Home
Thank God for kids.
I didn't know how to fill the silence of the drive, but it turned out that I didn't have to. Dylan, Collin, and Lucy filled it for me.
"Do you arrest people a lot?" Dylan asked.
"Not as often as you'd think. It's mostly people who are being a pain in the butt."
"What makes someone a pain in the butt?" Lucy asked. "Like, not doing their homework?"
"Nah. More like doing things they're not supposed to be doing. Drinking, driving dangerously, hitting people. You know, stuff they tell you not to do in school."
"Even I know not to hit people," Lucy scoffed.
"Do you arrest werewolves?" Collin asked, his voice cracking slightly.
"Sort of," Ivy said, smiling slightly. "If I can figure out what pack they belong to, I call the Alpha of the pack to come deal with them. Otherwise, it's silver cuffs to nullify them."
"Doesn't that hurt?" Collin asked, eyes widening.
"It's weak silver. Kind of like when you pour water into your juice to water it down."
"Oh."
"It just makes it hard for a werewolf to hold their form," Ivy explained.
"Would it do that to me?" Collin asked after a second.
"No," Ivy said. "And trust me, you wouldn't be the first werewolf stuck in puberty form to try to find out. It'll sting when you touch it, but your form's stuck until you figure out how to get out of it."
"Oh," Collin said, drooping.
"What's the scariest person you ever arrested?" Lucy asked.
I saw Ivy pause, and a strange look flickered across her face.
"Probably a clown," I said, and Lucy gasped in horror.
"Clowns?! There are clowns here?!"
"Not anymore! I arrested them all and took them away, just for you."
"Thank goodness," Lucy muttered, wiping her forehead dramatically.
The house loomed up much too soon in a neighborhood that was both painfully familiar, and horribly changed. Some houses had changed color; some had new rooms tacked on. Cars I didn't know at all filled the driveways, but the biggest shock of all was the house I'd been dreading returning to.
I leaned forward, staring hard through the window, because at this point, I was convinced I was hallucinating. Ivy quietly pulled up into the driveway, and I burst out through the door, staring across a perfectly manicured lawn toward a house with perfectly clean gray siding. Not a scratch, not a dent, not a crack, not a hint of age. It looked like a house people were still living in.
It looked like my parents could walk out any minute, calling out to me... even if I knew that was insane and stupid.
"Who did...?" I glanced over as Rudy's van pulled up outside it, wondering if this was another "gift" from the FBI. He looked out his window, saw me, shook his head, and shrugged.
"Is this the house?" Dylan asked, popping out. "Are you sure no one's been living here?"
"What if there are squatters?" Collin asked immediately.
"There are not," Ivy said with a laugh. "I triple-checked."
"What's a squatter?" Lucy asked.
"People who are trying to steal a house," Collin explained.
"Kind of?" Dylan said, frowning.
"But..." I shook my head, stepping onto a well-maintained walkway and ignoring them. "I don't... understand."
I looked over in time to see Ivy shrug, giving me a small smile, before turning to lead the way into the house. She pulled out a small keyring, jingling it for me.
"I had to get a new lock installed," she said, unlocking the door easily. "Most of the furniture you left behind had to get thrown out, so uh... sorry about that. There's only so long it can sit and wait."
The house was mostly empty when we walked inside, but again, it was nothing like what I had fully expected. I stepped into the small, humble entrance of hardwood floors that looked like they hadn't aged a day. The cozy living room off to one side had a shag carpet and a fireplace already stocked with firewood, which was good, because it was Fall, and Werewolf Hollow got cold fast.
Off in the other direction, a beautiful, open plan kitchen with wooden cupboards that shone in the midday sunlight drifting through the windows met us. A small table sat to one side with a vase of flowers on it.
I climbed the stairs without a word, my ears ringing. Two of the bedrooms were smaller... but they were painfully familiar. I walked into mine, first, and I saw the old posters that still hung on the walls, because no one had been here ten years ago to take them down, and whoever had come here to clean obviously hadn't want to accidentally throw away anything sentimental. My old bed was gone, as was my dresser, and my closet was conspicuously empty of clothes that had probably been eaten by moths, but... it was straight out of my childhood.
Marie's room was significantly harder.
