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“I know. I’m just curious. I’m allowed to have human friends, Mom. You do.”
She ran her fingertips over my hair and curled a lock behind my ear. “I know, honey. I do. But it’s different. I’m not looking for my mate. Maybe once you find yours and your wolf is more settled, you can be friends with Christopher again, but until then, seeing him might be confusing.”
“Would it be so bad?” I whispered, my heart aching and reaching out toward Christopher’s. “To have a human mate?”
Mom sighed. “I don’t know, honey. Some wouldn’t accept it. It would be hard for you to find a place within a pack.”
“It wouldn’t. Things have changed for my generation, Mom. Greycoast, Northbay, Steelwick—they’ve made things better for all of us. Interspecies matings are not as frowned on as they once were.”
“No, but it’s very different when there is a human involved. They can’t shift, they can’t heal themselves like we can. Christopher would never be able to understand you like another wolf would.”
I clenched my jaw. I knew Christopher better than her. He knew me better than her.
But just as easily as the fight entered my body, it left it. It had been several years since I’d seen or talked to Christopher. I was holding on to my image of him as a sixteen year old boy who was quick to smile and laughed at corny jokes. What sort of man had he become? One who would be accepting of me and people like me, or one who would cower in fear of us—the type that would have banded a group together and had wolves put down in the past?
I didn’t know, and a part of me was terrified to find out.
Chapter Three
Christopher
“UncaKiss.”Oneofthe triplets pulled on my shirt. “Unca Kiss, play?”
The triplets were adorable, but I’d been playing with them for a half an hour and I was beat. And the worst part of all was I couldn’t remember if this was Lia, Mia, or Samantha. I needed to ask my aunt why only two of the names rhymed. I had a feeling there a story there somewhere.
“UncleChrishas to go help Gram Gram.” Or do anything else for a few minutes. “After that maybe we can watch a movie.” I found it incredibly adorable that they couldn’t quite pronounce my name and it came out more as Uncle Kiss. Though, taken out of context, I’d sound like a creepy uncle.
“No screen time.” My aunt gave me a look that said she was dead serious about that. I gave it a day before she was caving on that one. This place wasn’t exactly toddler fun land.
“Sorry, sweetie. We’ll find something else to do. Maybe crayons?” Or do kids that age eat them? I was not prepared for this new pseudo uncle role. My siblings were not at the marrying age yet, and we hadn’t been surrounded by cousins growing up, so this was all new for me. That was for sure.
She begrudgingly agreed and went back to be with her sisters, who were tearing the book their grandfather gave them into bits as he watched with no concern on his face whatsoever.
Grandparents seemed to have no rules for children in their charge, and instead let them run amuck with amused expressions and talks of how creative, inventive, and adventurous their grandchildren were.
My mom didn’t need my help in the kitchen, but I sought her out anyway. I hated lying, especially to a kid, and in my mind the easiest way to not have my excuse be a lie was to make it true. Yeah, the logic was messed up. But what about this holiday wasn’t.
“Mom, want me to make lunch or something?” It was still too early for that, but I needed something to do. Being inside this old house while actively avoiding looking outside toward the neighbors’ house so I didn’t accidently see anything that reminded me of Nicholas, while also constantly thinking about Nicholas, was driving me insane.
“Your dad has chili in the crock pot for that.” She put down what she was working on and came over to me. “What’s the matter, honey? You don’t seem like yourself. Is work okay? I know you just had that big evaluation.”
“The evaluation was fine. I met all expectations, and they even gave me my choice of hat or shirt with the company logo as a bonus.” Which was bullshit as far as bonuses went, but was something more than last year, so I was going to take it. “They also told me I’d be eligible for remote status in the new year, if I wanted.”
“You mean you would work from home?” she asked.
“If I want to. I don’t think I will. It’s nice getting out and seeing people.” And if she heard even the tiniest of hesitations in my voice, she would start with her plan to convince me to move here. I so wasn’t up for that.
“Maybe you’ll meet a nice guy.” She patted my cheek. “You know a new guy started at Taryn’s work. I bet she could hook you up.”
“If my sister thinks he is good enough for this family, she can have him.” My sister loved to match people up… with the guys she turned down. She thought it was making it up to them or something? I never figured out her logic, but then again I never understood my sister.
She was five years younger than I was and in her last year of college. The age difference had been really pronounced when we were kids. Now, not so much, but I still thought of her as a kid. We were close, but not close enough that I ever revealed my true feelings for Nicholas. She’d told me once that she saw him and I’d pretended not to be interested. I didn’t want to hear about how he chatted with her like everything was normal.
“Your sister isn’t in the market for—”
“Mom! That’s my news to tell.” Taryn came into the kitchen with two empty glasses.
“News?” I asked.
