“Well.” My mother still doesn’t turn around, her shoulders rigid with disapproval. “You should have thought about that before you got all dramatic and ran off.”
Mara hisses, the sound low and dangerous.
Jacob gives her a stern look. “Angie—“ His voice holds a warning.
I lift my hand and the room falls quiet.
I look at Mara. I keep my voice even but my eyes don’t soften.
“Sit down.”
“Aaron, I’m going?—“
“I said.” I point. “Sit down.”
Her tail slumps and her ears go flat. She turns away from me, walks to the chair at the island, and sits. Her shoulders curl in. It guts me, but I do not have time for it right now.
I walk around to a second chair. I pull it out, far from Mara’s, with the whole length of the island between them, and I point at it and look at my mother.
“Mom. Sit down.”
She turns slowly, considering whether to pick this fight. She decides against it and sits.
I walk around the island and plant my hands flat on the counter, looking up at Jacob. He smirks at me and folds his arms over his chest, and the approval in it steadies me.
“Mom. We gotta stop this. Right now.”
She bristles. “Why am I getting blamed?—“
Mara cuts in, low, “Aaron, please. I’ll just go upstairs.”
“No, you won’t.” I hold my mother’s stare, my voice hardening. “This is your home. You aren’t dismissing yourself because you’re uncomfortable.”
I wait until Mara settles back, the tension in her posture easing slightly. Then I turn to my mother, letting her see I won’t bend on this.
“Why won’t you just accept her?”
My mother scoffs and crosses her arms.
“I see what she’s doing to you. And I don’t like it. You want me to sit here and be quiet, well, I won’t. She is slinging you around mentally like a rag doll.” Her finger comes up, pointing across the island at Mara, who lowers her head in a gesture that breaks my heart. “Look at her. The demands she’s making. When she couldn’t even draw up the courage to tell you who you were to her when she knew she was fated to you. She sat right in my face and was cryptic.”
“Ma.” My voice is sharp, cutting through her words. “You gotta stop.”
“You’re my son, Aaron. I don’t understand why everyone is expecting me to just sit here and watch you get slung around.” She snarls.
“Because I’m not a little boy anymore, Ma.” It comes out flatter than I meant it to.
Something passes across her face that she doesn’t want me to see. Her eyes drop to the counter.
I keep going. I have to, even though each word feels like I’m driving a wedge between us.
“And Iamselfish. Unapologetically. I want this woman with me for the rest of my life, and you can’t see it because I’m your son, of course you’ll be biased.”
Jacob walks around the island and puts a hand on my mother’s shoulder. My mother is starting to fume, the hurt transforming into anger the way it always does with her.
“So you want me to sit here and say nothing.” Her voice trembles slightly, betraying the emotion she’s trying to hide.
“I want you to meet me halfway, Mom. Mara isn’t going anywhere. And if you want me in the pack? Then it’s up to you.”