I stood in the doorway. Quiet footsteps beside me told me I wasn't alone. Collin and Dylan both took my hands as they looked in wordlessly to the room that had once belonged to their Mother.
It was much more sophisticated than my room. Marie had been five years older than me; she'd known exactly what she'd wanted from a pretty young age. From her time living here, every space was covered in books about computers. The bed was gone, now, and I remembered there being more books a long time ago, but it was still her room.
"She liked computers?" Dylan asked, his voice quiet.
"Yeah," I said, unable to look away. "She wanted to go into computer science. Programming, that sort of thing."
"Kind of like you," Dylan said, glancing at Collin. His brother said nothing. He stood taller than me, temporarily, covered in fur, fangs hanging over his lips. I couldn't read his expression anymore.
"She was really smart," I said. "So smart. She knew exactly what she wanted to do. She and your Dad were about to graduate; they had it all together, their lives ahead of them. We'd just celebrated their wedding, and Marie was already pregnant..."
Silence fell. I could distantly hear Lucy giggling and laughing downstairs.
"This'll be your room," I said finally. "The two of you."
"What?" Dylan and Collin panicked. "No, we can't take this room."
"There's only three rooms." I stepped back and rubbed my face. "Either you get it, or Lucy does."
They looked at each other in dismay, before Collin finally nodded. "I guess... we'll take it, then."
"You see why I ran away," I said wryly. "It's weird, isn't it? To exist in a space where other people should be, only their memories left behind."
"I think I kind of get it," Dylan said, looking into the room. "Can we look around for a minute?"
"Yeah. I still have to go into..."
I turned and looked toward the room that I would inevitably have to take. The footsteps felt long and heavy, but there it was: my mother and father's room.
Dylan's, Collin's, and Lucy's Grandparents... or they would have been, anyway.
The paint was a fresh, dark blue. All the paint had been refreshed. Again, furniture was missing... but the bed frame, this time, had been left behind. The blankets were familiar, and I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my hands along the surface.
My throat tightened, and the walls suddenly swam. My breathing hitched. I could hear the distant sound of my voice echoing off of these walls, laughing and crying and calling for my own mama...
I had never come to terms with all of their deaths. I'd never had time. I'd pushed it all back, and the desperate need of newborns had been more than enough to distract me from actually facing my grief.
Now, I was 29, almost 30, and I was being forced to face it all anew. A house with so many memories, so cozy, so comfortable, so empty...
"Mama?"
I looked up to see Lucy standing in front of me, her doll in her hands. Her big green eyes were wide and worried.
"Baby," I said, my voice wobbling. I wiped at my face with my hands, trying to control my voice. "I-I'm okay. Mama's okay. I'm okay."
But she took my hand and squeezed it, laying her head on my knee like she had so many times before. Like I had once, too, with my mother. Her Grandmother. A woman she'd never know.
"It's okay, Mama," she said softly, echoing my own words. "It's okay to cry."
I hiccupped. I didn't want to fall apart in front of my kids, and of course, now the twins were walking into the room. Their father's hair, but their mother's face- at least, in the one that wasn't currently part canine.
I sobbed, and my three kids all crowded around me, wrapping their arms around me as I heaved and sobbed and cried.
----
Neither Rudy nor Ivy followed me upstairs, nor did they comment on what was probably a very swollen face, red with crying. Lucy held one hand, Dylan held the other, and Collin was on my heels.
"We got started," Rudy said cheerfully, indicating the living room that was now slowly filling with the furniture we'd been able to pack. "We'll bring the kids' stuff up, soon."
"We'll have to run to the market," I said, pretending my voice wasn't thick and wobbly. "The kids'll be hungry soon."
"Ah," Ivy said, holding up a finger and smiling crookedly. "But you see, that's one more part of the magic. You don't have to do that- at least, not for today."
I gave her a disbelieving look before quickly running over to the fridge. Sure enough, both it and the pantry- much to my total disbelief- were completely filled.
"Lots of folks saw you running out of that apartment like the devil was on your heels," Ivy said, leaning against a counter. "We all figured you'd need some food for you and the kids. Good thing, too, what with you driving that junker."
I screwed up my face. "I don't understand. Who's been taking care of the house?"
