Chapter Text
The Curious Tale of Benjamin James
Chapter 1: Benjamin James
Brady Salvai watched as his father, Brandon paced back and forth. His sister Bree was sitting quietly beside him. They were all waiting for news from Franklin and Priscilla. Things were tense and Brady wasn’t exactly sure what was happening. All he knew was that she was going to go pick up his new baby brother from labor.
“Dad,” Bree said softly. Brandon paused his pacing and turned to look at her. “Is mom gonna be ok?” She asked, tears threatening to spill.
“Yes Bree,” Brandon said, moving over to her. He pulled her into his lap. He beckoned Brady over. The small boys climbed into his lap. “Neither of you have to worry, your mother and your baby brother are going to be just fine. Priscilla and Franklin just needed space to work.”
The three sat there holding one another. Brandon kept reassuring them that everything was fine. He distracted them with one of his games bedtime stories, that they didn’t have to go to bed for.
Eventually Franklin emerged from the room. He looked over at the three with a big smile. Bree slid out of Brandon’s lap and he held Brady close as he stood up.
“Mother and pup are doing just fine,” Franklin said.
“Can we go see them?” Bree asked.
“Of course, but he’s sleeping so please do be quiet,” Franklin warned her.
Bree nodded her head. Brandon took her hand and they walked past Franklin and Isabella’s room.
Isabella was slumped in bed holding a small bundle in her arms. Another woman, Priscilla, was fussing over Isabella. Isabella’s head snapped up as she spotted her family. Priscilla smiled as she gave a nod and walked over to Brandon.
“You did good Alpha, he’s healthy,” she said softly.
“Thank you Scilla, if we need anything we will call,” Brandon said.
“Of course,” Priscilla said. She gave a slight bow to the Alpha and left the room.
Brandon led Bree over to Isabella who was smiling at her family. She held a hand out to Bree. She took her hand and stood close to her trying to peer at her brother. Brady leaned over to see the small baby before them.
“Why he so wrinkly?” He asked looking up at Isabella curiously.
Isabella and Brandon gave a soft laugh. Brandon hugged him closer.
“He’s a baby,” Brandon said softly.
“He’s cute,” Bree cooed as she stood on her toes to look at him. “Does he have a name?”
“Benjamin.”
“James.”
Isabella and Brandon shared a look and smiled at the other.
“Benjamin James,” Isbaella said.
“He’s so perfect,” Bree cooed. She already loved her baby brother.
Brady smiled down at the baby. He already knew that he was going to love him too. He would finally have someone to help him pick on Bree and steal her snacks. He could wait until he was a little older and could play with him. Having a brother was going to be awesome.
8 years later...
“Benji!”
Brady, now ten years old, froze in his hiding spot. He looked over at his brother, now eight, wide-eyed. The pair knew that they were caught. They were in so much trouble.
“Benji,” Brady said softly, he grasped his little brother's hand. “You run, I’ll distract her.”
“But I’m not very fast,” Benji told his brother, as he pushed his black glasses up on his nose. He started to panic. Brady grabbed him and made him look at him.
“It’s ok Benji, I will be the distraction,” Brady said, glaring at his brother. Really had he failed at teaching him how to be a good thief.
“But you’ll get in trouble,” Benji said.
“Yeah, it was my idea. Both of us don’t have to go down because of this,” Brady said.
“Ok, I will remember your sacrifice, and Liam and I shall lay a rose on your grave,” Benji said saluting his brother.
“Good, now wait until I have her distracted,” Brady said. He emptied the snacks from his pockets and passed them over to Benji, except for one.
“Tell Liam I’m sorry,” Brady said.
He bolted out from their hiding spot. He left the room and stopped short when he was spotted. Bree turned to him with rage plain across her features.
“I should have known you were in on this,” Bree snarled at her brother. “Where is he?” she asked.
“It was all me,” Brady said, digging in his pocket and pulling out the candy he had kept. “Catch me if you can.”
He bolted up the stairs with Bree hot on his tail. He glanced back as he saw Benji run the opposite direction. He didn’t have time for that. He had to worry about the older wolf behind him.
“Brady,” Bree snarled. Brady ran into the den. He rushed past Marcus and Charlie, who were sitting on the couch playing video games.
“No fighting in the house, you know what your dad said,” Marcus hollered at the two.
