My pillow was wet. His face kept flashing in my head, along with the sharp smell of melting metal.

  Stupid! Stupid!! Why did I admit it?! Everything would be fine if— if—!

  My nails tore through the fabric. Cotton spilled out.

  Mum would be mad. I didn't care.

  Would it be fine if I hadn't admitted...?

  But Sylvester was the first to say it, He isn't him, you know that.

  And then, Mum accidentally called him Nathan.

  I let out the breath I'd been holding and it came out a whimper instead. My chest was tight and painful. I shut my eyes an sank my fangs into my blanket, hoping it will go away.

  It didn't.

  "Ugh!"

  I rolled hard, hoping to throw the hurt off.

  It didn't work.

  Now I stared at the rafters, at the rough texture of atap leaves that made our roof. My only comfort was the smell of my pillow, my blanket, and the lingering scent of Mama and Papa from our bed.

  So I'm just a tool? Just something for you to plug your own pain?!

  No! He didn't say that. Why was there a voice in my head telling me lies?

  I shook my head hard.

  "No!" My voice came out weak.

  I remembered his face yesterday clearly. He was sad, hurt, but... he still cared.

  He'd reached out for me.

  But I was too scared of him.

  I'm disappointed... Natalie. All this time I thought we were friends.

  "Shut! Up!"

  I threw my pillow. It hit the rafter and fell back onto the bed with a dull thump. Dust fluttered down.

  "Natalie? Are you alright?" Mummy's voice called from downstairs.

  "Fine---!" I called back, my voice thick.

  After a while, Mum appeared through the door, landing in a crouch.

  I turned and buried my face back into my pillow. Her feet padded on wooden floor, the rustle of her dress came closer. The bed dipped--she was beside me now, tracing gentle circles on my back.

  "Mum..." I mumbled into the pillow. "He found out."

  Mum was quiet, her hands continuing their gentle caress.

  "Why did you call him Nathan?" My question came out harder than I wanted. "If you hadn't, this wouldn't—"

  A sob broke free, and I burrowed into Mummy's lap and cried. Her other hand stroked my hair slowly. She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh.

  "Mummy's sorry, dear. When I heard the Wolf found you... everything came crashing back. It was like losing Nathan all over again..."

  I felt that way too.

  "But you said he wasn't Nathan..."

  "I know. He's not. But..." Mummy shook her head. "...It's hard."

  We held each other quietly in our mess. We'd never really let Nathan go. Deep down, we'd always hoped he'd come back to us. That all this was just a bad dream. But in some strange way the jungle decided, Nathan really did come back. Just... not Nathan, really. Not a Felid. But as a tailless round-ear.

  I was shocked when I first saw him at the rock. Nathan's back. Me and Mummy started laughing more. Mummy cooked more. But Daddy—he became quieter.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  But this Nathan didn't climb trees or run off into forbidden parts of the jungle, didn't fight with Sylvester for fun. He walked, fought with a wooden sword he called the bokken, and was quiet.

  The smell of burning drifted up from downstairs. Then Daddy appeared.

  "Sweetie, what's the matter? Breakfast was burning downstairs."

  His nose wrinkled when he saw us. Daddy had picked up our smell.

  "What happened? He found out?"

  We nodded.

  Daddy let out a low growl, his brown beard bristling slightly. He padded over, wood creaking under his large furry feet, and sat beside us. "He... is a smart boy. He would've pieced it together from all the clues around him." His voice was simple, matter-of-fact. He looked out the window.

  Daddy held us together, the sound of children laughing came in from the window.

  The truth was out now. We'd been using Herald as a stand-in for Nathan. It didn't matter who popped the bubble. Everyone in Ibis looked at him strangely the moment he arrived, especially Daddy. He heard Sylvester say he wasn't him. Mommy called him Nathan. And I admitted it.

  I didn't know what to do now.

  I was scared Herald would hate me.

  Scared that he'd leave if he found out the truth. I wanted the dream to continue. Forever.

  "There's nothing we can do now. We have to tell him the truth and accept whatever he decides." Daddy's voice was rough. His tail flicked hard.

  We said nothing. For a while, there was only the sound of birds and cicadas and Daddy's steady breathing.

  "Natalie~!"

  Moy's voice broke the quiet. I shot up from Mummy's lap, tail puffed.

  What now?

  Why was her tone so happy? It took me a second to collect myself.

  "Oh no! My birthday!" My heart pounded against my chest. "It's—it's today!"

