A Mate for Lu - Amy Bellows Page 0,59

Cy’s neck. Through all chaos of the move, Axe’s mates never met Sam’s children.

Axe pulls out an envelope and hands it to Jesse. “This is from all three of us. Jesse, these are my mates, Ben and Cyrano.”

Ben gives Jesse a friendly wave and Cy stretches out his hand for a hearty handshake.

“Uh, thanks for coming.”

“Can I take your picture? I’ve never been to a gender reveal party before,” Ben says.

Jesse smiles and Ben snaps a photo.

Before they move on to the buffet table, Cy takes my hand and smells it. He begrudgingly nods in approval.

Sam is religious about massaging my hands with peppermint oil every morning.

A steady stream of people show up after that. Ansel and his family. Todd and Lewis with their kids. We’re certainly not the only mixed couple.

Maybe the place would be packed if it wasn’t for my relationship with Sam, but there’s still a decent crowd for when Jesse stands up in front of the podium and announces their primary gender, secondary gender, and new name: Liam.

I helped him pick it out.

There’s lots of cheering and shouting, especially from Ben, who whoops for an embarrassingly long time.

After it’s over, I’m extremely tired and a little sick, but Liam skips to the car with joy.

Somehow, I’m going to figure out how to help other kids like him. I should probably share my experience with the Guild. I need to talk to Axe too. If we all put our heads together, we can figure out how to use this magic for good.

But the fidelity necklaces locked in the safe of the summer quarters haunt me as I consider who to tell.

I don’t know if this power could be twisted. It’s all so new. But magic is just like any other power.

In the wrong hands, it can do horrible things.

40

Lu

The day after Liam’s gender reveal, I drive to Axe’s house without calling first. I don’t know what to say, exactly. I changed Liam’s gender? I didn’t. After the party, he talked to me about getting his test results, and the self exploration he did when the results felt wrong.

I didn’t change Liam. I simply helped him feel whole.

When I get to the front porch of the house where I lived for many years, I realize that I don’t want to talk to Axe. No offense to my brother, but his perspective on magic and our family was always different than mine. He thought our birthright was sacred—that our name meant something.

The paint I used yesterday was traditional. Old. What I did yesterday isn’t new. So why haven’t I ever heard about it? Why did my father, who served at the upper echelons of the Guild, dissuade me from pursuing art if it was connected to the magic of the polar bear shifters?

I was always taught that our magic belonged to the alphas. Other than the occasional omega who could weld metal magic for reasons no one could understand, omegas were powerless.

That isn’t true. And someone covered it up. I know it.

I don’t need to talk to an alpha who was the Guild’s golden boy until a few years ago. I need to talk to someone who welds metal magic, even though he’s neither alpha nor omega. Someone who will take Liam’s experience with his gender seriously. Someone who identifies as “in charge.”

Instead of knocking, I text Cy. I didn’t bring any strawberries or tea, but I’m at your house.

On the other side of the door I hear footsteps and the loud screech of what sounds like furniture being dragged against the floor.

The door opens, and Cy stands before me in a pair of sweatpants and nothing else. There’s a slight curve to his stomach that I’ve never seen before, and I’ve seen Cy shirtless many times during the summer months.

“It’s okay. You can ask,” he says.

I cover my mouth with my hand. “Well, are you?”

“Yeah. Your brother knocked me up.”

I throw my arms around him. “Congratulations! When did this happen? Why haven’t you told anyone?”

He opens the door wider and gestures for me to come inside. Ben waves at me from the kitchen where he’s sitting next to Scooch and a large tray of vegetables. “Where’s Mary?”

“At home?” I sit on their new couch. It’s much nicer than mine was with thick cushions and a nice ottoman.

“You should have brought her,” he says.

“I needed to talk with Cy.” I don’t say “alone” because I don’t want to be too blunt. I like Ben. But this conversation needs to