“What’s on the menu tonight?” I slung my arm around Mother’s shoulders, making her jump.
“Ty!” She turned and slapped my shoulder. “You know never to sneak up on me like that, you turd.”
I chuckled. “If I can’t scare you from time to time, what fun would life be?”
Her smile quickly faded as she turned back to her duty as the alpha’s wife, coordinating the meal, ensuring there was enough food and drinks for everyone.
She scowled as she went over her checklist, avoiding my gaze.
“Hey.” I snatched the clipboard from her and tossed it onto the counter. “What’s wrong? Is Dad okay?”
She sighed. “Your father is perfectly fine, Ty.” Her lips were still pursed, so I grabbed a bag of chips from the pantry and popped one into my mouth as I studied her face.
Mother looked tired, but she also seemed extremely frustrated over something. “Then, what is it? Something’s bothering you, I can tell.”
Grabbing my arm, she pulled me out of the kitchen and into the dining room, away from the chefs. “If you must know, Ty, I’m feeling a little left out.” She crossed her arms and huffed like a child. “Your father isn’t telling me anything about this mess with Liza’s psycho ex. And, quite frankly, I don’t like it.”
My head jerked back. What the hell? “Let me correct you on one detail: Castro isn’t Liza’s ex. Apart from in his delusional mind, they were never together. Are we clear on that? He’s just a psycho who’s obsessed with her.”
Mother mumbled something under her breath, then raised her voice a bit so I could hear her. “That’s what I meant.”
“So, you’re saying Dad’s intentionally keeping you in the dark?” I had no idea she was so interested in the shit we’d been dealing with.
“I’m out of the loop, Ty. Even the staff have noticed. You all gather in your father’s office and have your little secret talks, and I’m stuck out here doing stupid tasks to keep the house running. I have no clue what’s going on.”
I pursed my lips. I’d never known how to approach Mother when she started pitching a fit like a toddler because she wasn’t getting her way. “Have you told Dad how you feel?”
She nodded. “Of course. He waves me off as if it’s not a big deal and then tells me not to worry because he’s handling it and has it all under control, but I’m not a fucking idiot, Ty. I have two perfectly good ears and a great set of eyes. I don’t need to be cosseted or handled. Something’s wrong, and I wish you all would just tell me.”
I shoved a handful of chips into my mouth to buy myself some time. She would keep going till she ran out of steam. Maybe if I kept food in my mouth and just let her speak, she would spit out whatever it was she felt the need to say, and we could all move on with our day.
As expected, she spoke up again. “I’ve noticed Liza is always present at those important meetings. I understand that Liza will be the new… mate to the alpha, but until you take the seat of power,Iam still the queen of this castle, and everyone should be damn well mindful of that fact.”
With that, Mother turned on her heels and stormed up the stairs. I shoved another handful of chips into my mouth as she slammed her bedroom door.
Yep. That was the temper tantrum I had expected. My mother was an amazing woman who could be depended on for anything, but she took first prize in being high maintenance.
I took a seat at the head of our large dining table and finished off the bag of chips. Her confession of feeling left out had quickly turned into an attack on Liza. If I didn’t know better, I’d say my mother was jealous of Liza and was worried about her stomping over her territory as the alpha’s mate.
But why was she so upset? Was there more to it than just Liza being included in the meetings concerning Castro?
I thought back to her words and realized that she was probably feeling left out because of all the time Dad had been spending with Liza—time he used to spend with Mother.
What Mother didn’t realize was that we weren’t only trying to save Liza but our entire pack. I was certain Dad wanted to protect Mother from knowing the truth, and I fully supported him in that decision.
Mother wouldn’t be able to handle the stress that came from knowing. Of that much, I was certain.
After grabbing a soda from the fridge, I went up to Dad’s office.
“How’d the acquisition go today?” he asked when I sat down.
“It almost didn’t happen. That motherfucker tried to pull out at the last second again, but I finally convinced him Keller Enterprises was his best bet.”
Dad rolled his eyes. “Nothing can ever be simple, can it?”
“Absolutely not.” I looked down at my feet as I wondered how to broach the subject of my mother with him. Better to get it over with. “Speaking of things not being simple, I just had an interesting conversation with Mother.”
“Oh, yeah?” Dad raised his eyebrows and sat back in his chair. “What about?”
