16. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
B ennett watched Lucas wring his hands for the hundredth time as they drove to his mother’s house. “What if they don’t like me?”
“I like you,” Bennett said simply.
Lucas smiled at him, which was his intended purpose.
“My family is your family now. Plus, the only one you really should worry about is Mom and she loves you.” Bennett pulled onto the dirt road, leading to his mother’s house.
She lived a couple of miles from the main village.
Forests surrounded the house on all sides except the front.
It was perfect for shifting and frolicking, which Bennett was going to have fun doing with his mate.
“I’m just worried about the rest of them. What if they hate me?”
“Why would you think anyone could hate you? You’re perfect.”
Lucas smiled. “No, I’m not. I actually don’t make friends that easily and never have.”
“My mom loves you just like she loves me and so will everyone else. I guarantee that, baby.”
“How?”
“Because she loves all of her kids that way. She’s a good judge of character and we all trust her on that. In everything, actually.
“My brother, Ladon, is the youngest of all of us. He came to Mom when he was seven years old. He’s a young dragon whose biological parents dumped him on a neighbor. Want to know the first thing Mom did when she got him here?”
Lucas smiled. “What?”
“She had all her kids come home for dinner. She said I should shift for Ladon to make him feel comfortable, so I did. Ladon has clung to me ever since.”
“She knows what to do to make someone feel at ease.” Lucas smiled.
“Yes. You should trust her to do that for you.”
“Okay. Thanks, Bennett.”
Bennett nodded.
They were silent for several seconds before Lucas said, “You spend a lot of time with Ladon, don’t you?”
“Yeah. We usually have a twice a week thing when my workload is manageable.”
“And because of me, you haven’t spent time with him recently.”
Bennett pulled up onto the long drive that led to his mother’s house. “Ladon understands about mates, baby. He’ll be okay.”
Lucas didn’t say anything as they pulled up in front of the house. Bennett shut off the engine. He waited for Lucas, watching him closely. He wouldn’t push Lucas to get out. Lucas needed his patience, so that was what he’d get.
Lucas looked at the house with curiosity, as if he could see through the vinyl siding and past the wood. Hell, for all Bennett knew, he could. He was sure even Lucas didn’t know everything he could do yet, despite Mom working with him that past week .
The house was a white, large two-story that appeared ordinary.
Even the flowers around the sides and the boxes of greenery hanging from the windows were pretty, but normal.
Maybe someone who knew about herbs and plants would pick up on the medicinal qualities for each plant but anyone ignorant wouldn’t have a clue.
He knew his mother kept certain types of herbs in those boxes and some of the flowers at the base of the house were poisonous.
She hadn’t used them since Ramsey had come to be Alpha, but she tended them as if she was waiting for something.
Maybe the shit storm that was about to go down because of Lucas’ presence in their town was it.
Lucas nodded to himself. He opened the car door and stepped out. Bennett did the same, shutting the door behind him and pocketing his keys. He rounded the front of his car and held out his hand to Lucas, who smiled as he took it.
They walked into the house together.
Lucas had slept all night and through to the afternoon. All that sleep scared Bennett a little, so he planned to ask his mother about Lucas’ abilities. If he would always be drained when he worked with his magic, Bennett wasn’t going to allow him to do it at all.
Bennett and Lucas were the last to arrive. He could hear all his brothers and his sister in the back room. His family could be loud at times. It was even worse at clan meetings, especially if they were all going for a run after the meeting was over. Clan meetings only happened a few times a year.
Ramsey wasn’t the type of leader to demand the attention of the clan.
He often stayed at Mother’s house or on the deck after the meetings were over when the rest of the clan ran through the forest. Ramsey didn’t partake in the clan run very often, which had more to do with him not liking to shift on land as much as he did in the water.
There were only a few other water shifters.
One was Sage, whose snake loved swimming.
Bennett would have to be on high alert because of Lucas.
Ramsey had called a meeting for after the family had dinner, thinking it would be a good idea for Lucas to get used to the clan.
He had a feeling when the clan found out what Lucas could do they would be all over him, asking him to fix their illnesses and such. Bennett wouldn’t allow it.
Lucas looked up at him, probably wondering why he had stiffened and started growling. Bennett calmed. He leaned down and kissed Lucas’ brow.
“Are you okay?” Lucas asked, concern still showing on his face.
Bennett hated that he just made Lucas even more nervous than he already was.
“I’m worried about you at the clan meeting tonight,” Bennett said.
After all, his mate could read him whenever he wanted.
Bennett didn’t shut Lucas out. He wouldn’t ever do that to his mate, so Lucas would be able to tell if he was evading.
“Why? Are any of them dangerous?” Lucas asked as they made their way to the back room.
