Of course they didn’t want him. I was overjoyed because my folks were going to say they knew he was human. They’d be doing my dirty work for me. Phelan and his mate leaving Sombertooth was no longer a possibility, but a certainty.
My parents shared a glance. “We scented Atticus as a shifter and you as latent.”
What did they say? I’m confused. Did they say he was latent?
That’s what I thought. It wasn’t possible. Jack injuring me must have affected my hearing.
“Latent? Are you sure?” My high-pitched voice sounded like someone drilling a hole in my skull. “Latent?”
“Yes.” Father nodded.
Rawling looked at Phelan, his face incredulous. He pressed his lips together but couldn’t contain his laughter.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, asswipe?” I sneered.
“Hey, that’s no way to speak to your brother,” Dad told me.
“I can speak to this latent any way I want.” I was an adult, and my parents couldn’t tell me what to do.
“And just so we’re clear, you’restilllatent?” Father asked.
Why was he asking that? Though it didn’t make sense, did he think Rawling was human?
“There’s nothing else going on?” Father was still pestering the latent.
What else could there be?
“Nothing whatsoever.”
My parents let out a sigh and shared a smile.
I’d have to get my folks alone and ask why they were bugging him like that.
“We’re so sorry, Rawling, but everyone in our family found their beast, and we thought you’d be better off with someone else. We didn’t want you to feel different, and we cared about you.” Father’s embarrassed expression had me hanging my head. Even to my ears, my parents’ reasoning was flimsy.
“You can say you didn't want me, that I wasn’t good enough for your purebred family and you didn’t want to be tainted by me. There’s no need to make excuses.”
The latent wasn’t accepting my parents’ explanation. Not that I was surprised.
“I’m not acknowledging this latent as my brother. No freaking way.”
“Oh, and you think I want you as a sibling? You’re no prize, Atticus.”
Rawling and I fumed at one another. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see the similarities in us because we werenothingalike.
It occurred to me that Rawling might latch onto my folks because we were rich. As an only child, everything would come to me when they passed. “You have no claim to the inheritance when my parents die.”
“Atticus!” Dad snapped at me. ‘We’re right here, and we have no intention of departing this earth anytime soon.”
I ignored my dad. “If you try to steal anything from me, I’ll sue the pants off you.”
Rawling glared at me. “The person who raised me and loved me, Rawlins?—”
“Rawlins adopted you? We had no idea,” Father admitted. “He was very friendly with my brother. He stayed with us a few times over summer holidays. I liked him a lot.”
“He was the best.” Rawling stuck out his chin.
“We thought it was a married couple who adopted you,” Dad added.
