7. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
T wo Months Later
Bennett Somerset ran his hand over the riveted orange metal, admiring the boat his client had brought in.
It was a seventies model made of aluminum, which was a better material than the fiberglass used to make new boats.
The fiberglass shit didn’t last as long as aluminum.
Bennett ran his hand over the spot where the paint was chipping, and the metal gray underneath showed through.
He couldn’t wait to start on the paint job and make the old girl look brand new again.
The owner of the boat had paid him for a complete restoration of the whole thing, inside and out, and it was costing the guy a lot of money. It was worth it in Bennett’s opinion. Bennett probably would have done if for free, but then he would want to keep the boat.
He had to overhaul the motor. His portable toolbox already sat on the top ledge of the boat. It should do until he needed a tool that was more obscure. He climbed into the boat and moved the cover for the motor to the side. He was getting ready to take it apart when his phone rang.
He dug his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed the button with his dirty finger. “Hey, Mom.”
“Bennett, I need you to pick up your brother from school.”
“I’m right in the middle of something. Make Ramsey or Owen do it.”
“He needs you and you need him. He’s defying me just like you did when you were his age.”
“It’s probably just shifter hormones or something. Dragons have a hard time shifting for the first time. You know that.”
“Yes, which is why he needs his older brother.”
“He has six, Mom. Why me?”
“Because I said so, that’s why.”
“Fine.” The kid was clingy and had always been that way with Bennett. Most days Bennett didn’t mind, but today he wanted to spend time with the boat. Damn it.
Bennett sighed. His little brother, Ladon, had always had abandonment issues, ever since he’d came to live with their mother. The poor kid had it bad before coming to them.
Ladon’s family had left him with a neighbor when the kid was still pretty young.
The neighbor happened to know Mother Estelle and had dropped him off after a couple of weeks.
It was Bennett’s opinion that something very violent had happened to Ladon’s parents, not that Ladon would listen.
He had never wanted to hear that explanation when it was given.
It was especially bad since he’d hit teenager status and had become pissy about everything.
All his brothers and his sister had a similar story, including Bennett. Bennett’s childhood story was much more violent than most .
“When was the last time you left your house, son?”
It had been several days. “I’ve had a lot of work, Mom,” he said by way of explanation.
“There’s more to life than your work, dear.”
Yeah, she was probably right. He did need to get out more, even if it was to go get his little brother from the high school. That would be the longest trip he’d taken in a month.
And thinking about that made him realize how reclusive he had become lately.
“Okay, Mother.”
“Okay, dear. Take him for ice cream or something and have a talk.”
“He’s eighteen years old. Isn’t he over the whole ice cream phase?”
“Everyone loves ice cream.”
“How about I just bring him back to my house and put him to work. I need someone to get me tools.”
“Bennett.” There was a warning in his mother’s voice, telling him to listen.
It wasn’t a request. She wanted him to take a break from working and do something fun for a change.
His boat repair business was in his garage, so he didn’t ever have to leave his house.
In fact, he was pretty sure he needed to go grocery shopping.
He had a half case of soda and a loaf of bread. That was about it.
“Okay, Mom.” Bennett looked at the clock on the wall and realized he only had an hour to clean up before his brother got out of school.
“Thank you, dear. And also this Sunday we’re all having dinner. So make sure you’re here this time.”
“Yes, ma’am. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, dear.”
Bennett had to admit he had a smile on his face by the time he’d finished talking with her. She had always been like a train that just railroaded over him. It should’ve pissed him off, but he actually liked it. It made him feel loved when she called and nagged.
He remembered giving her hell as a teenager.
He had been pissed off at the whole damn world.
Mostly, he was mad at his parents for dying and Garridan, his father’s best friend, for leaving him so soon after losing his birth parents, although he hadn’t understood he had turned his grief into anger until years later.
He was fully grown and realized the people in his life hadn’t left him, not of their own free will. Even Garridan was most likely dead. He wouldn’t have left Bennett out of the blue.
