Chapter 28 #2
I moved around his knees, sitting down carefully. I tried to smile and remain still, but beads of real sweat were running down both sides of my face. I swatted at them as I would an insect, realizing I was lightheaded.
“I’m glad to see you’re getting along with Saint,” my mother started. “He seems like such a nice boy. I’m certain he’ll treat you right and you’ll have a very happy marriage.”
“Um. The engagement is fake, Mother. I thought you knew that.” When she tossed my father another one of her looks, I did the same. His face was expressionless, but his eyes were telling a different and far too complicated story.
Another twenty seconds floated by.
“What is going on? Talk to me. Are you trying to tell me I’m some furry creature?”
As if in response, my dad placed his iced tea on the table, taking his time to rise to his feet. He moved slowly toward his huge bookshelf. He had hundreds of books, most of which I’d read. Strangely enough, when he pulled one free, I heard a slight click.
He moved a section of books at one time. What? Like they did in the movies.
There was a safe located behind. As he pressed in numbers, I glanced at my mother once again. I’d been all over the bookshelf. Why hadn’t I discovered the safe before? Oh, this was getting weird.
Mother still had a polite smile on her face, but I knew it was as plastic as the one I’d had when walking into the house.
Dad retrieved a plain brown envelope, leaving the safe open and heading in my direction.
Slowly.
“We’ve been meaning to talk to you about this for some time now. Your mother and I simply couldn’t find the right time or a real reason to,” Dad said as he placed the envelope in my hands.
“Maybe we’d hoped that you’d never need to learn the truth.” Mother’s voice was so soft and comforting.
“Then when I heard about Saint, I knew you were the one who could empathize with him the most.” Dad laughed and he returned to his seat. “Granted, I wasn’t expecting that after all this, Saint would end up being someone special in your life. Fate has a way of bringing people together.”
“Fate? He’s not special, Dad. He’s just… my fake fiancé.” Maybe if I spouted off the concept enough I could believe it.
“Open the envelope, dear,” Mother told me.
I bit my lower lip and stared at it for several seconds.
Why did I know instinctively that whatever was inside would change my life forever?
And maybe not in a good way. I peeled the flap, reaching inside.
It was a single photograph. Black and white, the picture was grainy, like one of those old-time photos when cameras were first introduced.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“Just allow your eyes to become adjusted to the light,” Dad suggested.
I looked again, blinking a few times. Finally, the haze began to lift. There was a huge figure standing off in the woods near some sort of shack or maybe a house. Only he wasn’t human. I blinked again until my brain kicked in what I was looking at.
“A werewolf. I mean a shifter. A wolf shifter. What is this, some kind of joke?”
Mom and Dad had that look between them once again. At that point, I felt the world as I knew it crumbling around me.
“No, punkin,” my dad said, the use of the old nickname from when I was a child less than comforting. “That’s your great-great-grandfather Sam.”
My mind started playing music, a little quiet children’s song about some crazy blue shark.
That had occurred from time to time just after I’d heard the song during a children’s read-along event at the library.
It was meant as a comforting tool, a way of keeping me grounded if things around me were getting particularly hairy.
No pun intended, but I’d say this was extremely hairy.
Exhaling, I placed the photograph on the envelope, patting it a few times. Maybe I was using some kind of magic spell to wish this all away. However, I could tell by the looks on my parents’ faces that the explosive news was just getting started.
“What?” I managed to croak out.
“It’s not as bad as you might think,” Mother started.
“Not as bad,” I repeated. This wasn’t just an episode of the Twilight Zone. Oh, no. This was way worse.
“Sam, your great-great-grandfather, was a good man, an excellent pack leader from what I was told as a child. He kept his pack out of trouble while heading into the new age.”
“New age. Are we talking remaining human?” Was I really asking legitimate questions about this insanity? Oh, yes, I was.
“Exactly. The pack was interested in going more mainstream. Life as a shifter wasn’t easy. Men used to mistake them for traditional wolves all the time. Hunters can be brutal. That’s when interbreeding began. What you would call interspecial coupling today.”
“Interspecial.” This was just getting better and better. Or I was just going further off the deep end.
“Exactly,” Mom interjected. “They fell in love with humans, realized they could have children and life moved on.”
