“No! There will be no buts. Anyone comes to this house and asks to see your father or me, you will be respectful, you will be congenial, or I will spank your butt like you’re still three years old, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tessa said insolently.
“And you will adjust your attitude when speaking to any adult in this clan. Won’t you?” Delilah asked angrily.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And if your Alpha requests an audience with your father, you will make it your business to behave accordingly whether you’re 13 years old, or 33 years old. Because if you don’t, Brandt will have to get in line to discipline your insolent self.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I will not have this conversation again. If you are less than respectful to anyone who deserves your respect, I will yank you up without warning!” Delilah finished as she stood and slowly approached Tessa. “Your Dragon is not even an afterthought for my Dragon. You’d be rather foolish to make me have to prove it. But we can go that route if you wish.”
“No, ma’am. I’m sorry.”
“Learn your place, or you will be sorrier.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Go to your room and wait until someone decides it’s acceptable for you to leave it.”
Tessa nodded, and immediately went to her room, even softly closing the door behind herself instead of slamming it.
Delilah sat down on the sofa again and started flipping through channels since she’d now lost interest in the program they’d been watching. “That girl, that girl. I don’t know where she gets that haughtiness from!” she grumbled under her breath. “She is mean. Kaid’s right.”
~~~
Kaid opened the back door to find Brandt leaning against the banister looking out at the stars in the sky.
Brandt turned quickly and smiled at Kaid. “Hey, Uncle Kaid. You busy?”
“’Course not. Why didn’t you just come on in the front door like usual?”
“Wanted to be invited this time.”
“Protocol,” Kaid said.
“Something like that.”
“Come on in, Brandt. What’s going on?” Kaid asked.
“It’s private, and if at all possible, I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Alright. Have a seat. I can hear Delilah chewing out Tessa in the other room. They won’t be coming in here.”
Brandt sat down and waited while Kaid sat across from him.
Kaid sat quietly across from Brandt, giving him a chance to gather his thoughts. “First, I want to be honest, I wasn’t going to come here. I planned to handle this all by myself, but Barron has made it clear that it would be a stupid decision to do that. So, here I am.”
Kaid chuckled. “There ain’t no shame in asking for help, Brandt.”
“I’m not sure I need help. In fact, I don’t think I do. But this could spread beyond the areas I think it might affect, and if you don’t know to be watching, it could get bad. So, I’m here.”
“Okay,” Kaid said, encouraging Brandt to go on.
“I do know that the one thing I don’t need is Uncle Bam, or Maverik, or even my father or Daniel going off all half-cocked and screwing everything up.”
Kaid canted his head just a bit. “So, basically, you’re telling me that you’re going to let me know what it is, but you don’t want me to tell my clan.”