“He started it,” Bree said as they circled the large couch.
“He’s with the other alphas,” Brady said smugly.
“You still have to follow the rules when he’s not around dummy,” Marcus said rolling his eyes.
Brady kept moving. Marcus and Charlie growled at the two to cut it out before they got in trouble. Once Brady was behind the couch again, he bolted out onto the balcony. Bree followed him. He took a chance and ran across the balcony. He jumped over the rail and sailed down to the yard. With a rough tumble he managed to land on his butt.
“You’re an idiot,” Bree shouted from the balcony.
Brady however jumped up and did a small victory dance. His leg was a little sore, but he was fine. He was going to make his dad proud with his abilities.
“Yeah, but I won, I’m sure Benji has already liberated the rest of the haul,” Brady called back.
“Brady!”
Brady turned as Benji rounded the corner with Sasha hot on his heels. Bree laughed as she egged her on telling her to whoop their asses.
“Benji,” Brady groaned.
The smaller wolf ran past him. Brady lunged at Sasha taking her down. They fought as Benji made his way across the yard towards the large clubhouse.
“Hurry up.”
From within the clubhouse a small ginger wolf appeared as he lowered the ladder. Brady took off After Benji as Sasha tried to gather her surroundings. Brady caught up to Benji in no time. He grabbed his arm and pulled him along. He pushed him towards the ladder.
“Climb Benji,” he ordered. He looked back as Sasha and Bree sprinted across the yard. “Faster!” He urged his brother up the ladder. Once they were in the club house Brady ordered Liam to lift the ladder.
“I’m going as fast as I can,” Liam said.
Bree reached the tree and jumped for the ladder only for it to slip out of her reach. The boys cheered as the girls looked up angrily at them.
“Get down here coward!” Bree hollered.
“You blindsided me once, you won’t get the chance again Brady,” Sasha hollered glaring at the boys.
“Don’t need to, we won!” Brady declared.
The two girls growled as stomped away. The boys threw their arms up in victory. In the next couple seconds several things happened. Benji hit his head on the window and stumbled into Liam. Liam lost his balance and fell back kicking Benji back into Brady. The Salvai brothers tumbled from the club house with a loud crash.
Brady felt a pain in his leg as he sat up. He ignored that pain as he turned to Benji in worry. Benji was a little slower at getting up, but he seemed alright. Until he lifted his arm which was now u-shaped.
“Oh my goddess!”
Liam scrambled down the ladder. Isabella came from the house having heard the commotion. She ran up to her sons concerned. She gasped as she saw Benji’s arm.
“What happened?” Isabella asked looking between them. “Brady you need to be more careful-“
“It was my fault,” Liam said jumping in, “we were celebrating our victory and Benji and I bumped into each other and he and Brady fell,” Liam said looking up at the club house with a frown. “It was an accident miss Bella, I swear,”
“Oh sweetie I’m sorry,” She said, “I just worry is all. Come on, I’ll call Franklin and get this all settled.”
She helped Benji up. Liam helped Brady up as the pain in his leg grew worse. The four made their way inside. Liam helped Brady the whole way as he could barely walk. Isabella told Liam to go get Brandon as she tended to her boys and called Franklin.
Brady sat down watching as Isabella doted on Benji. She was always quick to holler at him about being too rough with Benji. It was just a broken arm, it would heal quickly, like two weeks tops. Him and Liam were always breaking bones, they healed quickly. They were shifters. He didn’t understand the big deal.
“Bella?”
Brandon entered the kitchen with Liam behind him. He looked at the boys and frowned.
“They were playing in the club house,” Isabella started.
“And captain Klutz wanted to see if we could fly,” Brady said looking at Liam with a smirk.
“It was an accident,” Liam shouted.
“It’s ok, accidents happen,” Brandon said looking between the boys.
“What’s all the shouting?”
Just then Liam’s mother, Jan Jones, entered the kitchen. She saw Benji and Brady and went into mother hen mode as well.
“Gee mom, I’m fine by the way,” Liam said causing Brandon to chuckle. These boys were getting his sense of humor more and more as the days passed.
“I can see that honey, that’s why I’m with Benji and Brady,” Jan replied.
It wasn’t long before Franklin arrived with his big back bag. Brandon brought the boys to his study with Isabella carrying Benji, even though he assured her he could walk. If anyone needed to be carried it was Brady, his leg still hurt.