“Um, were the kids shifters?”
“Some,” Father answered. “But over time that occurred less often.”
A huge lump had formed in my throat, so large I grabbed my mother’s glass of iced tea, since I’d just barreled into the room to face what now I considered impending doom. After gulping two swallows, I consumed the rest of the liquid.
My head ached.
My vision was cloudy.
The lump remained.
“What does this mean?” I was certain if I really wanted the answer.
Dad laughed. “Nothing really. I doubt you have enough Weathers blood in you to be able to shift.”
A tic formed in the corner of my mouth. “Does that mean you’ve… shifted before?”
His grin widened. “Only once, an experience that was both freeing and terrifying.” He acted like what I’d just asked made me off my rocker. “But your grandfather has several times. It’s truly a beautiful sight to see.”
Hold on. He really believed that bones breaking, teeth changing into canines, and skin erupting so fur could take its place was beautiful?
“Mom. What about you? I take it you’re human?” Another question I was shocked I was even asking.
“Not exactly.” I sensed she didn’t want to elaborate.
“Incidentally, the other player you mentioned,” Dad started.
“Rocco.”
“Yes, he’s from a very virile pack out of New York.
They have more purebloods in their line.
Rocco is likely experiencing mating season.
He’s eager to rut and that’s making him lose control.
Try and stay away from him. He won’t care if you’re a true mate or not.
He’ll simply take what he needs from you. ”
My mouth was hanging open. “Rut?”
Seeing my mother’s face shift to a dull shade of crimson was bad enough. The images in my mind were significantly worse.
Maybe I could go into a coma and wake up in a new century. “I’ll keep that in mind. One last question. Does that mean the two of you were mates?”
“Technically, yes. However, your mother and I fell madly in love. We still are.”
Mother peered up at him with absolute lust replacing the earlier embarrassment.
My God. They were making googly eyes at each other.
I was so doomed.
“Saint is my mate?” I no longer recognized my voice. How was this possible? Had my parents been doing acid or something?
“If you feel such a strong connection, then likely so. We’ll know for certain when we see the two of you together. I can tell you’re shocked, but it’s perfectly normal.” Now my mother was trying to justify that beasts of the night walked amongst the living?
“Great,” I whispered.
“I will warn you if you are intended mates, the cravings will increase for both of you now that you’ve found each other,” she continued.
“Will I go crazy or something if I don’t do this mating thing?”
Daddy patted me on the leg. “No, you’ll suffer and there will never be a man who’ll be able to satisfy you, but you’ll be okay.”
“And Saint?”
God, I hated it when they looked at each other that way.
Like they did when I was a kid and had asked about Santa.
“Saint will have a rougher time. Many male wolves will start to lose their minds. They fall into a frenzied state. Some abate that by shifting and remaining in their wolf form for the remainder of their lives. Others just… well, they go crazy and eventually blow their brains out.”
No pressure. Not even a little bit.
My entire body was shaking. “Oh. Okie-dokie. What now? I think his cover is blown.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so concerned,” Dad assured me.
“Just use your magic to spin the responses. You can easily discredit the reporter who broke the story. There isn’t a wolf shifter alive today who hasn’t gone through some level of persecution.
We’re people too and we have every right to live as we see fit. ”
My dad was defending the situation so eloquently I was forced to pause and listen. He was… right? My head was thumping, the pain right behind my eyes.
“So, I should lie my ass off,” I repeated in my terms.
“Honey, there’s no need to curse,” my mother admonished.
I stood on shaky legs. “Okay. I won’t. Thanks for the information. I need to get to work so I can figure out how best to spin the insanity.” I headed toward the door, shocked my legs were even working properly.
Or my brain for that matter.
“Shifters are people too, honey. Just keep that in mind,” my dear father stated just before I reached the door.
“Oh, and Lily. Mayonnaise? Really?” my mother asked. “Try chocolate next time. Very sensual. Or champagne. The bubbles are spectacular when used in the right places. If you know what I mean.”
When my father growled, I couldn’t take it any longer.
The sound was far too close to the truth and exactly what I’d heard coming from Saint’s throat.
My fake fiancé.
My mate.