Chapter Two
Carter
Throwing the remainder of his dinner into the trash bag, Carter stared at it.
They didn’t order food often. Carter tried to eat healthily nowadays and Hudson was always up for a home-cooked meal, especially when he didn’t have to cook it.
Carter had been too…something to worry about cooking, and with his brother still with Bastian, Carter ended up grabbing food from the diner and taking it home.
The paranormal world was real.
Carter was still questioning everything he’d been told, hell, had seen with his own eyes, earlier that day. Hudson, Bas, and Aaron talked to Carter for over an hour, explaining everything they could in the short amount of time they had.
It wasn’t until Carter’s boss had called looking for him that Carter had managed to get away. Okay, after promising his brother a dozen times that he wasn’t going to say anything about what had been revealed. Like anyone would believe him.
Fucking shifters! And vampires. Magic. What the hell!
There had always been something off about the town. Rumors of the family that lived in the big house by the state park. And now Carter knew why there were so many questions. It wasn’t a cult. They were a family of paranormals. Like the kind from one of Carter’s favorite books.
He slammed the lid down on the trashcan. It had been hell finishing his shift when all Carter had wanted to do was grab his brother and get them both as far from the town as possible.
Hudson wouldn’t go. Carter knew the look in his brother’s eyes when Hudson was around Bastian. Hudson already cared deeply for Bas. Shifter or not.
“Fuck!” Carter slammed his hand down on the counter in front of him. They’d moved to this small town to get a fresh start. Hudson was there because of Carter. This was all his fault. His brother getting mixed up in whatever fucked-up thing happening was because Carter had moved them there.
Paranormals. Even repeating it to himself didn’t help Carter believe that this was his new reality.
Vampires, shifters, and an oracle. A cute oracle.
Carter had to admit that he’d seen Aaron a few times around town.
Aaron had first caught Carter’s eye leaving the diner as Carter had been across the street.
One of the many faces that Carter was starting to recognize.
Just like the others that he’d sworn to serve and protect.
Serve and protect.
How could Carter even help those in the community if he was getting mixed up and keeping secrets from them?
He needed more information. Carter had always been a guy that thought things through.
That needed all the details. Determination slammed into him.
He had to protect Hudson. Himself. The community.
Carter couldn’t do that if he stuck his head in the sand.
No, he would find out the truth about all of this.
Reaching for his phone, Carter opened the message chain he had going with his brother. The last message that he’d received was thirty minutes ago.
‘Are you okay? You’re not mad at me, are you? I’m sorry. I was going to tell you. I swear I was.’
His brother was worried. Carter had been too shocked to say much as Hudson, Bas, and Aaron had attempted to share what they could. He hadn’t asked the millions of questions that he suddenly had.
‘I’m okay. Just trying to get things sorted in my mind.’ Carter took a deep breath before pressing Send. ‘I have questions.’
The reply from his brother came quick. ‘I told Bas you would. I told him you would have ALL the questions.’ Three laughing emojis.
Carter chuckled. That was such a Hudson statement. It was also true. Carter needed to think things out. To elevate what was happening. To look at all angles. That was just who he was. ‘I DO have ALL the questions.’
‘Bas said Aaron is at the house. He can tell you more. Or Aaron can bring you here. You can meet the rest of my friends and we can talk. Whatever you want. Just tell me what you want.’
‘He’s here?’ Aaron was there? Why? How? Carter rushed from the kitchen to the front door.
He pulled the curtain aside. Not seeing anyone, Carter was confused.
Flipping on the porch light, Carter peered down the street to see that no one was hanging around.
Was Aaron invisible? Was that like his superpower or something?
Carter snorted. That was stupid. This wasn’t the X-Men.
The phone in his hand vibrated. Carter looked down at the notification on the screen.
‘Back porch.’
Carter turned to stalk across the house.
He passed the kitchen where he’d just been.
There was a window above the kitchen sink, but it faced the trees in the yard, not the back deck.
How long had Aaron been there? Why was he there?
Yanking the back door open, the wood vibrated in his hand from the force that Carter pulled on it.
“I’m here,” a quiet voice called out.
Pushing open the screen, Carter stepped out.
Sitting in the chair where Hudson often sat as they relaxed for the evening was the cute guy from earlier.
