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Rafe was going to freak when he learned exactly who they were.
He didn’t expect things to go much smoother with Marcus or Winter. He couldn’t even begin to guess at Aiden’s reaction.
This was bad. He should have told them, but he hadn’t been able to. What if they demanded he send them away? Bel’s palms grew sweaty, and he wiped them on his slacks while trying to calm his twisting stomach. He couldn’t let them go.
“Bel?” Wyatt inquired as he came to stand in front of Marcus’s palatial mansion beside him. He lightly gripped Bel’s elbow, and some of the butterflies calmed in his stomach—enough that he could offer up a small smile. Wyatt was wearing his dark slacks and cashmere sweater that Bel was so fond of. Handsome and strong, Wyatt was his own personal mountain.
Bel glanced over at River, who was closing his car door, his wide eyes turned up at the house. Yes, Marcus’s home was a bit much, but then, he’d been the face of the Varik family for years. He was expected to make a grandiose impression.
The younger wolf was also dressed sharply in dark colors that made him a wonderful mix of sexy and lethal. He was so proud to have both men with him, to call them his in some small way.
“You’re looking a little paler than normal,” Wyatt continued when he didn’t speak.
“Yes, just a little nervous. I’m not sure how they’re going to react to you and River.”
“Maybe we should go,” River offered. He held up the new smartphone that had been activated and delivered to the house a few weeks earlier. “We can call a car to take us home.”
“No, it’ll be fine. You need to stay. I want you to meet them. And I want them to meet you. They need to see you so they can understand what you’re going through. I know they’ll be able to help.”
At least, they would after they got over the shock.
“We’ll always stand with you,” Wyatt said firmly. “And we’ll accept any decision your clan makes.”
Bel nodded and led the way up the stairs to the front door. He could put this off no longer. For two months, he’d avoided family gatherings, using the excuse of experiments and general forgetfulness. He didn’t want to appear and then not tell his family about the wolves.
He started to use his own key, but the double doors were pulled open, and he was greeted by the sight of Ethan grinning wide at him. Well, he was technically grinning wide at the two men standing right behind him.
“Bel!” Ethan exclaimed. “You brought guests with you!”
“Hello, Ethan. I’m sorry I didn’t call ahead to warn you and Marcus.”
“It’s no problem at all.” Ethan stepped out of the doorway, motioning for the threesome to step into the grand foyer. “You know we’ve always got plenty of food. The more the merrier.” He extended his hand to Wyatt with a grin. “Ethan Varik.”
“Wyatt Campbell,” he said and some of the nerves inside of Bel settled at the warm rumble. At least they did until Ethan gasped.
“Oh, my God! You’re not a vampire!” Ethan said as he jerked his hand away.
Bel’s brow furrowed. He hadn’t noticed anything particularly different about Wyatt and River when he touched them that made him think they couldn’t be a vampire or even human. “Yes, but how can you tell?”
Ethan stared at the open palm of his hand for a moment. “I don’t know,” he said slowly. “Just a feeling when I touched his hand. I assumed because they were with you, they were vampires.” His eyes went wide suddenly as they snapped up to Bel. “Holy shit! Do they know?”
Bel chuckled. “Yes, they know about vampires.”
Ethan’s shoulders slumped and he shut the doors behind River. “Jesus Christ, this is hard. You guys didn’t warn me enough about how hard this was going to be. ‘You’ll need to feed off humans and avoid the sun.’ ” he said in a fake deep voice meant to sound like Bel’s older brother. “Little more difficult than that, Marcus.” He turned his attention to River and extended his hand with a smile. “Ethan Varik.”
River hesitated, looking over at Bel for a second. He sympathized. Ethan could be a bit of a whirlwind at times and more than most people knew how to handle. He had even less of a filter than Rafe, if that was at all possible.
“River Stone,” he replied, shaking his hand.
“Yeah, not a vamp either. Cool.” Ethan turned his attention to Bel, grin growing wider.
“Interesting,” Bel murmured.
“Do you think this could be my power?” His nose wrinkled and he glared at his hand for a second. “Kind of a lame power if it is.”
“Maybe. We’d need to do some testing—”
“Nope! I’m out!” Ethan threw his hands up in the air and started walking toward the grand staircase. “Keep your needles to yourself.”
