Ah, Alter Boy = Transmuter.
@shark20061 - I think it'll be fine for you to be in the middle.
Here's one good formation, left being the back, right being the front:
ppJS
m LM
m is Maoun on his donkey, p are the other pack animals, J is Jace, L is Sho Lee, S is Samuel(me), M is Michael. Maoun can detect any threats behind us and watch our pack animals (and Jace), and I assume he could fly to the front pretty easily if we needed him there. We also have Michael in the front for fighting, and me for shooting and trap-searching. Sho Lee in the middle means he is close to the front if we need him (Michael can just step forward and give him access), and he also has pretty good access to the back if we're ambushed (Maoun just has to move back, but that could be a problem with the whole ambush thing).
Here's an alternate possibility:
mppJM
L S
It's a little less compact, but Sho Lee has easier access to the back, and a bit more difficult access to the front. I still have easy access to the front and an open line of fire, but I'm one space further back and out of danger.
If we're really worried about internal maneuverability we can also stagger the formation a bit in exchange for more space:
mppJ M
L S
Now Sho Lee has room to maneuver to the front and the back (it takes a couple of moves though). Plus Jace doesn't have easy access to steal from as many people.
My vote is for the second formation.