Page 8 of Eclipsed Legacy

He probably won’t see it for a few hours, so I roll back over and try to get more sleep.

* * *

I awaken three hours later to some visitors knocking on one of my neighbor’s doors. 8:03. Not bad, Tala. Not bad at all. This four days on, three days off schedule has me back and forth between being diurnal and nocturnal. My pay is decent, my benefits all right, but I am in a perpetual state of lethargy.

I check my texts. Nothing. Damn. I give my mom a call.

“You’re on speaker. I’m driving,” she says.

“Then why answer?”

“It’s fine. I was at a red light. Everything okay, honey?”

“Yeah. Just worried about Michael. Did he tell you that he got in a fight yesterday?”

“And that he got suspended for a week? Yeah. I’m actually leaving the school now. I can’t believe him sometimes.”

“That was my thought, too, but it seems there’s more to it.”

She’s quiet for a minute. At first, I wonder if she lost the call, but I can still hear her engine over the phone.

“Mom?”

“I’m here. I-I just have a feeling I know where you’re going with this.”

I give a reluctant chuckle and stand to pace as we talk. “Well, it’s probably a bit more than you’re expecting…I got in a bar fight last night.”

“Tala!” she gasps.

I chuckle. “That’s about the reaction I thought you’d have. It was with another wolf.”

Her tone goes from shock to concern. “What?”

“Yeah, Michael was apparently targeted. They could smell the wolf on him.” I leave out the part about the pheromones. If the bald guy at the bar truly did out Michael for being more than a wolf last night, the kid doesn’t need his family jumping on the gaydar wagon. “He didn’t start it. From what I understand, there were actually two other kids, but the only one who got caught was a junior and twice his size.”

“So, he’s being bullied?”

“Pretty much. And it seems for being in our pack.”

“He’s definitely a wolf then?”

I lean against the wall. “I’m not a hundred percent sure. I haven’t been able to smell the wolf on him, but the guy at the bar specifically mentioned smelling him. If Michael is a wolf, I’m not sure why I couldn—”

Mom erupts into laughter.

“Mom?” I’m not sure if I am more confused or hurt. Why is she laughing?

As if she can read my mind, she says, “I’m sorry. You seem so concerned. You all really do take being wolves for granted. It’s not a complete superpower, you know? You’re still a person.”

I shake my head. “I’m not following.”

I hear the snarky tone and picture her cocky smile. “It’s called being nose-blind. You’re around him so often you wouldn’t notice any changes. At this point, it’s probably a subtle difference.”

I feel dumb. At the same time, it makes sense. Maybe I really don’t give my mother enough credit. She really is smart, albeit a bit dramatic. She always wanted to be a talent agent, but it never worked out. Since she getting her GED four years ago, she works at the post office, instead.

“You’re right,” I say. “That makes sense.”

She takes a second to respond. “I never wanted this for either of you, you know. I know your grandmother has always been proud of you being a wolf like her, but I feel like it just separates you from the rest of the world.”