Chapter Twenty-Nine
Twenty-Nine
Atlas
“Hi, Mom!” I said, staring into the tiny phone screen.
Every evening on the night of the full moon, I had a video call with my parents just to catch up on what had been going on in our lives.
Sometimes my brothers joined us, but tonight they had plans with some other wolven in the city.
A sort of makeshift pack that they’d run with.
As the only wolven in Briar Glenn, I longed for something like that.
“Hi, honey!” My mom waved back. My dad wasn’t in frame; all I could see was the flannel shirt covering his broad chest.
“Down here, Zeus,” she said, giving Dad’s arm a tug, pulling him down to where I could see him.
Both of my parents were starting to show their age.
Their dark gray fur was streaked with tiny threads of silver, and their eyes were starting to look less vibrant.
My brothers and I had been trying for years to convince them to retire and sell off the hardware store, but they showed no signs of slowing down.
As much as I loved the hardware store, I wanted to take a different path in life.
It was never expected that one of us would take over the family business.
Our parents had always encouraged us to follow our passions, and I was thankful for that because it had landed me here in Briar Glenn. It had brought me to Tegan.
“Happy full moon, son,” Dad said, his voice gravelly and deep.
“Happy full moon to you, too, Dad.”
“Running by yourself again, sweetie?” my mom asked, a hint of sadness—or was it sympathy?—in her voice.
“Yep.”
“You know, you can always come visit and run with your father and me,” she suggested. “We can get your brothers to join. It’ll be just like it was when you were pups.”
“I might come visit soon. I’m just really busy with work—” I paused for a second, wondering if I should mention Tegan.
I know they didn’t have any animosity about my breakup with Jade—they were my parents, after all—but it was sort of fast, I guessed.
Ultimately, I decided to tell them. “And I, uh, I started seeing someone.”
“You’re seeing someone?” Mom gasped. Her eyes lit up, her excitement making me smile. “Since when?”
“It’s pretty new,” I said shyly.
“Why don’t you have her run with you?” she asked.
“Well—” I hesitated. Mixed-species relationships were common, and there was never any expectation that I would settle down with another wolven…
My dad understood immediately. “She’s human.”
I nodded.
“What’s she like?” Mom asked, leaning in. “Is she cute?”
My dad gave her a playful nudge, pushing his way back onto the screen. “Of course she’s cute, Alice. Look at him. He’s a handsome kid.”
I didn’t even correct my dad, because to him, I would always be a kid.
“She’s really cute. Beautiful, actually.” The most gorgeous woman I’d ever seen.
“You know, lots of wolven have human mates,” she said expectantly.
I winced at the word. There was no way that Tegan and I were mates.
“Uh, I think it’s a little too soon to tell, Mom.” Even though I had intense feelings for Tegan, I was just coming off a failed engagement. Mating was the last thing on my mind.
“When are you going to bring her to visit?” she asked.
“She owns a bakery in town so she’s pretty busy, but maybe we can come visit soon,” I said, just to pacify my mother. Tegan and I had just started dating. There was no way I was taking her to meet my parents yet.
“We would love that,” Dad said.
Mom gripped his arm, nodding aggressively. “We really would. I could set up the guest room, and your father could cook a nice dinner—”
I cut her off with a laugh. “I’m sure she would love that, Mom.”
She was getting ahead of herself, but I couldn’t remember her ever being excited about Jade visiting like that.
Was everyone trying to point me toward the red flags, but I’d been too complacent to notice them?
Mom peered around the tablet—I assumed out the window that sat behind the kitchen table. “Oh, the sun is starting to set, sweetie. We better get going.”
“Alice,” Dad said, “let me have a minute alone with Atlas, please.”
Mom gave him a questioning look. Some sort of fated mate “we’ve been married forever” understanding must have passed between them before she turned back to the screen and said, “I love you, Atlas. Have a good full moon and we’ll talk to you soon. Oh! And tell your girlfriend we said hello.”
“I will, Mom. Love you, too.”
She waved goodbye and slipped out of the room.
My dad turned around, making sure she was out of earshot before he launched into whatever it was he had to say.
“I just wanted to tell you how proud of you we are. It takes a lot of guts to admit that something isn’t working out.
Jade wasn’t right for you, and we know that.
