Chapter 7
Selene set the table and rehearsed her speech again. She had no idea if the rehearsals were doing any good. They certainly weren’t making her any less nervous.
Talking with Natalie had helped, but then Selene came home and made the mistake of diving into another internet rabbit hole, searching for the most vital facts about werewolves, and streamed movies, but she had no idea if what she gleaned from them was fact or fiction.
How could she? Before yesterday it had all been fiction.
For the rest of the afternoon, her mind had been stuck in a loop of disturbing questions: How dangerous were the paranormals in Avondale?
Did they welcome human residents in their town or simply tolerate them?
Did Allie fully grasp the potential threat of dating a being who, at least at an instinctual level, was a predator?
Could those instincts ever truly be controlled?
The last two questions were the most troubling and pushed Selene to the conclusion that Allie should take a time-out to think all these things through.
They’d talk about the pros and cons, maybe make lists, or graphs, or spreadsheets that would prove to Allie how the risks of being with Josh outweighed the rewards.
Okay, so the graphs and spreadsheets were probably overkill, but talking and lists would hopefully do the trick.
Not knowing what to do with herself, Selene decided the best thing to do was bake cookies for Allie to ease the pain of hearing that Selene thought dating a werewolf was a terrible idea and Allie needed to break up with Josh immediately.
And bonus: they could skip the dinner with Fenris Hall, which Selene was getting more and more anxious about.
Unfortunately Selene didn’t bake, and now she was staring at a shriveled pile of charred cookies that she’d pulled out of a smoking oven.
“Hey, Aunt Sel!” Allie bounced into the kitchen and dropped her backpack on the floor. “Oh wow. Your hair looks amazing. Did you go see Natalie?”
“Yes, I did. And thank you for the compliment,” Selene said with strained brightness. “Did you have a good day?”
“Yeah,” Allie said. “Not too much homework, and Josh was really happy you didn’t freak out about us. He says hi.”
Me fainting wasn’t freaking out? Selene somehow managed to hold on to her smile.
Allie’s nose wrinkled. “Is something burning?”
“I made cookies.” Selene pushed the plate of cookies in front of Allie. She should have thrown them out because they were a crime against nature.
“Oh.” Allie eyed the cookies, put on an impressively brave face, and selected one that was marginally less burned than the others.
Selene snatched the cookie out of Allie’s hand before she could take a bite. “If you eat that cookie, you’ll regret it. I don’t bake. I don’t know what possessed me to try.”
She knew exactly what had possessed her, but she wasn’t going to tell Allie.
“I’m sure they’re not that bad,” Allie said as she set the cookie down, then pushed the plate to the far side of the table.
“Can we talk, Allie?”
“That’s not a question, Aunt Sel,” she replied. “That’s you saying you want to tell me something and I should listen.”
“Yes, but the way I said it was much more polite.” She sat down.
“I’m just trying to keep our communication honest.” Allie grinned.
“Fine.” Selene sighed. “I have some concerns. Just sit down.”
Allie settled in a chair at the kitchen table and pulled her knees up to her chest. She’d grown out of the gangly phase and moved with confident grace now. Selene tried not to think about the first time Josh noticed that.
“Sweetheart.” Selene hoped her tone was casual. “How old is Josh?”
The strategy she’d chosen for this conversation was introducing the problem of the age gap and then weaving it into the werewolf issue. A reasonable two-pronged approach.
“What do you mean?” Allie frowned. “He’s sixteen. Like me.”
She got up and grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl.
“I did some reading today—” Selene started.
“Your hair really does look awesome, by the way,” Allie interrupted. “Isn’t Natalie great?”
Selene couldn’t hide her smile, running her hands over her hair. “She is, but don’t change the subject, Allie.”
“Josh is sixteen,” Allie said stubbornly. She stopped peeling the orange and stared at her aunt.
Selene doubled down. Here goes nothing. Firm, but compassionate. That’s how this gets done. “No. I know that he looks sixteen. And he may have been frozen in time at sixteen. But how old is he, really?”
“Aunt Sel, come on.” Juice dripped onto Allie’s fingers from where she was squeezing the half-peeled orange too hard. “He’s sixteen.”
“Are you sure?” She was pushing Allie, hoping that with encouragement Allie would choose honesty. If they could be honest with each other in the face of tough issues, it might stave off unnecessary heartache.
“What is this?” Allie’s voice grew shrill. Josh was definitely not sixteen. And this conversation was not going the way Selene wanted.
