Page 2

Chapter Two

T hey were going to be late. Urgency hadn't set into Yael's chest yet, but it would. He battled with his brother’s propensity for sleeping in until the last possible second.

Yael pounded on his brother's door. "Eryn Michael Joseph. If you don't get up and into the shower in five minutes, I'm coming in there." Neither one of them wanted Yael to wake Eryn the hard way. He'd done it before, and it was a lot of cleanup. Eryn had ended up sleeping in Yael's bed for a few days until his mattress dried. And while he didn't want to do that again, he would if it would make Eryn get up a little earlier.

"I'm up. I'm up." Eryn's deep voice still sounded sleepy and muffled, as if his face was still pressed to the pillow.

Yael pushed his glasses further onto his nose before opening Eryn's bedroom door. Yael gave his best dad-face, which he was still perfecting even though he'd been his little brother’s sole guardian since Eryn was two years old. Yael certainly had a parental instinct, but he wasn't as good at the parental scowl as their mother had been.

Sure enough, Eryn was, in fact, still in bed with covers pulled up to his chest and his eyes half-lidded.

As soon as he saw Yael, he huffed and threw the covers back. "I'm up."

"You weren’t out of bed." Yael shook his head. "Every dang morning, it’s the same thing with you. I will take things away if you don't start waking up on your own." Yael would have lectured for another few minutes, but Eryn had left the room and entered the bathroom, shutting the door in Yael’s face.

"You're the one who starts the day by arguing with me. Not the other way around." Eryn yelled, but at least Yael heard the shower going.

Yael pounded on the door one more time. "Hurry up."

He grumbled under his breath about seventeen-year-old boys and their tendency not to take responsibility for themselves. As he made each of them lunch and a to-go mug of coffee, he made a mental note to finally buy Eryn an alarm clock. Eryn said he used the clock app on his phone, but Yael had never actually heard the thing go off. Not one single time. An old-fashioned alarm clock with an annoying buzz was exactly what the kid deserved.

As soon as Eryn came into the kitchen, he wore a smile on his face. "Good morning, grump."

Yael shoved two breakfast sandwiches at him and then nodded at the door. "Let's go. You'll make it to school on time, but I'll be late."

Eryn rolled his eyes, but shoved his lunch in his backpack before grabbing the sandwiches and the coffee Yael had made for him. "You work for the alpha. I doubt he cares if you’re five minutes late."

It would be more like three minutes, but Yael wasn't about to say it. "It's about building good habits and remaining honorable. The alpha pays me to be there at eight o'clock every morning. It's my responsibility to give him the time he pays for. A job that pays for your football and hockey equipment every season, I might add."

It was just Yael's luck that his kid was the star quarterback of Wingspan High School’s football team. And he wasn't a slouch at hockey or basketball either. Yael often wondered if one of them was switched at birth. Yael didn't have an athletic bone in his body and Eryn wouldn't voluntarily read a book if Yael paid him. Yael had tried a time or two. The last book had been about creating good habits. Eryn hadn’t read a single word.

Yael hadn’t improved his skill with a ball or puck either.

He went to all of Eryn's games. Football still confused him. Gavin and Easton came sometimes, too. He’d stopped asking Gavin about the rules because the answers cleared nothing up for him.

Yael complicated everything. It was a problem he had in almost every aspect of his life. Or so Eryn kept telling him.

Yael put on his shoes and jacket. It might have been March, but winter had ended a little earlier than it had in the past. The snow had finished melting last week. It had been mild and sunny every day since. The trees hadn't grown their leaves yet. Not even buds popped out, but the promise of it was enough to improve Yael's mood a bit. If he could get Eryn to wake up on time so Yael wouldn't have to speed to work every morning, then his mood might actually be on the right side of the spectrum.

He handed his keys to Eryn. "Start the car while I check the mail. I forgot yesterday."

They got little mail. Mostly, it was just the free local paper and a few sales flyers. He always threw that stuff away. Most of his bills were on autopay, with the occasional one emailed to him. He hadn't received a paper bill in several years.

He grabbed the stack from the box and then jogged to the car.

Eryn sat in the passenger's seat, already on his phone. He frowned as he texted someone.

Yael got behind the wheel and secured his seatbelt. And then stared Eryn down. "Seatbelt."

"Right. I forgot." Eryn never looked up from his phone as he pulled the belt around himself and secured it.

Yael put the mail in the backseat and then pulled out of the driveway.

"So, get this. You know that girl that's been sort of stalking me?" Stalking was too strong of a word. She liked Eryn. A lot. And inserted herself into a lot of the things he did, which basically meant she DMed him all the time on social media.

"I thought you told her you weren't interested." It was the right response, since it was truthful. And it wasn't aggressive or mean. It was a simple 'no thanks'. Yael approved.

"I did. Now she's telling everyone I'm gay." Eryn rolled his eyes.

Yael's dragon came out, and he growled. "She's outing you?"

"Sort of. I mean she's basically saying since I said no to her, I must be gay." Eryn huffed. "I mean I am."

Sexuality wasn't a big deal in their house. It wasn't something they talked about very much, mostly because they didn't need to. While Eryn was out at home, he wasn't at school. Which should have been his choice all along. Not having some spoiled little brat who was full of herself take the choice away from him.

"That's not the point."

"I mean… It's whatever. Everyone online is coming down on her pretty hard. And apparently, she thinks I'm making it worse by not saying anything."

"Oh, so now she's blaming you for her bad choices." Where were the girl’s parents? Yael would like to talk with them. "Will you get bullied at school?"

Eryn snorted. "Not hardly. I’m way more popular than her. That’s why she’s making a big deal out of it."

Eryn was the tallest kid in his grade and always had been, even in kindergarten. He might not have shifted to his dragon yet, but he'd be even bigger when he did. He was also the best athlete the school had seen in a long time, or so his coach kept telling Yael. Since the football coach was also the hockey coach, he would know.

"It's more annoying than anything else. I mean, she's sort of sinking her own ship and I think I should just let it play out, ya know?"

"I agree." But Yael would talk with her parents, anyway. He wouldn’t let some bully hurt his kid.

"It's just really hurtful. Like I get why she's saying it. She doesn't really know if I'm gay or not. She's just trying to make herself feel better."

"It's likely she has self-esteem issues."

"The rejection made her feel less then." Eryn shrugged. "It's just that I wouldn't be attracted to her even if I was straight. She has a shitty personality. And pretty much always has." Eryn smiled. "Now her little brother. He's a cutie."

Yael chuckled. "I bet that would really piss her off if you started dating her little brother."

"And get the rest of the student body’s attention. Not that he'd be into me."

"Why wouldn't he be? You're smart and good looking."

Eryn grinned. "I'm definitely the best-looking one in our family."

Yael smiled and shook his head. "Sure, you are."

"He's dating a girl in his grade."

"Oh."

"Not only that, but I don't want to fuck around. I want to wait for my mate, which means no dating." Eryn had a lot of friends he hung out with regularly. He was social enough without dating.

"You do whatever you think is best."

"I know. Thanks, Yael."

Yael pulled up to the curb at the front door of the school. "Have a good day."

"I will. You, too." Eryn got out of the car, but didn't close the door right away. "Sorry for making you late."

Eryn really was a good kid. Better than Yael had been at his age, that’s for sure. But then, Yael hadn’t had a normal childhood like Eryn did.

"You’re forgiven. We’ll work on it together. Okay?”

Eryn smiled and nodded.

Yael was still getting him an alarm clock.