Chapter 7
Boris
It's still dark when I park my car next to Zahrah's at the edge of the Rutchester Nature Preserve, far away from any official parking lot. She's leaning against the hood with a to-go cup in each hand. When I step out, she holds one out for me.
Conan, Luna, and Elora are waiting some distance away. I raise a hand in greeting before grabbing the offered cup.
"How did it go?" Zahrah sips her coffee while looking straight into my eyes.
"Good. They liked the pasta."
She snorts. "Of course they did. Only idiots would dislike your chicken pasta."
I hum and nod.
"What else?"
I shrug.
"Boris." The tone makes me cringe.
"I don't know."
She narrows her eyes. "Did they run out of there? Did you say something stupid? Did you make the kid cry?"
"No!"
"What's wrong then? You didn't show your junk, did you? I told you not to. There was a kid there! Jesus Christ. You can't act like with normal hook-ups."
I heave a sigh. "Ira's mother is dead."
"Oh. Damn, that's not good."
No, it wasn't.
"Now everything you do will be compared to her, and since she's dead, Simon will turn her into some sort of saint in his mind. You don't stand a chance. Sorry."
I growl at her, which makes her laugh. Harlot. Then she scrunches her nose. "Seriously, though. It's not great."
"It was weird."
Her gaze sweeps over my face. "Weird how?"
"Ira ran over to their house to get some papers, which reminds me, you're buying cookies. It's for a good cause."
Before she can reply, three cars park around us, and several more of my pack mates tumble out of them. The air buzzes with energy, as it always does when the pack gathers to run. Eyes are gleaming in the dark, and several people are rolling their shoulders and cracking their knuckles.
"Continue before people start shifting." Zahrah's wolf is closer to the surface now, her eyes having shifted color, and I feel mine do the same. It's hard not to get swept along.
"While he was over at their house, I asked Simon where Ira's mother is. He said she'd passed away, breast cancer they found while she was pregnant with Ira. She refused treatment until he was born, but by then it was too late."
"Fuck." Zahrah rubs her chest and takes another sip of coffee.
"Yeah, but the weird part is, Simon isn't Ira's dad."
"What?" Her voice is a little too loud, and several people turn to look at us.
I lower my voice, but I know it's useless. Wolf hearing. "He said he believed she'd hooked up with someone at a bar, and he doesn't know who Ira's biological father is because she never told him."
"Were they in an open relationship?"
"Huh. Maybe? I figured she cheated on him, but he didn't sound upset. Or he was grief-stricken, but I'm pretty sure it was about her death, not about her being with someone else."
She purses her lips and shrugs. "Open relationship or maybe they're poly."
"No!"
She cackles. "You don't know that. You think because he's your one and only, you have to be his, but maybe you'll have to share him. Maybe he's a swinger."
"Fuck you, Zahrah."
"No, I'm being serious. Are there any pink flamingos in his garden? Do they have a pineapple on the doorstep?"
I put the cup down and pull off my shirt. I need to run, but then I remember the cookies. People will disappear after the run. It's better if I catch them now before they get into their fur.
I open my car door and reach inside. "Listen up, everyone!" Right as I speak, another car comes up the road and parks next to the other. Five people exit. Great. More cookies sold.
"You're buying cookies."
Conan grumbles, so I growl at him. "My kid is selling cookies for a fundraiser, and you're buying. Come on over here. Form a line." I hold up a pen and the paper.
Zahrah groans but walks up first--there is a reason she's my best friend.
"Your kid?" Elora pulls a face. "You don't have a kid."
"I do now. My mate has a little boy."
"The human?" Atlas sneers, and I curl my fingers into fists. Atlas is a fucking idiot.
"You've got something to say, Atlas?" I peel my lips back, my teeth already shifting.
Atlas holds his palms up, but the sneer never leaves his face. When a warm hand curls around my bicep, I jump, and my attention snaps to my side. "Mom." I wrap my arms around her. "I didn't see you get out of a car."
She hugs me back. "I came with Conan, but I needed to reply to some emails, so I remained in the car until everyone had arrived." She squeezes me harder. "How are you doing in the city?"
I don't live in the city, but she's never lived anywhere central. If she can see her closest neighbor's house, she gets claustrophobic, so to her it is as if I've gone off to live in a concrete jungle--not that she's been by to see it.
"I'm okay. You should come for a visit."
She scrunches her nose. "I don't know. I don't like all the scents and people nearby."
I shrug. Ten years ago, I would've been hurt, but she's rarely come to see me when I've lived in cities. She's always happy to see me and never tries to stop me from moving somewhere I want to go.
She looks into my eyes, her hand squeezing my arm a little harder. "Are you okay?"
I nod.
"What about your mate?"
I shrug. "Simon. He and Ira, his kid, came over for dinner yesterday."
She nods. "And now you're selling cookies."
I grin at her and place a hand over my heart. "Mother, my child is selling cookies."
She swats me, but there is a smile on her lips. "I never believed I'd see the day when you uttered those words."
Neither did I, but things change. I grin at her before focusing on the line to the cookie form. "How are we doing? Luna, are you done?" I see her trying to slink away, and I won't allow it.
She gives me the finger but goes to stand at the end of the line. Good.
Mom chuckles next to me. "How old is the kid?"
"Ira? Eh...He's in school."
She gives me a disappointed look.
"I don't know." I throw my hands in the air. "He's about this high." I hold my hand out at about the right height. "Quiet kid, pretty scrawny, but maybe he's supposed to be at his age."
There is a tug at the corner of Mom's mouth. "Why don't you bring him home one day?"
I nod. I have no idea how to get Simon to agree to it, but I will. One day.
"And your man?"
"Forty-two. About this high." I move my hand at my height, and Mom slaps my chest. I grin. "He's...tired." I wince. "He's a single parent, obviously, and has some sort of corporate job, but he told me yesterday they'll be firing people, and he's most likely one of them."
Mom grows serious. "Will he be okay?"
I shrug. "I got the feeling it will be a problem."
"Will he be forced to move?"
Cold seeps into me. "Move?"
"He has a house, right? Houses are expensive. And he has a child to provide for."
People are starting to shift around us. Clothes being folded and put in the cars. A few low whines rise toward the sky as bones shrink or elongate, and fur covers naked skin. We try not to howl, in case someone is close enough to hear us.
"We'd better hurry or they'll run off without us." Mom goes to stand behind Luna in the cookie line, and I toe off my shoes and throw them into my car, together with my shirt.
Luna flips through the brochure with the cookies and scrawls something on the order form. Mom does the same, but she writes a lot more than Luna did. I'll check later what everyone ordered.
Since Mom is the last in line, she tucks the order form into the brochure and hands it to me.
"Thanks, Mom."
She nods and goes over to Conan's car, undressing on the way. I shove my jeans and underwear off, close the door, lock the car, and place the key on the front tire before I allow the shift to take me.
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