Franklin as the boys sit on the bench. He started to examine Benji’s broken arm. He did his best to keep a smile on Benji’s face as he wrapped the arm in a cast. Once Benji was deemed ok, he turned his attention to Brady.
“My leg,” Brady told him.
Franklin nodded his head and rolled up Brady’s pant leg. There was a bump on his leg. Benji gasped as he looked on in awe. Franklin mumbled something and his hand started to glow blue. He held it over the bump.
“Good news and bad news,” Franklin said looking up at Brandon as he stood.
“What?” Brandon asked.
“Good news is that it’s already started healing,” Franklin said.
“What’s the bad news?” Brandon asked.
“It’s healing incorrectly and I need to re-break it,” Franklin said.
“What?” Brady asked, his eyes going wide.
“It’s only gonna hurt for a little bit, but if we don’t fix the bone, it won’t heal properly, and you’ll walk funny for the rest of your life,” Franklin explained.
“It’s ok, it’s already feeling better,” Brady said, shaking his head.
“Brady it will only hurt for a little while. With your accelerated healing factor if we don’t do this soon we will have to do surgery,” Franklin said.
Brady looked up at Brandon who gave him a nod. He wasn’t going to win this one. It had to be done. A quick glance at Benji and he knew he had to be brave for his brother.
“Ok, Benji I need you to go help your mom finish the cookies she was making earlier,” Franklin said glancing up at Isabella.
“How did-“ Isabella asked.
“I may not be a shifter but I’ve lived long enough to be observant,” Franklin said. “Once the cookies are done you can bring some to Brady he’s gonna need a lot of treats after this as he will be stuck in bed for the rest of the day.”
“All day?” Brady asked.
“We have to ensure it heals properly otherwise I will have to come set it again,” Franklin said.
“We should have called Priscilla,” Brady grumbled, “she’s nicer.”
Franklin and Brandon barked out a laugh at that. Isabella frowned at her son.
“He really is your son Brandon,” Franklin said, clapping the alpha on the back. “He’s a mini you with the same attitude.”
“He’s not wrong,” Brandon laughed.
“Come Benji, let’s go finish the cookies,” Isabella said, leading her younger son out of the room.
Franklin dug around in his bag for a moment. He pulled out some medicines and talked Brady through what he was going to do. Brady nodded his head trying to be brave, but he was scared.
Once everything was finished and Franklin had a splint on Brady, a question popped into the young wolf's head. He turned to Franklin confused.
“How come my leg started to heal, but Benji’s arm didn’t?” Brady asked.
“That is a very good question,” Franklin said slowly as he turned to Brandon, “and something your father needs to explain.”
“Thank you Franklin,” Brandon said. He showed the man out of his study. “Come on, let’s get you settled. You heard the doctor, you have to stay in bed for the rest of the day. We need to make sure your leg heals properly,” Brandon said.
He carried Brady to his bedroom. He got him in bed and comfy. He made sure he had everything he would need to keep him occupied.
He turned to Brady who was giving him a quizzical look. He sighed and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Dad, why is Benji slower at healing?” Brady asked.
“Well, Benji is an omega,” Brandon said slowly.
“Yeah and what does that mean? You and mom use that word a lot but you never tell us what it means,” Brady said glaring at him.
“What it means is Benji’s wolf isn’t as strong as yours. His healing ability is slower, his senses are duller than ours,” Brandon said.
“Why?” Brady asked.
“Goddess, I have asked that question so many times,” Brandon sighed as he moved closer to Brady. He pulled him close. “You know our goddess?”
“Yes, goddess Saphrina, she created us and placed us on this earth to protect the humans, but as time has gone on humans have come to fear us and we keep mostly to ourselves,” Brady said, reciting what he knew about their goddess, Saphrina.
“Right, well she created your brother in a special way. She gave him to us, because she knew that we could handle it and love him. She doesn’t make mistakes,” Brandon said.
“Handle it?” Brady asked.
“Omegas are seen as a sign of a weak pack. They are lowest on the ranking. Most packs reject omegas. It is becoming less of a thing, but there are still packs that cast them aside,” Brandon said a glare crossing his features.
“You can’t reject Benji! I need him. He’s my brother and we have to work together to take down Bree and Sasha!” Brady said.
