They walked into the house together.
Lucas had slept all night and through to the afternoon. All that sleep scared Bennett a little, so he planned to ask his mother about Lucas’ abilities. If he would always be drained when he worked with his magic, Bennett wasn’t going to allow him to do it at all.
Bennett and Lucas were the last to arrive. He could hear all his brothers and his sister in the back room. His family could be loud at times. It was even worse at clan meetings, especially if they were all going for a run after the meeting was over. Clan meetings only happened a few times a year.
Ramsey wasn’t the type of leader to demand the attention of the clan. He often stayed at Mother’s house or on the deck after the meetings were over when the rest of the clan ran through the forest. Ramsey didn’t partake in the clan run very often, which had more to do with him not liking to shift on land as much as he did in the water.There were only a few other water shifters. One was Sage, whose snake loved swimming.
Bennett would have to be on high alert because of Lucas. Ramsey had called a meeting for after the family had dinner, thinking it would be a good idea for Lucas to get used to the clan. He had a feeling when the clan found out what Lucas could do they would be all over him, asking him to fix their illnesses and such. Bennett wouldn’t allow it.
Lucas looked up at him, probably wondering why he had stiffened and started growling. Bennett calmed. He leaned down and kissed Lucas’ brow.
“Are you okay?” Lucas asked, concern still showing on his face.
Bennett hated that he just made Lucas even more nervous than he already was. “I’m worried about you at the clan meeting tonight,” Bennett said. After all, his mate could read him whenever he wanted. Bennett didn’t shut Lucas out. He wouldn’t ever do that to his mate, so Lucas would be able to tell if he was evading.
“Why? Are any of them dangerous?” Lucas asked as they made their way to the back room.
“We’re shifters. We’realldangerous,” Vaughan said from his chair. Ladon sat on the arm of the plush recliner.
Owen, who sat next to Gabriel on the love seat, rolled his eyes at Vaughan.
Ramsey and Kristin sat on the couch. Kristin smiled at them and patted the seat beside her. Bennett sat, pulling Lucas down onto his lap. He winked at her in a silent thank you. “Don’t scare my mate, Vaughan.”
Vaughan grinned and held out his hand to Lucas. Lucas hesitated to take it. “You know I’m a witch, right?”
“Yeah, a very strong one. Mom even says you’re stronger than her.” Vaughan wiggled his fingers.
Lucas looked at Bennett as if he wanted him to say it was okay. Bennett nodded to Lucas and he turned back to Vaughan. “I don’t know about that. Knowledge is power and your mother has a lot of that.”
He knew Mom would put Lucas at ease and having his siblings submit was her way of doing it. The fact that Lucas was very strong and getting stronger probably made it easier for his siblings to do just that. It seemed Lucas had really come into his power after they’d bonded.
Lucas took Vaughan’s hand. It was a few seconds before he muttered. “Wolf.” Lucas smiled and said with a bit of wonder in his voice, “Oh, you fly a plane. That is so cool. Would you take me flying sometime?”
Vaughan nodded and then addressed Bennett. “I like your mate, Bennett. He’s really pretty.”
Bennett pulled Lucas closer and growled. He knew his brother teased, but he still couldn’t help the possessiveness that overtook him.
“Hi, I’m Kristin. The only sister in this bunch. Hopefully we’ll get another girl soon. Too many boys around here.” Kristin held out her hand to Lucas, and this time Lucas didn’t hesitate.
“There’s no such thing as too many boys, Kristin,” Vaughan said with a grin.
Lucas muttered to himself. “Eagle. Oh, you have a twin.” Lucas moved his gaze to Owen, letting go of Kristin. “You guys look a lot alike, actually. Even though you’re not identical twins. Can a boy and a girl be identical twins?”
“No, I don’t think they can.” Owen stood and held out his hand to Lucas. Lucas took it. He did his thing quickly, chuckling at something Owen must have had in his mind. Lucas turned to Bennett, laughing.
“Why did you start a fire in the garage? Didn’t you know it could burn down?”
“Really, Owen. Did you have to show him that?” Bennett tried to be stern.
“Like he did the shed, you mean,” Vaughan said and laughed. “That thing was like a box of matches. Justwhoosh.”
“Wait. Bennett burnt down the shed?” Ladon asked, his gaze going from Vaughan to Bennett.
“When he was coming into his dragon he did, yes,” Ramsey said.
“Where’s Forrest? Forrest did way more stupid shit than Bennett did,” Gabriel said.
“He’s helping Mom in the kitchen.” Owen answered before addressing Lucas. “She can’t stand the rest of us in the kitchen with her. Just Forrest. Probably because he’s good at taking directions, which he did when we were young. Vaughan and Gabriel talked him into all kinds of shit.”