  I'd totally forgotten! Mum, Dad, everyone had been preparing for it. But it didn't make me happy at all because Herald wouldn't be celebrating with me.

  Quickly, I wiped my face with my arms and went downstairs.

  Moy was waiting just outside our door, bouncing on her feet. Sylvester stood behind her, arms crossed, trying to look casual, but his tail twitched.

  "Happy birthday, Nat!" Moy sang out, then stopped. Her nose wrinkled. "Wait... you've been crying?"

  I looked away, ears flattening. "I'm fine."

  "No, you're not." Sylvester stepped forward, voice sharp. "What happened? Did he—" He stopped himself, but I knew what he meant. "Did that round-ear do something to you?"

  "It's not like that!" I said quickly, but my voice cracked.

  Moy's amber eyes searched my face. "Natalie... what's going on?"

  I couldn't hold it in anymore. "He knows. About Nathan."

  The truth dropped like spilled curry. Moy and Sylvester went quiet. Even the birds stopped singing.

  Sylvester's ears flattened completely. "Oh."

  "How?" Moy asked softly.

  "I... I said he was like Nathan yesterday, when he told me about snow and the outside world. And he asked me about him." My shoulders shook. "And I couldn't tell him. So I ran away."

  Sylvester's fangs bared. His claws extended slightly. "That round-eared—"

  "Syl, stop." Moy's hand landed on his arm. "You can't just beat him for asking about Nathan."

  "He made her cry!"

  "We all made this mess!" Moy snapped back. "We threw fruit at them, remember? You said saying he wasn't him. Everyone in the village has been looking at him strangely since he arrived."

  Sylvester flinched but said nothing.

  Moy turned back to me and tried to smile. She opened the pouch she'd been holding and pulled out a bracelet of light blue river stones, threaded together with blue and orange thread. I sucked in a breath. It was beautiful—like Mummy's and my eyes. Like... Nathan's eyes.

  "Moy, it's beautiful!"

  "We wanted to wait till this evening to give it to you, Nat." Moy managed a weak smile. "But I think you need it now. Juno blessed them. They'll protect you and give you courage. Sylvester dove for the stones and I braided the threads."

  The stones were blue like the clothes Herald wore when I first found him. My hands closed around the bracelet, as though doing that will keep Herald to me.

  I wrapped my arms around Moy. Then Sylvester. He froze, face going red.

  "Thank you, Moy, Syl."

  "We love you, Nat." Moy said.

  "It-It-It's no-nothing!" Sylvester stuttered, looking anywhere but at me. He looked so cute like that.

  Morgan and Ollette came down and invited them for breakfast. Mummy threw the burnt coconut rice away and quickly made banana fritters instead. Daddy went outside and brought in some of the dried fruits he made. We ate together, seated on the thick mat.

  The mood lightened a little. Sylvester and Moy talked about their adventures in the forbidden parts of the forest. Just across the threshold a few tens of paces—not too deep. They'd found glowing beetles, and Sylvester beat a blackish-purple mantis the size of a dog. He even showed us his new scar on his calf and the mantis' claw he'd snapped off. But Daddy rolled his eyes at his recklessness.

  "Does your Daddy know you broke the rules, Syl?" I asked.

  "Not if you don't tell him." He grinned slyly.

  Our breakfast continued with more stories until Daddy cleared his throat. Everyone stopped talking and looked at him. He ran his good hand down his scarred arm, where there were furless patches. He always did that when he was about to say something important.

  "Nat, you should talk to Herald today," Daddy said.

  I stared at him. "Wha-? Today? But I'm not ready!"

  "Today is your birthday, Natalie. I know it's hard, but we can't celebrate with this looming over us." Daddy's hand came gently to my head, his thumb doing that thing with my ears that makes me purr. "You're a brave girl, Natalie. You stayed with him when no one else would. You had let go of your friends just to be with him. You're strong enough to tell him the truth."

  But I still felt like hiding in my room.

  Sylvester flicked a fritter into the air and caught it with his mouth. "I think your dad's right. You'll feel better after you find out."

  Daddy nodded. "Whatever he decides, Mummy and Daddy will face it with you—together as a family. Let's not let this ruin your special day."

  Moy's eyes were shining with eagerness, and Sylvester popped his knuckles, determined to solve the problem.

  "O-okay, but will you come with me too?"

  "Of course!" Both Moy and Sylvester answered together.