"Your nana?"
"My grandmother," Luca clarified. "She raised me."
"And you're human?"
Luca smiled. "I was adopted."
"How did you end up getting adopted by a bear shifter?"
Luca sat down and folded his hands over his stomach. This was going to take a bit of an explanation. "My birth parents were killed in an auto accident a few miles from here when I was a baby. I was in the car with them, but I was the only one that survived. The sheriff tried to locate any other family who might take me, but no one came forward and the state's social services never sent anyone to pick me up. I was fostering with Nana at the time. When no one came to get me, she eventually adopted me. I've grown up in Silver Lake."
"Your grandmother is a member of the clan here?"
Luca nodded.
"But you are not?"
Luca squinted. "I'm human."
Humans were not allowed in the clan. Everyone knew that.
"I'm sure you've heard that I defeated Alpha King and Alpha Kersey in a challenge and I am now alpha of both the Silver Lake Clan and the King Clan."
"I've heard the rumors." There'd been a crap ton of them. No one was really sure what had happened or what was going to happen. Luca worried about how this would affect Randal, and then he had another thought and gasped. "Are you here to tell me to leave?"
"Now, why would I do that, Luca?" Rob asked. "You're the true mate of one of my clan members. Unless...Are you denying Randal?"
"What?" Luca glanced between Randal—who hadn't said a word since they walked into the room—and Rob. "What are you talking about?"
"I'll make this as simple as possible for you." Rob stood, crossing his arms over his chest. "Is Randal your mate?"
Luca glanced at Randal. There was something in Randal's brown eyes, a pleading that Luca desperately wanted to answer, but he wasn't sure what answer Randal wanted him to give. He knew from living in Silver Lake his entire life and talking to Randal that they could never publicly acknowledge their connection. He just wasn't sure he could deny it. Not when asked outright.
Luca glanced back at Rob. Looking the alpha straight in the eyes, Luca nodded. "Yes, Randal is my mate." He couldn't lie, and if that meant he had to die for verbally claiming Randal, then so be it. He refused to lie about something so sacred.
"Do you plan to claim him?" Rob asked.
Luca lifted one eyebrow. "My understanding from everything I've been told my entire life is that bears and humans are not allowed to claim each other, even if they are true mates, and especially if they are the same sex."
Luca almost growled when the alpha snorted.
"It would be hypocritical of me to deny others to mate humans since I thought my mate was human when I claimed him."
Luca's jaw dropped.
Rob's eyebrows wiggled. "He's also a man, or did you miss that part?"
Luca had to swallow a couple of times before he found his voice. "Your mate is a man?"
Rob grinned. "Yep, and a very cute one, too."
"And you thought he was human when you claimed him?"
"I did," Rob admitted. "And even though it wasn't allowed in my old clan, I claimed him anyway. I wasn't about to let anyone keep us apart."
"Is that why you're here now? Because you broke the laws of your old clan?"
"In part. The alpha's son attacked Casey. I attacked him for it. My old alpha could have put me to death for attacking his son, but he chose to banish me instead. My friends, my mate, and I hit the road until we found ourselves in Silver Lake."