Aaron. The oracle. And he appeared utterly exhausted.
Why Carter was bothered he couldn’t say.
He just knew that Aaron should always be smiling, just like he’d done before everything had turned to shit.
When Aaron had been flirting and throwing bad pick-up lines at Carter.
Carter returned to the house and went straight for the fridge. He pulled out two beers and popped the tops off before going out to have this talk with Aaron. The oracle.
What the hell was an oracle? That had never been answered. And this totally was going to be a drinking conversation. Carter just knew.
He walked down the steps and over to the other man.
Aaron looked even worse than he had that afternoon. His blond hair disheveled, dark circles under his eyes, with an air of rejection surrounding him.
“You look like you could use a beer,” Carter said, offering him a bottle.
“Thanks.” Aaron reached out and accepted the bottle, taking a small sip.
Carter slid into the chair next to him. “How long you been here?”
Aaron shrugged. “About an hour?”
An hour? And Carter hadn’t heard him. “Why didn’t you knock?”
Aaron took another pull from his beer. “I didn’t know if you would want to talk or not. I didn’t want to bother you.”
“Bother me?” Carter said.
“In my experience, most people who learn about the paranormal react in two ways. They either find it exciting and embrace it or they pretend that they never heard a word about it.”
“And you thought I was the second?” Carter was a little offended.
“No,” Aaron said. “Because you love your brother. You’d want to know as much as you could in order to protect him.”
“Then why didn’t you knock?” Carter asked again. “If you were so certain that I would want to know more.”
“I was giving you time to decide for yourself.” Aaron finally looked at him. Here was a sadness in his eyes that made Carter’s heart ache for him.
“I appreciate that,” Carter replied. He still wanted to demand Aaron tell him what was wrong.
Swear to help him. Protect him. He swallowed all that back with a swig of beer.
Maybe he should have been a little creeped out to find a stranger sitting on his porch without him knowing about it, but there was something endearing about Aaron.
“Bas said you have questions,” Aaron reminded him when the silence stretched out.
Questions. So many fucking questions. “Yes.”
Aaron slouched in his chair as he rested the bottle against his stomach.
Aaron had a cute little pouch of a stomach that looked perfectly squeezable. Carter did prefer his men to have something to hold on to. Something to grab. Not that he should be thinking about that when there were much more important thoughts filling his head.
“Go ahead. I’ll answer everything that you ask.” Aaron hummed. “As long as I know the answer.”
“How many paranormals are here?” Carter asked. “That live in the area.” While Bastian and Aaron had spoken openly earlier about themselves, they’d spoken in general terms about the rest of the men. Carter had his suspicions, but nothing had been confirmed. Yet.
Aaron nodded. “Just know that I have permission to tell you. The family met earlier and discussed it.”
“That’s taking quite the chance,” Carter pointed out even though he was grateful.
“It is. We already love Hudson,” Aaron replied. “That makes you family too.”
Carter wasn’t ready to get into his brother’s involvement quite yet. “So…”
“Quite a few paranormals live here. The family, as they call it, was started by Axel. Slowly other men, paranormals, came and stayed. Over the last several decades, the family grew. Axel is known as the Alpha, even though they aren’t a typical pack.
Men who left their family or packs for numerous reasons but mostly due to their sexual orientation.
Even paranormal parents can be assholes when they find out their children aren’t straight. ”
Carter snorted. Luckily, he and Hudson hadn’t needed to worry about that. By the time their parents died, Hudson was just figuring out that he was gay. Carter had come out to his parents in high school as he dated both men and women on the regular.
“Yeah.” Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. “You’d think people who had extended life spans would be smarter and less judgmental. News flash. They’re not.”
Had Aaron dealt with that? Carter’s heart ached for the pain he heard in Aaron’s voice. “You said family, not pack.”
“That’s what they call themselves. Not just shifters here. Vampire, gargoyle, mage. And having more than one species is unique. It shouldn’t work and yet it does. I get to see every day how much it does work,” Aaron explained.
That was right. Aaron said them a lot. Spoke of the family as an extension instead of being a part of them. “You are new to town, right? Been here, what, a month?”
“A little over a month now,” Aaron replied. “Leo, Bas, and I grew up and worked together.”