“Honey,” Selene began, trying for a soothing tone. “This stuff you’re going through is actually pretty common, you know. Well . . . in the fiction aisle, anyway. And movies.”
“What does that have to do with anything?” Allie’s eyes were darting around the kitchen, looking everywhere but at Selene.
“It’s really my only way of, um . . . researching issues you might encounter in your relationship,” Selene said. “It’s not exactly easy to know what’s true and what isn’t. I’m hoping you can help me with that.”
“You’re trying to dissect my relationship by reading novels and watching movies . . . about werewolves?”
Yep, that’s outrage in Allie’s voice. Not a good sign.
“Not just werewolves,” Selene countered. “Vampires, faeries, all of it. Everything you’ve mentioned seeing since you learned who Josh and his family really are. No stone left unturned.”
“Oh my god.” Allie dropped the orange. It rolled along the counter and fell to the floor.
Selene ignored the orange and Allie’s dramatics.
“And what I’ve found is that in all the stories, the same issue arises.
The poor smitten girl can’t help but fall head over heels because the boy is witty, sophisticated, and charming.
And do you know why he’s all those things?
Because he’s several hundred years old!”
Allie groaned. “Auntie Selene, you’re being ridiculous.”
“This is a serious issue, Allie,” Selene insisted. “Josh is not only a werewolf, he’s also not a kid like you. He’s been around for several generations. You need to think about the implications that has on your relationship.”
“Why does it matter?”
“Because, sweetheart, while you are a capable and intelligent woman, you are still sixteen. And if your boyfriend witnessed the Civil War, I think you’re going to find it problematic. If not now, eventually.”
“He didn’t witness the Civil War,” Allie said in a mulish voice.
“Maybe not,” Selene replied. “But Natalie told me that no wolves in Fenris Hall’s pack are as young as you’re telling me Josh is.”
Allie flinched. “You were talking to Natalie about me?”
“Natalie cares about you,” Selene said. “She was close to your mom, and she’s someone I trust to give me good advice. She’s helping me to understand Avondale.”
“So you trust her more than you trust me?” Allie’s voice wobbled.
“That’s not it at all,” Selene explained. “But Natalie can offer a different perspective on this situation. That’s important when strong emotions are involved. I’m not dismissing your feelings. It’s the opposite.”
Allie’s posture became less defensive, and Selene continued.
“Honey, romantic partnerships have to offer balance. Shared responsibility, equal power. I can’t see how that’s possible when you are sixteen and Josh is two hundred. You aren’t a magical creature, and he’s an immortal werewolf.”
“He is not two hundred! And I don’t care that he’s a werewolf!” Allie shrieked. But Selene could see in her niece’s wild eyes that panic was taking over. Allie didn’t want to lie to her, but she was terrified of what telling the truth would mean.
“Allie, please. Just hear me out.” Selene winced, all too aware she was losing control of the conversation.
“Stop it! Just stop it!” Allie jumped out of her chair with such force that it tipped over backward and crashed to the floor.
Selene stood up, forcing herself to speak calmly. “I’m not trying to be hurtful, Allie. I just want to keep you safe. How can you guarantee his wolf instincts won’t take over one day and make him attack you?”
“You don’t know anything about werewolves!” Allie hadn’t lowered her voice at all. “I don’t care what you read on the stupid internet. Josh is amazing. No one has ever made me feel the way he does. He loves me, and he would never hurt me!”
Cursing herself inwardly at the way the conversation was spiraling, Selene made another attempt.
“You have to care, Allie. You have strong feelings for Josh, but you haven’t been dating him long at all. For most of the time, you weren’t even in the same place. I’m asking you to consider what kind of connection you can truly have when you come from completely different worlds.”
“Oh, we connect,” Allie blurted. “More than you’d like to know. More than you could ever handle! And I am more than my own person with Josh than I’ve ever been before. Would you like to read my diary? Or maybe you’ve already done that!”
Selene flushed and then paled. “You are way out of line, Allison. Calm down and think about what I’m saying. I’m only bringing this up because I’m worried. I love you, sweetheart. I want you to have healthy relationships. That are full of trust and companionship.”
“You can’t tell me what to do,” Allie hissed. “You’re not my mom. If she was here, she’d understand. She’d listen to me.”
Selene looked away from Allie as grief ripped through her.
But Allie wasn’t finished. “And what do you know about being in love anyway? When was the last time you even had a boyfriend?”