“Bennett.” There was a warning in his mother’s voice, telling him to listen. It wasn’t a request. She wanted him to take a break from working and do something fun for a change. His boat repair business was in his garage, so he didn’t ever have to leave his house. In fact, he was pretty sure he needed to go grocery shopping. He had a half case of soda and a loaf of bread. That was about it.
“Okay, Mom.” Bennett looked at the clock on the wall and realized he only had an hour to clean up before his brother got out of school.
“Thank you, dear. And also this Sunday we’re all having dinner. So make sure you’re here this time.”
“Yes, ma’am. Love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, dear.”
Bennett had to admit he had a smile on his face by the time he’d finished talking with her. She had always been like a train that justrailroaded over him. It should’ve pissed him off, but he actually liked it. It made him feel loved when she called and nagged.
He remembered giving her hell as a teenager. He had been pissed off at the whole damn world. Mostly, he was mad at his parents for dying and Garridan, his father’s best friend, for leaving him so soon after losing his birth parents, although he hadn’t understood he had turned his grief into anger until years later.
He was fully grown and realized the people in his life hadn’t left him, not of their own free will. Even Garridan was most likely dead. He wouldn’t have left Bennett out of the blue.
He had been lucky to land on Mother Estelle’s doorstep all those years ago. She was a good mom.
Bennett left his tools in the boat and swung over the side, wiping his hands on a rag after he was once again standing on the floor. He left the garage and walked across the driveway to the back door of his house.
One of the reasons he’d bought the house was because of the large garage and the bathroom right inside the back porch. Obviously, whoever had built the house had intended to work out of the garage on some sort of greasy project. The previous owner may have had a boat repair business just as he did. Given the three lakes surrounding the small town, it wouldn’t have surprised him.
Saint Lakes was more like a village made up of mostly shifters.
He still went to his mother’s house to shift, mostly out of habit. He could shift in his own backyard, though.
Years ago, before he and Ramsey had come of age, the humans who lived in town hadn’t known about shifters. Mother Estelle had instilled in them the need to be careful of shifting in front of humans, although the unknowing humans had moved out years ago. Of the fewhumans who still lived amongst them, all of them knew about shifters, mostly because they’d mated with one.
Ramsey, Bennett’s brother, made sure their town stayed safe for every paranormal who came to the area. Saint Lakes was a quiet town and had been for over twenty years.
Bennett waited just outside the main doors of the high school for Ladon. He was leaning against the tan bricks of the school. He knew most of the kids who came out of the door, having seen them all at a clan meeting at some point or another. Most knew to be respectful and address him as Beta when they talked to him. A couple of the girls looked at him as if he was a damn lollipop.
Too young and wrong tree, ladies.
When his brother came out of the front doors, Bennett nearly sighed in relief. He hated being around so many people.
He eyed Ladon as he drew closer.
Ladon looked bored but otherwise seemed fine. Their mother really didn’t have anything to worry about, but then Bennett strongly suspected she knew that. He realized all at once she sent him to get Ladon from school more for Bennet’s benefit rather that Ladon’s.
Ladon gave him a half smile when he saw him. Bennett pushed himself off the wall and walked beside his little brother, grabbing him around the neck.
“Hey, watch the hair. Jeez,” Ladon said, but never struggled against the hold.
“Mom told me you were having trouble with your first shift,” Bennett said as they walked the short distance to Bennett’s truck, which was at the very end of the lot, because the place was busy at the end of the day. It seemed like the whole damn town was in the fucking school parking lot. He almost forgot how busy the school was at that time.
“Mom made that shit up, man.”
“Is it partly true?” Bennett asked and let his brother go. Ladon patted his hair down as if a strand was out of place. Bennett rolled his eyes.
Ladon shrugged. “A little.”
“Hi, Ladon,” a girl said as she walked by them. She met Ladon’s gaze through her lashes and then she turned her eyes on Bennett. Bennett had forgotten her name, because she hadn’t been part of the clan long. He had met her once, though, at a pack meeting, although she had only been to the one.
She smiled at him. “I’ve never seen you guys together. You look alike.”
They did resemble each other, but that had more to do with the fact that they were dragon shifters than anything else. They both had dark hair and green eyes. That was where the similarity ended, because in truth they weren’t genetically related. Still, if there was anything he’d learned from his mother, it was that family consisted of the people who loved him most, not the people who shared his blood.
Ladon shrugged, looking bored.
