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“Or maybe they’re trying to find something familiar. Not for Cadence, or Jenna, or Kru. Perhaps they’re trying to build an anchor for Gunner.”
“Fuck Gunner.”
“Not fuck Gunner. You loved him once.”
“In another lifetime.”
“You’re still breathing, son. Don’t waste the life you’ve been given. It feels big that you are here.”
“For you.”
“For me. For your father. For Damon. For Beaston.”
“Beaston?” he asked with a frown.
“Sometimes things happen for a reason.”
“Are you proud of me, Ma?”
She was quiet for a few seconds too long, so he asked again, “Are you proud of me?”
“I am. Of course I am, but I also want more for you.”
“More than a fulfilling life with a good career?”
“Yes,” she said softly. Truth rang through her voice. “You aren’t caring for your animal.”
“My animal is fine,” but even he could hear the shake in his tone.
“He’s a silverback now, Lucas. You can pretend you are human all you want, but you have an animal that requires leadership responsibilities. You need a family group under you.”
“A bunch of females to manage?”
“No. Your father settled with me and he is happy. He is…full. Kong settled with Layla and he is happy. He is full. He doesn’t require extra females or extra offspring. But you must give your animal something to protect, or he has no purpose. And an animal without purpose…is lost.”
He didn’t say anything in response. Wouldn’t matter if he did. This wasn’t the first time he’d gotten this speech from his mom. Didn’t change anything. He was still himself, still un-paired, still a satellite out in orbit.
“Think fast,” someone said from behind him.
Lucas turned to find a flying beer can sailing straight for his face. He caught it just before it cracked across his nose, and Kru’s baiting grin was plastered across his face. He hopped over the stone ledge and cracked open his own beer as he scanned the crowd. “Damn, they pulled everyone in for this.”
Lucas studied Kru’s profile, but he didn’t look like any of the first generation. He was absolutely unfamiliar. “Whose kid are you?”
“Damon’s,” Kru lied.
“Bullshit,” he muttered as he cracked the tab of the beer.
“Wouldn’t it be cool if I was though? Think about it. You could be in the same Crew as a dragon. All the cool Crews have dragons. Damon’s Mountains. Harper’s Mountains. Kane’s Mountains. Vyr’s Crew. We just have a stupid silverback.”
“And you don’t even have that.” Lucas took a gulp of the beer but sputtered at the nasty flavor. He scrunched up his face at the label. “Why in the actual hell would you give me mango-ginger beer?”
Kru was chugging his. He shrugged, finished before he wiped his mouth, and said, “I stole it from Jenna’s trailer.”
“Dude, that’s messed up. First rule of the trailer park, don’t go in the girls’ houses.”
“Unless you are boning them,” Kru amended.
Well that got his attention. Lucas twitched his glare to the shifter. “Are you boning Jenna?”