He had been lucky to land on Mother Estelle’s doorstep all those years ago. She was a good mom.
Bennett left his tools in the boat and swung over the side, wiping his hands on a rag after he was once again standing on the floor. He left the garage and walked across the driveway to the back door of his house.
One of the reasons he’d bought the house was because of the large garage and the bathroom right inside the back porch.
Obviously, whoever had built the house had intended to work out of the garage on some sort of greasy project.
The previous owner may have had a boat repair business just as he did.
Given the three lakes surrounding the small town, it wouldn’t have surprised him.
Saint Lakes was more like a village made up of mostly shifters.
He still went to his mother’s house to shift, mostly out of habit. He could shift in his own backyard, though.
Years ago, before he and Ramsey had come of age, the humans who lived in town hadn’t known about shifters.
Mother Estelle had instilled in them the need to be careful of shifting in front of humans, although the unknowing humans had moved out years ago.
Of the few humans who still lived amongst them, all of them knew about shifters, mostly because they’d mated with one.
Ramsey, Bennett’s brother, made sure their town stayed safe for every paranormal who came to the area. Saint Lakes was a quiet town and had been for over twenty years.
Bennett waited just outside the main doors of the high school for Ladon.
He was leaning against the tan bricks of the school.
He knew most of the kids who came out of the door, having seen them all at a clan meeting at some point or another.
Most knew to be respectful and address him as Beta when they talked to him.
A couple of the girls looked at him as if he was a damn lollipop.
Too young and wrong tree, ladies.
When his brother came out of the front doors, Bennett nearly sighed in relief. He hated being around so many people.
He eyed Ladon as he drew closer.
Ladon looked bored but otherwise seemed fine. Their mother really didn’t have anything to worry about, but then Bennett strongly suspected she knew that. He realized all at once she sent him to get Ladon from school more for Bennet’s benefit rather that Ladon’s.
Ladon gave him a half smile when he saw him. Bennett pushed himself off the wall and walked beside his little brother, grabbing him around the neck.
“Hey, watch the hair. Jeez,” Ladon said, but never struggled against the hold.
“Mom told me you were having trouble with your first shift,” Bennett said as they walked the short distance to Bennett’s truck, which was at the very end of the lot, because the place was busy at the end of the day.
It seemed like the whole damn town was in the fucking school parking lot.
He almost forgot how busy the school was at that time.
“Mom made that shit up, man. ”
“Is it partly true?” Bennett asked and let his brother go. Ladon patted his hair down as if a strand was out of place. Bennett rolled his eyes.
Ladon shrugged. “A little.”
“Hi, Ladon,” a girl said as she walked by them. She met Ladon’s gaze through her lashes and then she turned her eyes on Bennett. Bennett had forgotten her name, because she hadn’t been part of the clan long. He had met her once, though, at a pack meeting, although she had only been to the one.
She smiled at him. “I’ve never seen you guys together. You look alike.”
They did resemble each other, but that had more to do with the fact that they were dragon shifters than anything else.
They both had dark hair and green eyes. That was where the similarity ended, because in truth they weren’t genetically related.
Still, if there was anything he’d learned from his mother, it was that family consisted of the people who loved him most, not the people who shared his blood.
Ladon shrugged, looking bored.
“How many brothers are there again?” The girl’s family had moved to town a few months ago.
They had a bad experience with their last alpha.
Bennett wasn’t certain what their problem with him was, but the stepdad pledged loyalty to Ramsey almost immediately.
The stepdad was a wolf shifter who mated with a human.
“A lot. More than normal people,” Ladon said with a smirk.
“Six. He has six.” Bennett narrowed his eyes at Ladon’s rudeness.
“Wow. That is a lot.”
“Yep,” Ladon shrugged, ignoring Bennett.
“Do all of your brothers look as hot as you two do? ”
“Yep. And they’re just as gay too. Except for Ramsey. I’d say he’s the least gay of all of us. Wouldn’t you say that, Bennett?” Ladon grinned at him.
