"I can get the light-blocking drapes for the house on Monday," Mateo said. "Will that be soon enough?"

"Yes, I could sleep in this guest room in the meantime since it's the darkest," Jany replied.

"Is the bed going to be big enough for all of us?"  Elias asked Pax.

"We can move the beds over here in the meantime?" Pax suggested.

"I can help by making a large enough portal so you don't have to go too far," Jany offered.

"We don't want you to waste your energy," Mateo said, flexing his pecs to make his mesh shirt bulge. "I could carry it myself if it weren't impossible to balance."

"It wouldn't be that much energy at all, " Jany insisted.

"And then we can get in bed faster, Matti." Eli giggled. "I think Pax said something about you and pounding when we talked earlier, yeah?"

Mateo was convinced, and the bed was nearly as quickly situated in the room.

Jany took in the sight of his three werewolf mates, who had flopped onto the massive bed. The small lamp on the bedside table was the only light. "As promised," he began as he walked towards the edge of the bed. "I'm going to show you my other form."

The vampire began to glow a purple hue before the top of his head, and the bottom of his feet shrank until a tiny bat flapped his wings in Jany's place. He slowly flew over to land in Eli's hands, his large purple eyes looking up at him.

"Jany, you're so cute!" Eli chirped, holding the adorable little bat close to his face as Pax and Mateo leaned close.

January's fur was inky black and soft as velvet. His tiny, leathery wings were tucked at his side as he looked up at his mates. The vampire's head resembled more of a flying fox than an actual vampire bat. Jany's little black nose didn't have the strange shape of many bats. Instead, it looked a bit like a dog or fox nose. His ears were large, rounded triangles atop his head. The vampire's big violet eyes would have made them immediately recognize him, even without his scent.

Eli giggled mischievously as he gently rubbed the top of January's softly-furred head.

"Noooo," Elias quoted in a tiny, high-pitched voice. "Stop touching me! I am the night!"

"But, I'm not the night," January responded telepathically. "And I want you to keep touching me!"

Elias squeaked, nearly dropping his currently tiny mate.

"You can talk with your mind!" Eli said, eyes wide with excitement. "And you want me to pet you while you're a cute little bat?" The Omega peeked at Mat and Pax. "Did you hear him, too?"

"Yes, loud and clear," Pax replied.

"Yes, pet me, mon joyau," January pleaded. "Pet me everywhere." (mon joyau= my jewel)

Eli smiled in delight when January leaned into his finger as the Omega gently stroked the bat's furry cheek. Mateo reached out and then pulled his hand back.

"You're tiny. I don't want to squish you," Mat admitted.

"Oh, please touch me, Mat," Jany pleaded. "Don't be afraid. You too, Pax."

Mateo's touch was feather-light, stroking down January's back. "Wow, so soft," he whispered.

"I know, right?" Eli said with a grin. "Cutest thing you've ever seen, right?"

"You and Jany are tied for that," Mateo said with a wink.

Eli blushed so hard that January thought he could feel the Omega's hands warm.

Pax chose to gently pet his leathery wings. "Come to think of it, we haven't even shown ourselves our wolf forms," he commented.

"You guys can if you want," Eli said quickly, wondering if they meant right then. The Omega wanted more time to explain how he looked as a wolf. "I'm, umm, holding Jany. Someone should keep petting him."

"What if I want to see your wolf form?" Jany asked Elias.

"I'll go first," Pax suggested as he pulled off his clothes and shifted. If werewolves shifted with their clothes on, the clothes would disappear. Legend said that there was another dimension that held nothing but miscellaneous werewolf clothing. Pax's shift was smooth and fast, as if he had just morphed into a wolf before their eyes. His pelt was pure silver, and the golden-hued eyes starkly contrasted. There was also an inner ring of darker gold in the canine eyes.

"You're beautiful, Pax," Mat said, leaning forward to run his fingers through the wolf's thick silver ruff.

"Very, very," Eli agreed, holding January in one hand to stroke Pax's side.

The Omega grinned, setting January's tiny body atop Pax's head between the wolf's triangular ears. Elias kept smiling as he rubbed his face in Pax's smooth fur.

Pax kept perfectly still so that Jany wouldn't fall from the top of his head. He didn't realize how much willpower it took not to flip over to his stomach to have his mates pet his underbelly. His tail swayed as he let out a soft bark of invitation to Mateo.

Mat scooted back on the bed, letting the change take him. He closed his eyes as he felt a tingle of magic flow through him. When his deep brown eyes opened, he was a massive brown wolf with tan markings on his chest, paws, and one ear.

"Oh Goddess, you have little brown socks!" Elias said with a happy bounce. "That's so cute."

Mateo's tongue lolled from his open mouth in a wolfish look of amusement before giving Eli a big, wet lick to one cheek. Mat snuffled at the diminutive bat hanging upside-down from one of Pax's ears.

Pax carefully licked Mat along his muzzle in affection and then turned his golden gaze towards Elias expectantly.

"Umm, okay, so...I'm not a very good wolf," Elias began nervously.

Both canine heads tilted, causing January to swing gently from Pax's ear as the three mates watched their Omega.

