Sam
Before he could answer, one of the fiery portals opened, and Meshaq stepped through. He looked at all three of them with an intense glare before crossing his giant arms over his chest. “What’s wrong?”
“I scared the young mage,” Zaire said quietly. “I need you to help me quiet the spirits before I get close to him again.”
“I do know. I approve. Congratulations by the way.”
“Don’t change the subject. Someone needs to tell me what the hell just happened. Right now.”
Zaire stepped forward lowering her eyes as she went. Sam didn’t really understand the significance, but part of him knew she was doing it as a sign of respect. It eased something inside him.
“I can explain,” Zaire said. “How much do you know about elemental magic?”
“Little to nothing.”
“So you need the basics. There are four elements: fire, air, water, and earth. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and combinations of each have strengths and weaknesses. I’m a fire elemental.
My magic is used for cleansing, protection, and appeasing the spirits.
I also have an affinity for creatures who are based in the fire element, like our hellhound friends here. ”
“I’m with you so far,” Sam said.
“Excellent. Your young mage is an air elemental. I’ll have to talk to him to get a better idea of what his strengths are, but for right now, you need to understand that he’s traumatized, and he’s got his magical shields up.
Okay, now for the tricky part. Fire and air tend to work really well together, right?
When you’re talking literal fire, it needs air to survive. With me?”
Sam nodded.
“Okay, so when I’m around an air elemental, I tend to burn bright.
Problem is, when I’m angry and around an air elemental, I can pull a little too hard.
Think… wildfire. The wind turns and boom, the fire spreads out of control in seconds.
When you told me what happened, I got mad.
I bet he felt it, and it scared him. I didn’t hurt him, but my magic brushed against his and basically said, hey, you wanna start a wildfire? ”
“And he’s likely never been around someone like you before so he didn’t know what was happening?”
Zaire shrugged. “That’s my guess. He’s strong, though. I can still feel him. His magic is poking at me, and I can tell that it’s subconscious. He doesn’t know he’s doing it. He needs a mentor and some pretty serious training.”
Sam glanced at Meshaq. “I don’t think now is the right time for that. Unless you tell me otherwise.”
“Why?” Meshaq asked.
“Because he needs stability at home first. He needs to know he’s safe here and that he’s going to get fed every day and have a bed to sleep in at night. He needs to not worry about whatever has been happening to them and know that he’s got a pack now.”
Meshaq put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and looked at him with flame-ringed eyes. “He’s your responsibility now. I trust your instincts. Talk it over with Vaughn, and we’ll go from there.”
“It’s Education 101, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs at its finest. We’ve got a lot of work to do with these kids to get them feeling healthy and safe before we start working on anything outside of that.
If I’m wrong, tell me,” Sam said, looking at Zaire next.
“I know you’re the expert, but I think he’s too unstable to expect to be able to control his magic. He needs to be grounded first.”
“Interesting choice of words, Alpha-mate.” Zaire grinned at him. “Shifters are earth elementals. He’s surrounded by a lot of grounding magic right now. If he isn’t meant for a coven, then having a pack is the best place for him.”
“Trust your instincts,” Meshaq said. “You’ll do what’s right by him.”
It couldn’t be that easy, but Sam had never had a problem trusting his gut. And his gut told him Henry wasn’t ready for training. He needed day-to-day stability first, and he needed it to be with the other cubs. Isolating him now for special training wasn’t the answer.
“Then let’s go inside so you can meet all of them.”
“Give us a minute, first,” Zaire said. “I’ll dial my magic down quite a bit with Meshaq’s help.”
Sam nodded before turning and heading into the house.
He found Vaughn and the kids in the living room and immediately went to them.
He knelt in front of Henry with a smile.
“I learned some cool stuff about magic just now,” Sam said.
“I can’t wait to tell you, but Zaire is going to come in to meet you in a minute, so we’ll wait to talk for a little bit.
If you feel weird or don’t like something, tell me and I’ll ask her to leave. ”
Henry tightened the hold he had on Vaughn’s hand. “You’d make her leave?” Henry looked up at Vaughn, clearly not sure whether or not to believe Sam.
“She’ll be out of here faster than Ben eats blueberries,” Vaughn replied.
Henry giggled and leaned his head against Vaughn’s arm. The volume of blueberries Ben had consumed that morning with breakfast had impressed them all. “Promise?” Henry asked.
“I promise,” Sam said. “Anything at all you don’t like and she’s gone.”
“It doesn’t feel so weird anymore,” Henry said. “I just…”
Henry chewed nervously on his lip, staring at Sam with his bright blue eyes.
“What can I do to help?”
