It was an odd situation, to be sure. Savina had never witnessed any attempt at an adoption before, much less tried one herself. The only real adoption that she knew of was with Anu and Naniko's first litter, but that had been different. Anu had been their mother since birth, and had been as much a parent to them as their own birth mother. Denali was older, and he knew his birth parents, even if they now had been absent for some time. Kansas' physical reassurance helped to ease her nerves, but as she read the body language of the young boy she became concerned. Had she not spoken as she ought to? Had this just been a bad thing to try in the first place? The Commander licked her lips nervously as she waited for Denali to say something in response to her words.
When he did speak though, all the tension and worry drained from her quickly, her eyes taking on that characteristic sparkle. Her mate gave a soft chuckle, and she couldn't help but join him in that expression. "You are dear, you very much are. We just weren't sure what you thought. Now we do," she said with a broad smile. It was so sweet, to think that Denali had already considered himself a part of their family. It surely was not a wrong assumption at all. Ever since she had found him on the borders he had slept with them and ate with them and had become a good playmate to their three pups. Savina had thought that there would need to be some sort of pomp and circumstance to make the bond recognized, but clearly that was unnecessary. This was much nicer, she felt.
