Page 16 of Riding A Cock-Horse
“Uncle Alastair, this is Belle—the one that we were telling you about.”
“Aye, she's a lovely lass, indeed. Nice to meet you, Belle,” he greets her formally.
Belle steps forward to shake his hand.
“Nice to meet you. I really appreciate you helping us. I know…” She trails off. “I know it's outside your comfort zone,” she finishes as diplomatically as possible for her.
Alastair quirks a smile.
“That's putting it mildly, but we always help clan. Any friend of Arthur's is a friend of ours and part of our family.”
At these words, Sian exhales a deep breath that she probably didn't even realize she was holding. I see Elise give her a hug before releasing her. Poor little birdy, I know what she was worried about. Hell, if we're all being truthful with ourselves, we probably all were worried about the same thing in the back of our heads. But Arthur wouldn't have taken us here if he thought it wasn’t safe. His uncle might be displeased, but Alastair wasn't going to turn us away—especiallynotwith all the things we have to tell him.
“So, how ‘bout that shower?” Harry prods, slinging an arm over me. “Jack the Arse here could use one, too.”
I roll my eyes, but chuckle.
Good old Harry—great for breaking the tension.
Alastair nods.
“Dageus, you have your Rover here and I have mine. We can drive everyone back home and get them settled. Afterward, we can have a belther1.”
Dageus nods
“Of course, Laird, it will be done.”
Even though it's his father, the bloke is super formal.
“Arthur, Belle, Sian, and Elise, why don't you come with me,” Dageus directs.
I roll my eyes.
Great.
I'm going to have to sit in a car with Harry, Jude, and Theo. Theo’s not so bad, but Jude and Harry don't get on. It'll be hard to keep Jude from choking him—probably even harder to keep the Laird from choking him—and I'm pretty sure my Aunt Millie would be upset if anything happened to Harry.
We’re only children, and even though we’re Primaries, we’re higher up since we’re larger mammals. But being mammals, well, you don't have as many chances to procreate when you're shifter like us. Parents tend to dote on their children because they’re so rare to have—another reason why Sian and Elise’s parents' rejection cuts them deeply.
Alastair drives us back to his house. Harry reminds him why we're the arse-end of everyone's jokes. As punishment for being his cousin, they room us together, and as my own personal form of punishment to the git—I beat him to the showers and use all the hot water. I chuckle loudly as his curses follow me down the hall and out of the house.
I spot Belle outside the large [enter in description of house and outside], refreshed in different clothing that fits her, staring over the lake that's gleaming in the sun.
“Penny for your thoughts,” I prod.
She looks over sideways at me and smiles.
“Keep your penny; I'll tell you for free—I'm worried about Sian and Elise. Sian…she looks so sad. Do you know what's wrong?”
I cock my head.
“Have you asked her?”
“No…they’ve roomed together, and I didn't want to bother them. I didn't know if the question was too intrusive.”
“Well, you're their friend now. I'm sure that they would tell you. It's not really my place to share, though,” I answer.
Belle nods in understanding, and we lapse into thoughtful silence—me thinking how sweet she is that with everything on her plate, the Yank’s still more worried about us.