Henry shrugged.
The front door opened, and Sam held up his hand. Meshaq and Zaire paused in the doorway at his gesture.
Sam followed his instincts once more. “No one’s going to get through pack to you. Ollie, come here, buddy.”
Ollie crawled over everyone’s laps until he was sitting on Vaughn. Sam plucked him up and set him on top of Henry instead, getting a snicker out of them both. “Emily, you too.”
She sat on Nana’s lap but draped a leg over Henry’s. Jack sat on Vaughn’s lap and leaned in so his shoulder covered part of Henry’s chest. Natasha caught onto the game and sprawled out over Jack’s legs. “Ben, you and I are the front guard.”
Ben nodded and sat down on the floor, leaning his back against Henry’s legs.
Henry let out a little happy sigh.
Vaughn rested his hand on Henry’s head and gave Sam a very pleased look. Sam waved Meshaq and Zaire over then knelt down beside Ben.
The only part of Henry visible was his face. He looked very nervous, and probably a little embarrassed, but nowhere near as scared as he had been minutes ago. Meshaq and Zaire walked over to them, but stood on the opposite side of the room.
Zaire smiled softly at Henry. “Hey, Henry. Sorry I scared you.”
“Hi,” Henry replied. His voice trembled a little, and he darted a nervous look toward Vaughn, but he seemed to be holding his own.
“Would you mind if I sat down on the floor here?” Zaire gestured to the opposite side of the coffee table.
Henry glanced at Sam for approval this time. “Is that okay?”
“I think so. How about you?”
“I think so, too.”
Vaughn nodded at Zaire, so she sat down on the floor and propped her elbows up on the table.
It only took Sam a second to realize she’d made a point of keeping her hands visible, and he remembered the blue sparks he’d seen forming from Mrs. Foote’s hands.
It seemed significant, and he made a mental note to find out more later.
Sam adjusted his position so Henry’s knee was tucked under his arm and he put a comforting hand on Henry’s ankle.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” Zaire said. “I found out what happened to you and your brothers and sisters and it made me mad. Sometimes when I get mad, my magic gets a little wonky. Does that happen to you sometimes?”
Henry shrugged. “Sometimes.” He glanced at Vaughn again. “They aren’t really my brothers and sisters.”
Zaire made a scoffing snort that made Sam smirk. “They most certainly are,” Zaire said. “Family is the people in your heart, not just the people in your blood.”
Henry’s leg tensed for a moment, but Sam didn’t turn around far enough to see how he was reacting. He did glance up at Meshaq and found him smiling as well.
“Is that true?” Henry asked softly.
“Absolutely,” Vaughn said.
Sam’s heart skipped another beat, and Natasha must have heard it because she wiggled her way down onto his lap and pulled his free arm around her.
“So I was wondering,” Zaire continued, “if you would consider letting my magic say hi to yours. I’ll be really careful, and Meshaq will help your alpha and Sam make sure you’re extra safe.”
Henry’s leg tensed again. “I don’t know. It didn’t feel good before.”
“Yeah,” Zaire sighed. “It’s because I was mad, though. I’m not mad now.”
Henry wiggled his leg and stayed quiet for a moment. “We can try if Alpha says it’s okay.”
Zaire glanced up at Vaughn and Sam watched as she searched his expression. They sat quietly for a minute before Vaughn spoke.
“I think it’s a good idea to try, Henry, but only if you are okay with it. We can wait for another day if you want, but I don’t know, something tells me you’re interested, too. We’ll make sure you’re safe. I promise.”
“Okay,” Henry said quietly.
“Okay,” Zaire repeated. “This might tickle,” she said with a grin. Her eyes glowed a tiny bit red, and Meshaq placed one of his giant hands on her shoulder.
Henry giggled and some of the tension left his leg.
“It is saying hi,” Henry gasped in awe. “I can hear it.”
Zaire smiled again and her eyes brightened for a moment. “Now try to say hi back to me.”
Out of nowhere, a bright wind began to flow through the living room. It wasn’t overly powerful, just a breeze really, but it felt clean and crisp and fresh. Sam couldn’t help but turn to look at Henry, who was grinning widely. He looked at Sam and grinned. “My magic likes her. It likes you, too.”
“I’m glad,” Sam said. “I like you, too.”
“Good job, Henry. Now can you say goodbye?” Zaire asked.
Henry nodded as his eyes glowed for a moment before dimming. He had a death grip on Vaughn’s arm but he didn’t seem scared at all anymore. It was more like he was bubbling over with excitement.
“Very good, Henry. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“No.”
Ollie huffed and flopped over onto Sam. “I’m hungry.”