Page 110 of Claimed

Her eyes light up and she moves to the kid and puts her hand on his head and ruffles his mop of blond hair. “Guess what, Lukey? Grey has a waffle maker. How about waffles with fruit?”

Luke perks up, then his shoulders slump.

“But I already have this,” he says with his mouth full, face disappointed.

“You’re a growin’ boy,” I put in. “If you can fit waffles in your belly, too, why wouldn’t you?”

He swallows down what’s in his mouth and smiles big. “I could definitely fit some waffles in this belly.”

She looks at me again, love shimmering in her eyes, then asks, “Any news?”

“Jase and Linc probably won’t be there yet, but I suspect I’ll hear something soon.”

***

My sister shows up ten minutes later and I’m not sure what her agenda is at first and don’t think too long on it because she’s always the first to nose around when something’s happening, though it’s not just to be nosy, also to help wherever she can.

When we sit down to eat, Luke is looking at Bailey with stars in his eyes. Mostly his eyes are pointed at her rack, until he catches me watching him do it and his face goes red as I give him a look.

Bailey is being chatty with Luke and with Stacy, but something is off with her too this morning and I know my sister well enough to know with how she’s acting, there’s method to her madness.She’s fidgety. She’s already asked me half a dozen questions that I don’t have the answers to about how long Linc and Jase will be gone, what they’ll be doing while they’re there.

“We’re getting the lay of the land, then we’ll make a decision,” I say. “Our buddy hasn’t had much to report as the place has been locked down and we suspect they got his drone, but now we know from Luke that these guys left before he got there.”

Luke speaks up. “If we saw a drone we’d shoot it down.”

As I suspected. I’m sure we’d do the same.

Bailey is quiet for long enough to chew one bite of her breakfast before she turns to my mate and starts on a new train of questioning.

How many females are in Stacy’s old pack? How many around Stacy and Bailey’s age? And now I know what her angle is. This is beyond her typicalneed to knoweverything. I pretend not to notice what her true angle is. For now.

***

After wiping the counter, I toss the cloth in the sink. Stacy and Luke are loading the dishwasher and Bailey is putting the leftovers into the fridge.

“Hey Luke, you want, you can go down to the basement and play my game system.”

The kid’s eyes light up but then his shoulders slump. “That’s okay, sir. I mean Grey.”

I frown. “No?”

“Don’t know how,” he mutters.

What sixteen-year-old kid in this day and age doesn’t know how to play video games? Some shifter packs are less integrated with mainstream society than others, but not around these parts, alsonot around where the Silver Hills pack is located. It’s only half an hour from two different towns, less than an hour from a major city. He shouldn’t be this sheltered.

“C’mon. I’ll show you,” I offer.

He passes Stacy the last dirty plate and follows me.

Though I’m tempted to ask more questions, I should be asking Stacy instead. This kid has had enough questioning since he got here.

***

Stacy and Bailey are at the kitchen island with teacups when I come back upstairs. I gesture with my head for my sister to follow me out of the room.

“One sec, babe,” I say to Stacy’s questioning gaze.

“What’s the matter?” I ask my sister once we’re down a level by the garage.

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