We’re not upset that you called off the engagement. As long as you’re happy, we’re happy.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I knew they weren’t disappointed I didn’t follow through with the engagement, but hearing it put me at ease.
“Enjoy yourself tonight, son.”
“You, too.”
Before I hung up, I heard my dad yell for my mother.
“Alice—how the hell do I shut this thing off?”
I chuckled, hitting the button to end the call.
It had been a while since I’d last been home, but every time I talked to my parents, I was reminded of how happy they were together.
To me, they were the gold standard for a healthy relationship, and when Jade and I first started dating, I’d hoped to grow into something like that.
Even when things felt wrong or uncomfortable, I forced myself to stay.
Convinced myself that she was what I wanted—what I deserved.
In reality, we couldn’t have been more wrong for each other.
Being with Tegan was opening my eyes to what a healthy relationship could be. There was an undeniable sexual chemistry between us, but more than that, there was communication and respect.
My past made me realize just how lucky I was in the present.
How lucky I was to have Tegan in my life.
I decided to send her a text before I headed out for the night.
Atlas: Just wanted to send you a quick text before I head out
She was typing, those three tiny bubbles bouncing in the text box until her message came through.
Tegan: Have fun tonight!
A picture came through next, of her, Declan, and Selene, smushed together and smiling for a selfie. It was cute.
Atlas: It looks like you’re having a great time. I really like your friends.
The three of them reminded me a lot of Cyrus, Fallon, and me. I wanted to introduce them to one another soon.
Tegan: Good. Because they like you too.
That was a huge win. If I learned anything from my relationship with Jade, it was the fact that your friends’ approval of your partner was important. I could have saved myself a lot of misery had I just listened to Fallon back in college. Never thought I’d say that.
Atlas: I’ll text you tomorrow morning. Night baby.
Tegan: Goodnight!
I set my phone on the kitchen counter and tugged my shirt over my head, leaving me in a loose pair of basketball shorts. I would have preferred to run in the nude, but within the town limits, I felt obligated to keep up some sense of modesty.
The bluish-gray haze of dusk settled in, and I darted out the back door, bolting toward the woods at the edge of the development.
My feet pounded against the ground, two at first, then all four carrying me over sticks, rocks, and fallen leaves.
The scent of moss and decay wafted up my nostrils, but there was a lingering aroma that pulled me in.
Sugary sweet with notes of violets and vanilla.
Tegan.
I broke through the trees, into the overgrown open field I frequented each full moon. The moon was already making its ascent, bathing everything in bright light. I stretched, feeling that familiar tightness in my skin, a restlessness deep in my bones.
“Fuck,” I growled, craning my neck.
The call of the moon was becoming unbearable, pulling the primal parts of me to the surface. I threw back my head in surrender, letting out a long howl from deep inside my chest that echoed up toward the night sky.
Could Tegan hear me?
I hoped she was warm and safe inside her house.
I felt compelled to check for myself.
My tongue lolled out of my mouth, dribbling drool over the forest floor as I closed in on her cottage.
I watched from a distance, staying hidden in the woods. A warm glow filtered through one of the windows and a soft silhouette passed in front of it.
She was home and she was safe.
This was as far as I could go.
I looked from her house back toward the trail that led to the field, an indecisive whimper working its way out of my throat.
For now, this was close enough.
—
As usual, I woke up alone in the field. I rolled onto my back, staring up at the sun as swaths of soft grass swayed around me. The sun was so bright I had to shield my sensitive eyes. My body ached like I’d been hit by a freight train.
Last night I’d felt restless. Running back and forth between the field and Tegan’s house. When the moon faded and the predawn haze lit up the horizon, I finally collapsed from exhaustion. No matter how hard I tried to stop myself, my instincts kept pulling me back to her over and over again.
“What the fuck was that about?” I murmured as I hauled my ass back to my house.
Undoubtedly, Tegan’s evening was better than mine.
Do I tell her about what happened last night, or do I keep that to myself? Not wanting to scare her, I decided to keep it to myself.
There was never a point where I felt like she was in danger. No threat of me breaking through her window and rutting her to death. Just an overwhelming sense of concern, a need to be near her.
In all the years and all the full moons I’d spent with Jade, I’d never felt anything remotely close to that about her. If anything, I was more likely to run from her rather than with her.
Interesting.