"I mean, I'm pretty small and not all burly like a wolf should be." Eli fussed with the tip of Pax's tail. "And I've got weird markings..."

"Oh, my beloved Elias," Jany called out since he could only communicate that way in animal form. "Size means nothing to me. I'm certain you are as gorgeous in your wolf form as in your human form. I am quite eager to see it."

Elias smiled gratefully at January's encouragement and let his body shift. As a wolf, Eli was small, as he'd said. He was nearly half the size of an average werewolf. It was small, even for an Omega, who tended toward being petite. His legs and body were slender, almost sinuous, flowing more like a fox's than a wolf's. His large fluffy tail added to the resemblance, though it was nowhere as plush as a real fox's would be. He was a wolf, certainly, but next to Pax and Mateo, Elias looked practically dainty.

The Omega's fur was red and gold, darker red around his face and body, flowing to shining gold at his ear tips, feet, and tail. A golden circle with waving lines coming off it surrounded one eye, looking like a sun marking against the dark red fur.

Elias whined softly, gold-tipped ears pinned to his head. His family had always made a big deal about how different he was in this form, how strange it was. They never meant to make him feel bad, like an odd-looking runt. Still, he'd heard so many times how small he was…how the lines of his body were too slim and delicate, how out of the ordinary his coat and markings were. It had left him painfully self-conscious. When his pack had run in the woods, Eli had always tried to stay hidden between his parents, head down and tail low.

A small charge of electric energy was felt as January dropped off Pax's ears and transformed back into a vampire. Unlike when werewolves shifted, vampires did keep their clothes on the shift before. He laid an arm on Pax and Mateo to help right himself as his wide purple eyes gazed openly at Elias. "My emerald, you are the most beautiful wolf I have ever seen," he gasped as he gently petted his face and the top of Eli's head. "My topaz and garnet are gorgeous, too; don't feel like you're any less. But, Elias...you are breathtaking."

Eli's ears flicked uncertainly but were no longer pressed tight to his head. He peeked at the vampire, seeing nothing but sincerity and admiration shining in January's violet eyes. A shiver traveled from the Omega's head and flowed downward, making his red-gold tail floof even more. Elias let out a soft yip before jumping onto his vampire's lap; the sun-kissed wolf nuzzled enthusiastically under January's chin, occasionally stealing a lick to the vampire's cheek as Eli nearly vibrated with happy relief.

January let out a trill of joy as he reached out to gently tug Pax and Mateo closer. He rubbed his face in each of the wolves' fur. "I adore each and every one of you. I would never have guessed that I would end up with so many mates!" He admitted.

Pax shifted back into his human form to speak, once again naked. "Actually, Jany...there is still at least another mate out there. Eli's bonding stone isn't fully opaque."

Mateo's tongue lolled happily, excited about meeting their next mate, before he leaned forward to begin licking Eli's furry face, the motions causing the Khonsu stone still around Eli's neck to swing. The Omega hopped out of January's lap to nuzzle under Mat's muzzle, his gold-tipped tail threatening to smack January. The size difference between Mateo and Elias was evident with the Omega's position. Eli could have walked underneath Mat's and only needed to duck his head down for clearance. Mateo chuffed softly, resting his muzzle on top of Eli's head. The Omega sighed in contentment, his fear and anxiety ebbing away.

January and Pax were distracted by the two wolves' tender displays of affection. Then, January gently took hold of Eli's stone, noting their intertwined colors. Pax's yellow was speckled from top to bottom. Jany’s purple segments were in clusters near the bottom and the top. Mateo's was heavily clustered near the bottom. But, the amount of color was equal. The more he gazed at the clear spaces, the more he wondered. "What if we have two mates left?" He questioned aloud.

Eli yipped, falling over dramatically to express his surprise at the idea. Mateo stepped so he could stand over the Omega's smaller body. The giant wolf licked the tip of Eli's nose, making the wolf sneeze. Elias shifted back to his human form, giggling and reaching up to rub the soft tan fur on Mateo's broad chest.

"You know, if you'd asked me before I met Pax how I felt about maybe having five mates..." Eli shook his head but continued smiling. "I would have lost it. I mean, Pax can tell you I fainted like some chick in a romance novel. But now...I dunno. Seeing you guys, I think maybe it's gonna be amazing. If they are like you all, it will be the best thing to happen."

The phone ringing startled their peaceful thoughts. Pax reached over to answer it. "Hello?" 

"Good morning, this is Tatiana speaking, head devotee of our Khonsu temple," Tatiana responded on the other side. "I apologize for interrupting your bonding time with your new mate, but our goddess Khonsu has felt a disturbance regarding her Omegas. We would like to remind all Omegas to report anything suspicious."

"Understood," Pax replied. After he hung up the phone, he turned towards his mates with a frown. "That was Lady Tatiana. She said the goddess felt something was off and wanted to remind all Omegas in the area to report anything odd. I think it's time we give your grandmother a phone call, Mat."

Mateo stole another lick to Eli's now human nose, making the Omega sneeze again before the wolf shifted back. Mat grabbed his phone and quickly texted Grandma Cira, receiving a response almost immediately.

"She said she's free now," Mateo announced.