Ivy shrugged. "A few of us. Old friends of you Lakes, mostly. I come out, too, whenever I want to visit some old memories. We've all been pitching in to keep the place from falling apart, in case you ever... you know. We were able to patch up all the stuff we'd missed once we found out you were actually coming back."
I shook my head. "But why?"
"Werewolf Hollow doesn't forget its own," Ivy said proudly. "We'd be a bunch of hypocrites if we just abandoned you."
"The way I abandoned you," I said pointedly.
Ivy hesitated, before she shook her head again. "No. No one can say what you did was abandoning us."
But I knew she wanted answers, and I definitely wasn't ready to give them. I closed the fridge and pantry and swiped at my eyes again, breathing shakily.
"Weird to be back?" Ivy asked gently.
"Too weird," I said, half-laughing. "I never thought I would be back. And then seeing you straight away- that was incredible."
"And Aegis," Ivy snickered, waggling her eyebrows.
I groaned. "That was just mortifying. Trust me, I haven't forgotten."
"Oh, come on, you weren't that bad."
"What?" Dylan asked immediately. "You knew that guy? The werewolf?"
"Alpha," Collin said quietly.
"I knew him," I said slowly. "He was, uh... we went to school together."
Ivy cackled. "Your mom had a major crush on him."
"On a werewolf?" Collin asked, eyes widening.
"Nevermind," Dylan said, looking disgusted. "I don't want to know."
"Crushed?" Lucy asked, confused.
"Your mom thought he was super good looking and really liked him."
"Uh," I said, snapping my fingers at her. "Kids repeat things, thank you. I don't need to remind him of how horribly embarrassing I was. I used to write his name next to mine in my math notes."
"Who didn't?" Ivy said, rolling her eyes. She waggled her eyebrows again. "Bet he looks better than you remember."
"Oh, don't even go there," I scowled. "Guy's probably married. Last thing he needs is me chasing him around, again. At least back then, I was only a year younger than him. Now, I'm a single mom to three kids."
"Well, you're in luck: he is not married at all."
Now that surprised me. "What? He's drop dead gorgeous. You can't be serious. The Alpha doesn't have a mate?"
"A mate?" Collin asked, intent on trying to pick out anything to do with werewolves, now. Dylan had lost interest entirely and was now picking through the cabinet.
"It's a werewolf thing," Ivy explained. "When werewolves hit the end of their puberty- usually, that's between 18 and 21- they gain the ability to find their fated mate."
"It's super rare," I said dryly. "Eight billion people on this planet. Some folks go their whole lives never finding them. Some choose to give up their fated mate, in order to be with a chosen mate."
"Ew," Collin said, making a face. "Nevermind. I don't need a 'mate'."
"You'll change your tune, later," Ivy laughed. "A fated mate is someone who was made for you on, like, a genetic level, or something. The werewolf virus is able to recognize the perfect mate, and it alters your entire body chemistry to revolve around the other person. Or... something like that, anyway. The science on it is a little vague."
"That's so dramatic," Lucy said, eyes glittering. "I can't wait to add that to my dolls."
"Oh, Lord," I muttered. "Please, no more dramatics. I don't think my heart can take walking in on any of your doll dramas."
"There's gotta be a story, there," Ivy said.
"Yeah. I walked in on what was basically one of those dating shows that take place on an island, except whenever someone was voted off, they got thrown into a volcano, and then everyone had to do a ritual dance."
"Volcano Island," Lucy said wistfully. "My best story."
"Dramatic," I snorted. "Anyway, I don't need to worry about finding anyone. I've sworn all that off."
Ivy gave me another intense look. "Another story?"
"Too many," I muttered, rubbing my face. "I'm tired of being let down and getting used. I've got everything I need right here."
"She needs help," Dylan clarified, a poptart in his hands.
Ivy snickered. "Well, you never know. I remember you didn't just like Aegis, girl, you-"
"Let's get back to work," I said loudly, clapping my hands. "Rudy, I know you've been listening in. Tell me where you need me, because I can't handle this conversation anymore."
Rudy laughed aloud from the other room. "Me? Listening in? Never."
"Says the FBI Agent. Come on, let's get this done with, and I'll figure out what we're having for dinner."