Page 9 of Eclipsed Legacy

“I don’t know about that, Mom,” I say, but my heart’s not fully in it, even as I say it.

“Maybe it’s just because I’m not one and can’t understand it…” The sadness and longing in her voice pull at me. I can relate to feeling on the outside. That was how I felt for most of my childhood, never connecting to anyone outside the pack, but she’s had the opposite experience. To feel that with some of her own family can’t be easy. Before I can say anything reassuring, she continues, “I just pulled in and need to make another call, so I’m gonna’ have to let you go. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Mom,” I respond, trying to hide the emotion in my voice.

“Mmm, bye-bye,” she says quickly and disconnects the line.

I sigh and respond to no one, “Bye.”

I lean against the wall for a minute. Sure, I just got up, but I need a minute to collect my thoughts. Yesterday was insane. Grandma’s pissed off at me. Some jackass called us out in the bar and threatened my bother. Worse yet, tomorrow is a full moon. The wolves are all turning, whether we want to or not. Whether he changes with us or not, I need to talk to Michael.

Pivoting off the wall, I make my way to bathroom to rinse the beer sweat off my body. I shower so quickly that it could almost be considered a whore bath. When I finish, I throw on a pair of jeans and an old Doors t-shirt before heading out. Being the dirty sinner that I am, I speed the whole way there. When I arrive, I knock first, but when there’s no answer, I let myself in, having to unlock the door to enter. This is my mother’s house; the knock was just a courtesy, anyway.

“Michael?” I say. He should be up by now, but the curtains are drawn and there are no lights on. Mom usually doesn’t let him sleep in.

“Michael?” I call out a little louder, making my way through the living room, past the bathroom and kitchen and down the hall.

Nothing. What the hell? The tiny hairs on the back of my neck raise. There’s someone watching me. I slow my breathing, but my senses are on high alert. I hear someone breathing. Behind me.

I turn around quickly, readying an attack, just as Michael flips on the hall light.

“Tala?” he says with a yawn. “What are you doing here?” He’s shirtless, in a pair of shorts, and his hair is so wild, it looks like it belongs to an anime character.

I take in a deep breath…just Michael…and release. “I came to chat. Better question, why are you walking around in the dark?”

He raises an eyebrow. “I had to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t want to fully wake up.” I can almost hear the “duh!” in his voice.

“Why? Aren’t you supposed to be up and doing homework or something?”

He rolls his eyes. “No, Mom called. She told me she knows I had a rough day yesterday— ya’ know, when I got my butt handed to me— so she said I could sleep in and take it easy today. Why do you care?”

I sigh. Boy, he is more argumentative than usual. Rubbing my forehead, I try to change the pace. “Can we go in the living room, so I can sit while we talk?” He may need a little more support for the next conversation.

“No,” he immediately shuts me down. Michael’s not bullshitting. “What’re you doing here, Tala?”

“I got into a bar fight yesterday…”

He gives an almost-smile. “I’ll bite. You know I like hearing this stuff, but I feel like it’s going somewhere I’ll regret.”

I nod. “With a friend of the kids you fought.” The shocked expression on Michael’s face tells me with near certainty that he knew they targeted him. “Why didn’t you tell me that you went up against more than one?”

Michael’s cheeks go red, and he shrugs. Reminding him that he got his ass beat probably wasn’t the best move there. Good job, Tala.

“Do you know why they targeted you?”

Michael’s mouth slowly opens, before he looks away. “They found out something about me. I don’t know how… I’m—” he stops himself.

Oh. The pained look in his eye about kills me. He doesn’t know what he is. He thinks this is about something else entirely. “I know,” I say, “that they are wolves, and they harassed you because they could smell the wolf on you, and uh…”

His eyes go wide with first excitement then fear. His mouth hangs slightly open, and his eyes plead with me, hanging on my last word.

“…because you’re gay.” Michael sharply inhales before holding his breath. His wide eyes meet mine, and in a split second I see fear flash across his face. “You know, I’m here for you, right?”

He exhales, releasing a deep sigh, before his shoulders slump and he leans in and throws his arms around me as the tears overwhelm him. I hug him back, letting him have a moment.

He pulls back from me and sniffles. “Thanks, Tala. I’ve only started to realize I like guys…Honestly, I’ve been having trouble…I don’t know, realizing it? I didn’t know how to tell you. I’m so sorry for lying!”

“Oh, Michael! Please don’t apologize...” I sigh. “Our family’s not like that, but I can’t imagine how hard this has been on you… I haven’t told Mom or anyone else. Whenever you come out is your decision; I wouldn’t even have said anything, just waited for you to come to me when you’re ready, but that jackass at the bar was talking shit about it. No one else made the connection, so you don’t have to worry about that yet, but I wanted to make sure you aren’t blindsided if anything else happens.”