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I stare at her for a long moment, my jaw ticking as I contemplate how much to disclose. “One of the alphas asked me to come meet him for a drink.”
“That’s great,Mijo,” she praises, her eyes sparkling as she hops up from the end of the bed.
I shrug a shoulder. “It was no big deal.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” she tuts, stepping closer and picking a piece of lint off my t-shirt sleeve, fussing over me like I’m a child. “I’m proud of you for making these connections. It’s important to gain their trust.”
“I know,” I grumble.
She reaches up to cup my face, drawing my eyes to hers and staring into them intently. “Stay the course.”
“That’s what I’m doing,” I deadpan.
“Good.” She nods, seemingly satisfied as she drops her hands from my face. Then she turns to leave my room, pausing as she reaches the door. “We’re all relying on you,” she reminds me before she exits.
Don’t I fucking know it.
14
“Anybody home?” I call out as I let myself in through the front door of my parents’ house, slipping off my shoes in the entryway as I listen for a reply.
Neither of them call back, but I hear scuffling sounds coming from the living room, so I make my way down the hall in that direction- and I immediately regret it.
Judging by the state of partial undress they’re both in, it’s obvious that I interrupted their afternoon delight.
“Lo!” my mom gasps in surprise as she tugs her shirt down her torso, her cheeks flushed and hair mussed. Dad’s shirtless beside her buttoning his jeans, and I slap a hand over my eyes to shield them, grimacing.
“Gross, you guys are way too old to be doing it!” I groan, wishing I could scrub that image from my brain. I’ve caught them inmore compromising positions before, but each time is just as shocking as the last. No kid wants to walk in on their parents getting down and dirty.
I hear clothes rustling as they put themselves back together, keeping my hand firmly clasped over my eyes like the dramatic bitch I am.
My parents moved out of the packhouse last year when my brother Iver took over my dad’s position as Alpha of our pack, and now they live here- right next door- with my youngest brother. He’s still in high school and the last kid to leave the nest. Actually, he’s lucky he’s at school right now because in typical teenage boy fashion, he’d have blown a gasket if he’d accidentally walked in on what I just did.
“Okay, we’re decent,” Mom says with a giggle. “You can look now.”
I peek between my fingers cautiously, then drop my hand, wrinkling my nose as my gaze slides between my parents’ faces. “C’mon, guys.Seriously?”
Mom grins shamelessly as she combs her fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair, dropping down onto the couch.
Note to self- donotsit on that couch ever again.
“Sorry, hon, we weren’t expecting company,” she explains, patting the cushion beside her in invitation.
Ew, no thanks.
I stride further into the room, bypassing the sofa and claiming the soft leather recliner next to it instead. “Still not a good reasonto be doing…that,” I mutter as I get comfortable, pulling my legs up underneath me.
“What else are we supposed to do in retirement?” Dad jokes. He’s always so cavalier about things that make most normal people uncomfortable. I give him a disapproving frown as he takes a seat next to my mom on the couch, slinging an arm around her shoulders.
“I don’t know, get a hobby or something,” I mumble. They share a conspiratorial glance and I quickly amend, “adifferenthobby.”
Mom waves a hand dismissively. “Sex is a natural, healthy thing, baby girl.”
“Oh god, not this again,” I groan, dropping my head into my hands. “I didn’t come here to talk about the birds and the bees.”
They share a laugh at my expense while I wonder how the hell I share DNA with these two heathens. Jax and Quinn Anderson are both free spirits, laid back and congenial and not easily ruffled. I, on the other hand, am an anxiety ridden control freak most days. The apple fellreallyfar from that tree.
My younger siblings got all the best parts of our parents. Iver is funny like Dad, and my sister Harper is a social butterfly like Mom. My youngest brother Tanner is a star athlete, and he’s gonna be a kickass squad leader when he graduates high school next year and joins up. I inherited my mom’s brains and I’m decently athletic, but sometimes I wish they’d passed more of their easy demeanor on to me, too.
