“You do realize that this is probably more family than I’ve met in the last forty or fifty years,” said Lewis.
“How on earth did you manage that?” asked George as they walked across the street.
“My mum ran away with me. Didn’t let me know what I was until I suddenly shifted as a teen. Rather a shock it was,” said Lewis.
“Geeze!” said Angie.
“Once you’re over the shock, you can tell us all about it,” said George as they walked in the door.
Inside there must have been twenty or more people. Sam was engulfed by another couple and Lewis stood there stunned. He could feel that most of the people in the room were shifters. Probably more than he’d ever seen in one room. A tall dark haired man with an air of authority walked up to him and held out his hand.
“Hello, I’m Luc,” he said.
“Lewis. Lewis Davy. Nice to meet you,” Lewis said. “So this is the Alpha Sam spoke of,” he thought.
“Lewis, Welcome to my home. This is my mate Meg,” Luc said as he started to take Lewis around the room to meet people.
“Hello Lewis. I bet this is all very confusing to you,” said Meg. She had Linsey in her arms while Elliot slept next to her. At two weeks old, the babies had gotten into a routine that let Meg nurse just one at a time.
“Yes Meg, it certainly is confusing. Congratulations on your fine babies,” Lewis said.
“Thank you. You’ll get use to us. I know it took me a while and I’m not a shifter,” Meg said. “You can imagine our surprise to hear about you.”
“Indeed. I was rather shocked myself,” said Lewis.
“They didn’t even tell me until a day after the babies were born. Luc totally forgot for some strange reason,” said Meg with a smile.
Lewis nodded. Then the couple that had greeted Sam walked over.
“Lewis, this is my erstwhile cousin Ginny and her mate Patrick,” said Luc.
“Hi Lewis,” said Ginny as they hugged.
“Hello Lewis, it is amazing how much you look like Buster,” said Patrick.
“That’s what Sam said. Said it had been driving her crazy trying to figure out where she knew me from,” said Lewis. Sam walked up to him gave him a hug and then went to go see the babies.
“We’ll talk later. I have Buster’s diaries and all sorts of stuff you might want to see,” said Ginny.
Luc then walked him around and introduced him to everyone in the room, along with familial information and what each one did for work. They were just heading outside to meet Sandy when he walked into the kitchen to announce that the meat was ready.
“Hey Luc, is this Lewis?” asked Sandy.
“Yes. Lewis, this is Sandy my brother,” said Luc.
“Always good to meet family,” said Sandy extending a sauce sticky hand.
“Yes, Nice to meet you,” said Lewis. “Or should that be nice to meat you?” he laughed as he pulled a sticky hand away from Sandy.
“On this occasion, both,” said Sandy with a grin. “Shall we eat?”
The table groaned with food. Platters were filled with ribs, burgers, pork chops and sausages. Bowls of salad and breads were scattered along the table. Drinks were passed up and down as well as food. Desserts were piled on a separate table, and not a drop of chocolate to be found much to Anna’s amusement. The day after their discussion, Meg had told her mom about her secret chocolate stash when life just demanded chocolate. Conversations were all over the place as Lewis got to know the double handful of cousins.
“So, how is it that you didn’t grow up knowing that you were a shifter?” asked Sandy
“My mum. Apparently Da didn’t have the talk with her. So, the moment she found out, she ran. Had me about six months later. Since she didn’t know it was genetic, she figured that I was safe. Right up until the point I got upset one afternoon and shifted,” said Lewis.
“I can’t imagine growing up and not knowing,” said Ysabel. “You’re Canadian, but where did you grow up?”
“Vancouver. I have to admit that there were lots of odd things that really made sense after that first shift,” said Lewis.
“Like what?” asked Ginny.
“Like why I was stronger than most of my friends, or why chocolate made me so sick or better yet, why I couldn’t do a vegetarian diet,” said Lewis.
“Oh shit! Your mom was a vegetarian?” asked Cal as he speared another sausage.
“Yes. The only time she ate meat was when she was pregnant with me. The minute she had me, she lost all cravings for meat,” Lewis said.
“You must have been one sickly kid,” said Peter.
Lewis nodded. “Dietitians, hospitals, blood work and protein shakes. Of course the first one she got me was chocolate,” he said.
Luc about choked. “Oh god. That stuff is bad enough going down. I don’t even want to think of the results,” he said.
“It was nasty. However, I started cheating. I was starving and by that point I was old enough to understand that something was wrong. I walked past a sandwich shop one afternoon and bought a hamburger. First one I’d ever had. I think I ate six before I left,” said Lewis. “Felt better than I ever had and from then on I stopped by at least once a day.”
“Why didn’t you tell your mom you wanted to eat meat?” asked Anna.
“Well, first off she wouldn’t have bought any. By then she had remarried and her new husband agreed with her and I would have been worse off for it if I had made a fuss. So, I walked instead of taking the bus and used the money for burgers,” said Lewis.
“So what happened the first time you shifted?” asked George.
“My mum and I had a fight. I’d found some papers about my real father and asked about him. She didn’t want to talk and when I pressed, we argued. Then I got angry in a way only teens can and the next thing I knew, my clothes were too tight, my face hurt, the room was too loud and too bright. Apparently, I screamed and then dropped to the ground,” said Lewis.
“Then what?” asked Meg.