“I would never do that,” Brandon assured Brady. “I love your brother, you, and Bree very much. I could never turn my back on any of you.”
“Who cares if Benji is an omega, he’s pack and pack sticks together,” Brady said.
“Exactly, that is why I’m so glad that our pack understands that and loves Benji just as much as we do,” Brandon said with a smile.
“I’ll protect him,” Brady declared. “I will always protect Benji no matter what.”
“You are going to make a great Alpha someday,” Brandon said smiling fondly at his son.
“And then Benji will be my beta and nobody can kick him out,” Brady said.
“You two will make a great team, but an omega can’t be a beta unfortunately,” Brandon said.
“I’ll change the rules,” Brady said.
“I like your spunk,” Brandon chuckled. There was a knock at the door. He called for them to enter. Benji ran into the room with a plate of cookies followed by Isabella.
“Brady, I brought you cookies,” Benji said, running over to his brother. He set the tray on the bed and climbed up. “How are you feeling?”
“It doesn’t hurt too bad, it just sucks that I’ll be stuck in bed all day,” Brady sighed.
“I’ll stay with you,” Benji offered. “You can finish our book!” He declared jumping up and crossing the room to the bookshelf.
“That’s a bedtime story Benji,” Brady said.
“And you’re stuck in bed,” Benji pointed out as he climbed back into the bed with his brother. He handed the book over.
“Ok, but you have to be careful of his leg,” Brandon said.
“And my arm,” Benji added waving his arm around.
“Alright, you boys have fun. If you need anything Brady let us know, send Benji,” Isabella said.
“Will do mom,” Brady said.
The two left the room. Brady looked over at Benji who was bouncing with excitement. He asked for a cookie before he started reading. Benji grabbed two cookies for them and Brady started reading.
Benji smiled as he listened to Brady read. It wasn’t long before he was yawning. Brady nudged him telling him it was too early to go to sleep. Benji assured him he was awake, but his soft snores said otherwise.
Later that evening…
Brandon sighed as he helped Isabella finish clean the kitchen. He had told Jan to go look after her boys. He wanted Isabella alone to talk.
“I heard you talking to Brady,” she said.
“How much of it,” he asked.
“Not too much, but I’m sure Benji didn’t hear it,” she said.
“Brady wanted to know why he healed so fast and Benji didn’t. I told him what it meant to be an omega,” he said, leaning against the counter to watch his mate.
“Yeah, it’s about time we all sit down as a family and discuss this,” she said with a sigh. “I just don’t want those two to treat him any different.”
“They won’t, in fact Brady wants to protect Benji, he will always look after him,” he said moving over to his mate. He pulled her into a hug. “Those two will always have each other’s backs, Bella,” he said.
“Good, Benji is gonna need it,” she said giving a nod.
“I’m gonna go check on them, make sure they didn’t make a mess with supper,” he said.
He left the kitchen and made his way up to Brady’s room. He entered and saw his sons fast asleep curled around one another. Brady had a protective arm wrapped around Benji. Benji was content in his brother's embrace. He smiled at them. He was not worried about them one bit. Brady was always going to protect Benji.
He moved over to the bed and tucked the two in covering them with the blanket. He took Benji’s glasses off and set them on the side table as well. There was no harm in letting Benji stay the night with Brady. He had hardly left his side all day. Those two were so devoted to each other.
He had been so worried things would change once Benji’s omega status had been discovered. If anything it had brought the pack closer together. They all rallied around the young wolf and helped him however they could. Brandon had never been more proud of his pick than in that moment.
He gave the boys once last smile before he collected the dinner plates and made his way back to the kitchen. Isabella looked up as he entered. He just gave her a smile and placed the dishes in the sink.
He walked over to his mate. He pulled her into an embrace. He rested his head atop hers.
“We did good with those two Bella,” he said softly. “Bree too, but those two share a bond like no one else. I’m not worried.”
“I am, I’m a mother I will always worry,” She murmured.
“It’s ok Bella,” Brandon said, running a hand up and down her back.
“Those boys are going to be the death of me,” she sighed. Brandon chuckled and took a step back. He tilted her chin up and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. “Maybe it’s time I start to train them. They can join Marcus and Charlie and I in training.”
“What about Liam? You know he won’t want to be left out,” she said.
“I’ll talk to Linus and Jan,” he replied.