“We’re shifters. We’re all dangerous,” Vaughan said from his chair. Ladon sat on the arm of the plush recliner.
Owen, who sat next to Gabriel on the love seat, rolled his eyes at Vaughan.
Ramsey and Kristin sat on the couch. Kristin smiled at them and patted the seat beside her. Bennett sat, pulling Lucas down onto his lap. He winked at her in a silent thank you. “Don’t scare my mate, Vaughan.”
Vaughan grinned and held out his hand to Lucas. Lucas hesitated to take it. “You know I’m a witch, right?”
“Yeah, a very strong one. Mom even says you’re stronger than her.” Vaughan wiggled his fingers .
Lucas looked at Bennett as if he wanted him to say it was okay. Bennett nodded to Lucas and he turned back to Vaughan. “I don’t know about that. Knowledge is power and your mother has a lot of that.”
He knew Mom would put Lucas at ease and having his siblings submit was her way of doing it. The fact that Lucas was very strong and getting stronger probably made it easier for his siblings to do just that. It seemed Lucas had really come into his power after they’d bonded.
Lucas took Vaughan’s hand. It was a few seconds before he muttered. “Wolf.” Lucas smiled and said with a bit of wonder in his voice, “Oh, you fly a plane. That is so cool. Would you take me flying sometime?”
Vaughan nodded and then addressed Bennett. “I like your mate, Bennett. He’s really pretty.”
Bennett pulled Lucas closer and growled. He knew his brother teased, but he still couldn’t help the possessiveness that overtook him.
“Hi, I’m Kristin. The only sister in this bunch. Hopefully we’ll get another girl soon. Too many boys around here.” Kristin held out her hand to Lucas, and this time Lucas didn’t hesitate.
“There’s no such thing as too many boys, Kristin,” Vaughan said with a grin.
Lucas muttered to himself. “Eagle. Oh, you have a twin.” Lucas moved his gaze to Owen, letting go of Kristin. “You guys look a lot alike, actually. Even though you’re not identical twins. Can a boy and a girl be identical twins?”
“No, I don’t think they can.” Owen stood and held out his hand to Lucas. Lucas took it. He did his thing quickly, chuckling at something Owen must have had in his mind. Lucas turned to Bennett, laughing.
“Why did you start a fire in the garage? Didn’t you know it could burn down? ”
“Really, Owen. Did you have to show him that?” Bennett tried to be stern.
“Like he did the shed, you mean,” Vaughan said and laughed. “That thing was like a box of matches. Just whoosh .”
“Wait. Bennett burnt down the shed?” Ladon asked, his gaze going from Vaughan to Bennett.
“When he was coming into his dragon he did, yes,” Ramsey said.
“Where’s Forrest? Forrest did way more stupid shit than Bennett did,” Gabriel said.
“He’s helping Mom in the kitchen.” Owen answered before addressing Lucas. “She can’t stand the rest of us in the kitchen with her. Just Forrest. Probably because he’s good at taking directions, which he did when we were young. Vaughan and Gabriel talked him into all kinds of shit.”
“Not Bennett?” Lucas said, settling into his lap, an arm going around the back of the sofa.
Bennett smiled to himself at the way Lucas just went with the flow of the conversation instead of demanding to read everyone. It said a lot about his mate.
Owen snorted out a laugh. “Hell, no. Bennett’s way too serious for all that. He kicked our asses for some of the stuff we talked Forrest into doing.”
Lucas ran his fingers through Bennett’s hair. “You’re a good brother. I still don’t get why you would start a fire in the garage, though. Makes zero sense, Bennett.”
“So you never did anything dumb when you were a kid?” Bennett asked.
“Not that I’m going to tell you about.”
“What if I demand you tell me? ”
Lucas rolled his eyes and leaned forward to kiss him. “Yeah, right. You won’t do that.”
“Oh my God, the pretty little dude tamed Bennett,” Vaughan said and grinned his signature grin, one side of his mouth turning up slightly higher than the other.
Bennett couldn’t keep the growl from coming out at the compliment Vaughan had given Lucas. One time was teasing, the second time felt like a challenge for his mate. Bennett took it as such, and his eyes changed. Lucas ran a hand down his chest. Bennett growled low in his throat.
Vaughan tilted his head to the side. “Sorry, Bennett.”
“Oh, stop, he’s just teasing you,” Lucas twisted Bennett’s nipple to prove his point. Bennett covered Lucas’ hand with his own at the painful pleasure. Lucas turned to Vaughan. “He knows you're just joking.”
They might as well have four heads with the way everyone watched their exchange. “Um…that’s not exactly true—” Ladon started to say, but quickly shut his mouth when Bennett gave him a narrow-eyed stare.