Page 109 of Claimed

The kid’s eyes flit up and he sees the humor on my face, so he grins as he eagerly reaches for the milk, then walks into mypantry and comes back with the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I pass him a cereal bowl and start to work on a pot of coffee.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Lose the sir. I’m Grey.”

“Thanks, Grey.”

“You can look at me, Luke.”

He slowly lifts his eyes.

“Your folks,” I ask. “They worrying about you?”

He shakes his head. “Got none. He ran off years ago. She’s dead. Why?”

“You got anyone you wanna call and say you’re okay?”

Strangely, Stacy didn’t ask to make any calls last night. This isn’t just concern. It’s also a test with this kid. My instinct is pretty well-honed, but I know Meadows played with potions, so I don’t want to leave anything to chance.

“Anyone worried about you?” I add.

“I…” He thinks for a moment. “Maybe that oughta be left up to Stacy. She’s the closest thing to a mother I got.”

“Oh yeah?” I ask.

“Except maybe Aunt Shea. But Aunt Shea ain’t well and she prolly don’t even know I’m gone.” He shrugs and opens the cereal box. “Stacy’s like a mom to all of us in the pack and she’s still pretty young, too young prolly to hafta be, so I’m glad to see her land in a place like this.”

Stacy comes into the kitchen, freshly showered but with concerned eyes, bouncing between me and her cousin. She’s dressed in denim shorts and a black and yellow tee I recognize as being Bailey’s. Her hair is pulled into a braid that starts at hercrown and ends with a small red hair tie. She’s wearing makeup today. I know my sister brought some of that stuff over. Like last night, she wears just a subtle amount of it, but it looks good. She needs more clothes. These clothes hold a hint of my sister’s scent despite smelling mostly like laundry detergent.

She comes straight to me and I wrap both arms around her and kiss her throat. “Mornin’, Blossom. You look fresh and pretty.”

“Hey,” she whispers and kisses my jaw softly, putting her arms around my middle. “Thanks.”

Despite that I can see and feel concern, my woman’s gaze on my face is pure love. She looks to the side at her cousin.

“Mornin’ Lukey. How’d you sleep?” she asks.

Luke has a mouthful of cereal. He gives her a thumbs up and shoves another spoonful in before even swallowing what’s in his mouth.

“Coffee?” I offer.

“Yes, please,” she says. “You want me to make some breakfast?”

“Cereal’s good for today,” I say. “The Silver Hills beta that survived last night is asking to talk to you. I’m gonna go down there and find out who it is and what he’s got to say.”

“Oh,” she says, and she looks tweaked.

Joel says both Cade and Sean tried to get him talking last night and he said he’d only speak to Stacy.

She looks at Luke and it looks like she might be about to ask him a question, but I see and feel that she’s torn about something.

“Coffee, Luke?” I finally offer after a long silence where Stacy continues with her inner battle.

He shakes his head. “No thanks.”

She looks at Luke and twists her mouth as her eyes hit the box of cereal, wrinkling her nose like he’s eating a pile of steaming shit.

I say, “Unless you feel like something more substantial, then have at it.”

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