaky as he tried to stop the tears.
Griffin shushed him, "It's okay. Can you tell me how old you were when you lost your pack?" he asked gently.
"I was five. Axel and I had only been together for a couple weeks." Nathan's eyes closed as he kept wiping his face, trying to stop the tears.
"Who's Axel?"
Griffin grabbed the boy's hands when he noticed that his face was turning red from all the rubbing.
"My wolf." Nathan's lips pulled up into a small smile as he stared at their clasped hands. "He's the only reason I'm still alive."
"Ah. Since we're introducing our other halfs, Kael is my dragon. I'm actually surprised. I thought dragons were the only ones with animal spirits," Griffin commented as he rubbed soothing circles on the back of Nathan's hands.
"Do other species not have them?" Nathan asked.
"Not that I'm aware of." Suddenly, Griffin could feel Kael pushing forward taking over his mouth to speak.
"What happened to your pack exactly?"
"Kael!" Griffin chided mentally. "Why did you do that?!"
[You were being slow about asking, and the sooner it's discussed, the sooner he doesn't have to think about it.]
**********
"Axel! What do I do?! I don't think I can say it!" Nathan mentally cried out as he jerked his hands away from Griffins.
Axel paused as he considered his options. [Do you want me to do it? It was obviously Kael that asked the question in the first place.]
"Would you? Please?"
[Of course. Anything for you, Nate.] Nathan immediately gave up control and slipped back, letting Axel say what he couldn't. He was shocked at how gravelly Axel's voice sounded in comparison to his own.
"Forgive Nate, this topic is still too sensitive for him. I'll explain everything while he rests."
Over the next hour, Axel explained all the details of the attack that left them homeless while answering any questions Griffin and Kael could think of.
"My biggest concern is Nate's safety." Axel said, wrapping up the conversation. "Can I entrust you with him?"
Griffin almost looked offended, "Of course you can. I won't let anything happen to him. Right, Kael?"
Instantly his tone took on the dragon's low rumble, "Right. If what I think is correct we'll even be willing to risk our life to make sure of it."
"Thank you. Nate's waking up now so all I'm going to say is, please help him. He's weak and knows almost nothing about this world. I just want him to be strong enough to handle whatever gets thrown at him."
As Axel trailed off, Griffin could see his eyes change from the wolf's bright blue to the human's blue-ringed mauve.