Ramsey didn’t discriminate when it came to dating.
“Oh, then do you want to go shopping?” she asked Ladon.
Bennett couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. Ladon wasn’t the shopping type and anyone who knew the kid could figure that out. It was such a weird stereotype anyway and so incredibly ridiculous.
“Not all gay men like shopping, Lydia.”
“Do you?”
“Not at all.”
“Well, who buys your clothes?”
“My mother.”
Lydia narrowed her eyes. “I can tell.”
She started walking away from them, but Bennett’s words stopped her. “You will come to the next pack meeting.”
“My stepdad says I don’t have to go because I’m human.” Lydia turned to face them again with a hand on her hip.
Bennett planned to have a talk with her parents in the near future about the disrespectful way she had spoken to him.
She might have been human, but she was still a member of the clan and needed to heed the hierarchy.
For now, he let his eyes change and he saw her gasp.
“You will do what I say and come to the next clan meeting.”
“Yes, Beta.”
“You may go,” he said to her dismissively. He watched her walk away as if someone had shoved a stick up her ass. Her parents needed help because they were raising a spoiled brat. “Well, I just successfully pissed her off.”
“She’s just some weird girl. Plus, she was hitting on you and that skeeved me out. ”
Bennett snorted. “Why?”
“I don’t know. I guess because you’re my brother. It’s weird to think about people actually…I don’t know…liking you. That way.”
“How are you going to react when one of us finds their mate?”
“I don’t know. Barf.” Ladon made another weird face and a sound in the back of his throat as if he were going to upchuck. They stepped up to Bennett’s truck and he opened the door, getting into the cab at about the same time Ladon did.
“Just for that I won’t buy you ice cream.”
“Fuck that. I want ice cream.”
“Yeah, mom told me you would.” Bennett put the truck into gear and pulled out behind the long line of vehicles heading out of the school’s parking lot. Bennett tapped his fingers on the wheel. “So what’s your deal, Ladon? You scared of your first shift?”
“Duh. It’s gonna fucking hurt, man. And I don’t even know what kind of dragon I am. What if I’m the kind that breathes fire and shit?”
“So. You’ll still be you. You’re not going to hurt anyone. Plus, I really don’t think you have a fire. You’d feel it by now. I did by the time I was your age.”
“But it’s hard to control, right? Mom told me you had a hard time controlling yours.”
“Yeah. I did. But I didn’t have another dragon shifter to help me. I’m there for you, brother. You know that. I’ll stay at the house when you start getting close, so you don’t feel alone.”
“Thanks, Bennett.”
“That’s what family is for, man.”
They drove through town in comfortable silence and parked in the small lot of the shopping complex that held the only restaurant, ice cream parlor, and grocery store. The ice cream parlor would only be open a couple more weeks .
Bennett parked his truck and shut off the engine. He turned to Ladon and stuffed his keys into his pocket. “What flavor are you going to get?” Bennett asked as he was getting out of the truck.
He noticed a man enter the grocery store and had an impulse to follow him.
His blond hair curled at the ends. His raggedy sweater had a tear on the left shoulder and the collar looked frayed.
He held his shoes together with rainbow duct tape.
They looked freshly taped if the lack of dirt was any indication.
He wasn’t sure if the man was trying out some new trend or if the clothing told a sad tale.
For the guy’s sake, he hoped for the former.
“Bennett. Earth to Dragon, come in Dragon,” Ladon said, waving his hand in front of Bennett’s face.
Bennett dismissed the guy when he lost sight of him, meeting his brother’s gaze. “Ready?”
Ladon rolled his eyes. “I saw you eyeing that guy with the hot ass.”
Bennett growled low in his throat.
Ladon’s eyes widened. “Calm down. You want that ass, then it’s all yours. Before you do get some of that, can we have ice cream, please?”
“Sorry.” Something about the man pulled Bennett to him. His dragon cried out when Bennett headed for the parlor instead of the grocery store. Huh?