Page 19 of The Chosen One Universe: Volume One

“It’s pretty yummy,” Vaughn said. He rubbed his hand gently down Ollie’s back, trying to soothe the nervous pup. “How about this. Nana will get out the cereal, but she’ll also make you a pancake to try if we ask her to. If you don’t like it, you can have the cereal. Deal?”

Ollie nodded and looked again toward the pantry. “I’ll try a pancake,” he called.

Nana came back carrying a box of cereal and wiped away another suspicious tear. She’d heard every word they’d said, of course, but Ollie wasn’t quite old enough to have figured out how their enhanced senses worked. The pancake batter was already mixed and sitting on the counter in a towel-covered bowl.

Ollie watched as she poured the mix into the skillet, but he’d grabbed hold of Vaughn’s arm and was squeezing it nervously. Vaughn leaned down and rubbed his nose along Ollie’s head and breathed in the boy’s scent. If he ever got his hands on the poor excuse for a human being who’d had these kids in her care, he swore he’d rip her limb from limb.

Sam reached out and touched Ollie’s back as well and their hands brushed together. Vaughn looked over at him, able to regain control once more with Sam’s touch.

“I was talking to Nana before you woke up,” Sam said. “She answered a bunch of questions for me. We did have a couple for you, though.”

“Okay.”

He wanted to reach out and touch Sam, join their hands together, maybe. Or maybe just put his arm around Sam’s shoulder and hold him close. Sam wasn’t ready, though. He moved his hand and glanced away before he spoke again.

“So, Nana said she knows how to feed wolf cubs, but does Ben need a special diet? I looked it up online and actual bears can be either omnivores or carnivores, depending on their breed. It seemed like most of them prefer a diet of fruit and nuts, but it depends on the species and where they are located, so I’m not sure. And foxes will pretty much eat anything, just like wolves, so Natasha should be okay with the same diet as the other kids. We just wanted to be sure they all had what they needed. Neither of us had a clue about Henry, and there wasn’t exactly a website to check for him.”

Vaughn smiled and reached over to squeeze Sam’s shoulder. He couldn’t resist the urge. Every little thing kept adding up to prove Sam was the perfect mate for him. “Thank you, Sam. And you’re right, all of the kids will pretty much eat the same thing, because even though they are shifters, they are human, too. We’ll need to be a bit more aware of Ben’s diet because he’s a bit underweight for his age. Lots of snacks and protein drinks are in his future, at least until we get him to where he should be.”

“I can make that happen,” Nana said. “I’ll make up a batch of my trail mix for snacks, and you can pick up more of that protein stuff you like before you work out.”

“Nana, you aren’t—”

“Be very careful how you finish that sentence, lovebug.”

“Nana—”

“I have been taking care of your house since you took over your father’s practice. I’ve been praying for more children for our pack and the goddess has answered my prayers. I will be helping care for them and don’t you try to take that away from me.”

“But you don’t have to. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

She snorted as she flipped the pancake over. “I know that. You think you can make me do anything I don’t want to do?”

“When you put it that way…” No one had ever been able to make her do anything. She’d been the mate of an alpha after all, and she was more like Sam than Vaughn wanted to admit. He’d always loved someone with backbone, an inner strength that radiated out from them.

“Exactly. Now, Ollie, here’s a pancake for you. Alpha will put a little bit of syrup on it for you so you can see if you like it, okay? Do you like scrambled eggs?”

Ollie nodded. “Ben makes them sometimes. He puts cheese in them!”

“Cheesy eggs it is.”

Vaughn poured some syrup over Ollie’s pancake and cut it up into smaller pieces. He handed over the fork and waited for him to take the first bite. Ollie clearly approved. Before Vaughn could even ask, Ollie started shoveling the food into his mouth more quickly than he could chew it. Vaughn pulled the plate away, and Ollie growled at him.

Vaughn flashed his eyes in return. “Hey, cut that out right now.”

Ollie stopped growling and instead began to pout. He teared up and his lower lip began to wobble.

“You just have to slow down, okay? There’s plenty more where this came from, but if you eat too fast, it’ll make you sick. Understand?”

Ollie nodded so Vaughn guided the plate back in front of him.

“Slowly,” Vaughn said. “Nana’s already making you some cheesy eggs, too. You’re going to have plenty to eat, I promise.”

Ollie looked back at Nana and saw that she had poured some eggs into a different skillet. Vaughn heard movement from the living room, and then Ben stood and ambled over to the kitchen.

“He’s fine,” Sam explained when they both noticed Ben’s concerned look. “He was eating a bit too fast so we had to get him to slow down.”

Ben nodded. “I haven’t had pancakes in a long time,” he said as he stared at Ollie’s nearly empty plate.