Chapter 437

| knew Eli was an Alpha, or at least descended from Alphas before he took over as one. He’s more of a leader than many Alphas I've known, my own father included. But it was nice to have confirmation and to be able to show him that he isn’t the fake Alpha to this pack that he sometimes feels he is, even now. He is the real deal. He always has been.

The next day, Eli and | drive north two hours to meet up with Benny. | didn’t want him driving all the way to the pack if he ends up running and screaming after we tell him what we are. Eli found a small town with an even smaller diner where we could meet and have some privacy to talk.

We arrived first and got a table in the corner. | smile at Eli thinking of the time we were on the run and we had breakfast in a diner.

“Why are you looking at me like that, baby?” He asks me.

“You're sitting the exact same way you were that time we were being chased by the red wolves. You remember, we were eating breakfast and you saw the shifter you’d heard overnight. Even back then, before | accepted you, you were such a good mate to me.

| watch as Louis pushes forward in Eli's eyes. “You were ours, from the moment we first saw you. Ours to love and ours to protect. That will never change, little wolf.” Goddess, | love this man with every ounce of my being.

| reach out and cup his cheek, Maia pushing forward. “We love you too.” We say together..

When | hear the bells chime announcing someone coming into the diner, | pull back and look up to see Benny looking at us.

“Benny!” | stand and walk to him, hugging him tightly. As | step back, he holds on to my arms, looking me up and down.

“| know you were all grown up when | last saw you, but hon, you've certainly changed since then. You seem all grown up now.”

“A lot has happened since | last saw you, Benny.” | turn, gesturing to Eli who has come over to join us. “You remember Eli.”

“| do.” He says, putting out his hand to shake Eli’s.

“It's a pleasure to see you again, sir.”

We begin walking over to the table. “I’m glad to see you've been taking care of Grace. | was worried at first, but she told me you were, and now | can see that she was right.”

+15 BONOS We sit and order food before Benny asks me what has been going on. “Well, there’s a lot Eli and | want to share with you, but I’m not sure you’re going to be okay with it.”

He looks at us for a minute. “Are ya'll livin in one of them nudie camps?” He asks.

Eli frowns. “Nudie camps?”

“You know, where people walk around nekkid all the time.”

I can see Elis lips twitching. “No, Benny, we don’t live in a nudist colony.” | say, mentally face- palming myself.

“Well, then, | don’t see what the problem is. As long as | can wear clothing, I’m good.”

“How do you feel about wildlife?” Eli asks.

“| was raised in the country, son. I’m used to wildlife.”

“We live in and among the wildlife, Benny.” | tell him.

We get our food and I can see Benny is thinking about what we’ve said. He puts his silverware down, wipes his mouth with his napkin then looks up at us.

“What aren't the two of you telling me?” Benny was always astute. He comes across as an uneducated country bumpkin type of man, but he’s not stupid.

“Have you ever heard the term shifter, Benny?” Eli asks him.

“You mean like in the movies where someone turns into some kind of critter that goes around killing everyone?”

| look at Eli, my eyes widening. This is not the direction | wanted this conversation to go in.

“Not exactly.” Eli says.

Benny looks between us. “Spit it out then, what do you mean?”

“We're wolf shifters, Benny. Eli and | and the people we live with, we’re a pack. We can change into wolves.”

Moment of truth. | watch as Benny looks at me, assessing if I’m telling the truth. | don’t look away. He looks at Eli and gets the same resolute expression. | watch as he makes up his mind about whether or not I’ve gone crazy, before he picks up his fork, and stabs a bite of his pancake.

“| knew your mom didn’t have cancer. Didn’t know what it was, but people with cancer don’t have the t type of episodes she had. I’m guessing she was a shifter, too?” He asks, putting the bite of food in his mouth.

Something inside me unwinds. | hadn't realized how much | wanted Benny to believe me and agree to come live in our pack. This man, who had looked after my mother and me when we had no one, then watched out for me after she died. This man, who has been more of a father to me than my own had ever been.

“She was.”

He nods. “Is that where you got it from?” He asks, as if we're talking about the color of my eyes.

not that I'm a shifter that turns into a wolf.

“| got it from both my parents.”

“You ever find that shit for brains father of yours?” He asks. He knew enough to know that my father had kicked us out.

“Yeah. | took care of it.” He stops, his food halfway to his mouth as he looks at me.

“Permanently?” He asks.

Inod.

“Good.” He says before finishing his breakfast. “He didn’t deserve either of you anyway.”

“So, Benny, do you want to come live with a bunch of wolves in the woods and help a young girl start her own business in a diner?” Eli asks him.

He shrugs. “I packed everything | own, knowing that there isn’t anything for me back the way | came. Only thing for me is to go forward with you folks. If you'll have me, I’m happy to come along. But I don’t change into anything. What ya see, is what ya get with me.”

| drove home with Benny. We caught up on the last few months and | gave him the full story of my battle with my father. “Alpha wolf, huh? That’s like, top dog, right?”

“Something like that.” | said.

“It's good to know the boss.” He said.

He settled into pack life easier than | would have believed. He moved into the packhouse not showing any concern that he was living amongst hundreds of wolf shifters. After making sure that +15 BONGS he didn’t need to worry about some wolves being the real thing and attacking him, he settled right 1. in.

Over the next couple of weeks, he made friends with almost everyone. No one seemed bothered. that we had a human living in our pack. He met with Cammy and talked to her about her ideas, and he gave some of his own as well. He worked with her to make sure that the diner would be built in a way that made it conducive to seating large groups of people and still had enough room for a kitchen, a prep station and a checkout counter. He took her under his wing, just like he had with me.

Sometimes, he goes hunting with the wolves that bring in meat for the pack. I’ve heard him. arguing that he is the better hunter because he doesn’t have teeth and claws, he has to use a gun and his own old eyes and ears.

He even gets along with the sprites. After Fanella left with Alpha Christopher, Funichio didn’t really have anyone to spend time with. He and Benny have become good friends. | frequently find them sitting together in the late afternoon, relaxing under a tree or walking through the forest, just talking.

He’s chosen a spot where he wants to build a house, and once the diner is built, | doubt I'll see much of him as I’m sure he'll do what he’s always done. He'll sit in the diner and keep and eye on everything.

He did mention to me once that while we may not live in a ‘nudie camp’, people sure al are ‘nekkid’ a lot. | just laughed and told him it was too expensive to constantly buy clothes if you shift with them on and destroy them. And then, you don’t have any to put on when you shift back. He’s learned to adjust.

All in all, it's been a much easier transition than | would have expected, and | couldn’t be happier.

Cooper Author +15 BONGS