“It is the only reason I believed the nonsensical story they shared. Can you imagine? Strange men showing up unannounced at my home, and then one claims to be my long-lost twin?”
“They’re lucky you didn’t put the whammy on them.”
Phoebe laughed. “The whammy. Yes, they are very lucky indeed.”
“Let me introduce you to the others,” Iris said.
“No,” Koios said. “Let me.”
Iris turned to him and smiled. She’d been the face of their family forever. As the oldest, it had become a natural role for her. She’d also been protecting Koios for all of those years. He didn’t like being around people outside of his family.
But that’s all he was surrounded by now, wasn’t it?
Nyx stepped toward them, her eyes glassy with tears and a stray stream of eyeliner running down her face. She’d be mad about that later, of course, but for now, Koios led Phoebe to meet her.
“This is Nyx,” Koios said. “She’s the one I warned you about.”
“Hey!” Nyx laughed and sniffed. “But yeah, I do deserve a bit of a warning. Goddess, I can’t believe how much you look like us. I didn’t believe Iris when she told me, but seeing you….”
“It is undeniable,” Phoebe said. “Plus, it’s always good to be warned about the Goddess of the Night. One can never be too careful.”
Nyx laughed again. “Yeah, the lady who named us had a wicked sense of humor, but she also nailed it with the names. I even love kids and hope I can have a ton of my own one day.”
“That is very Nyx of you.”
“Right?”
The twins approached next and Koios introduced them.
“Koios tells me you’re learning about security systems,” Phoebe said. “It must run in the family as it is an avid interest of mine as well.”
Castor actually blushed. “That’s great.”
“I still can’t believe it,” Pollux added. “Do you really think you can help our brother?”
“I can,” Phoebe promised.
Koios shivered and looked over his shoulder at Ben. His heart pounded in his chest. His hand shook as he reached for Ben, and his mate…his mate…quickly moved to his side and took it.
Koios squeezed Ben’s hand in his as he continued the introductions. His world had turned upside down in a matter of days, and Koios had a sudden flash of fear that it wasn’t over yet.
20
BEN
Ben sat next to Koios at the boisterous dinner table. Koios picked at his food as he watched everyone around the table. Ben had worried that Phoebe would be overwhelmed by meeting them all, but she’d handled the introductions easily.
He leaned in and bumped his nose against Koios’s ear. “You should eat or Bailey will fuss at you.”
“I’m trying. My stomach is in knots.”
Ben rubbed Koios’s back. “Anything I can do?”
Koios shook his head as he twirled his fork in the spaghetti noodles on his plate. He took a bite as he watched the others chatting like old friends.
“Jax is enamored with Phoebe,” Ben whispered. “Check out the way he’s hanging on her every word. Apparently two big sisters wasn’t enough for him.”
Koios twirled another bite onto his fork. “Okay, that is kinda cute.”
