His life as a were had been unexpected and unwanted. However, it had happened and there was nothing that Henry could do about it. He couldn't go back in time and change the past, so he had to just more on and make the most of it. Some days he regretted chasing that stupid dog and other days, he wondered if him turning were was a good thing. One thing was for certain: it was definitely a new experience. Somehow, he got a whole new family. Henry had never been given the opportunity to have a loving family. He had been raised in foster care and when he was old enough, he got into the wrong crowd, dipping into drugs and alcohol. It was Sterling that had helped him to get Sober. It was Sterling who became his family. He simply wasn't used to have an instant family that would bend over backwards for him. It would just take some getting used to.

Did he hate his new family? No. They were all pleasant to be around and friend, or as friendly as they could be. Tetradore tolerated him because he had to â€" he wasn't sure if he would call the man a friend. He was more like a father figure now, teaching him how to manage his new life. And Tobias? He still didn't quite understand the beta and he wasn't sure if he ever would. No one really talked specifics about him and Henry didn't feel like it was appropriate for him to ask those questions himself. So he just went along with it, hoping that he might get clearer understanding in time. And Raven â€" she was special to him, even if he didn't make that known. She understood parts of him that no one else could and that would bond them together forever. He might not say it often, but he did appreciate these moments when she would just listen. She knew just what to say to make him feel better, but she wasn't afraid to tell him straight, even if it was something he didn't want to hear.

Just like now. She was suggesting that perhaps the reason why his panther might not accept him was because he was trying to tell him something. Henry shook his head. "Sterling has been there for me through everything. He brought me through some tough shit. We've been through a lot together. Have I told you how we met...twice?" It wasn't often that he found someone to talk to, to share just how he and Sterling had met, how they had lost each other...and how they had found each other again. It was something straight out of a romance novel. It seemed unlikely that a relationship like theirs that could last through everything would somehow need to fail. He simple would not give up on Sterling just because he was a were and his panther was having a hissy fit. He couldn't.

Henry mentioned that perhaps it was fear that his panther felt towards Sterling. But at Raven's suggestion, he damn near came up off the bed. He would defend Sterling with all of his being. "God, no. Sterling has never done anything to hurt me. If anything, I've hurt him..." Perhaps not in the sense that he beat the man, but he had done some things in the past (some the very near past) that would no doubt hurt the man. He felt bad about those things. "When I shift, he runs form Sterling...when he was trapped, he attacked." His cat always felt a little uneasy when Sterling was around, but Henry was pretty good about ignoring it. "Perhaps it's because Sterling isn't a were...or because he's a man?" Maybe his panther was programmed to be attracted to females. "I never feel uneasy around Malia." In fact, his panther rather liked the were woman. Perhaps that was saying something. But Henry had never taken someone elses' shit for liking men and women, so he wasn't about to give up on his love just because Sterling was a man.

He sighed softly as he pondered these things. Raven spoke again, claiming that perhaps her wolf's dislike for him was because he was feral. He simply nodded his head. He hoped the feralness wore off â€" he hated it. But he wasn't going to voice that desire. It was insensitive.