Mom claps her hands together. “He’s such a good man. Isn’t he a good man? I’m sure he showed those vampires what it means to mess with the Ironwood pack.”
She means Jrue. My words have fallen into the same chasm they always do when I say something they don’t like or aren’t ready to hear.
I might as well not exist.
“Jrue had nothing to do with it. Grayson was the one who came out of nowhere and made sure I was okay. He’s the one who saved me?—”
“The bitten boy,” Dad clarifies for Mom’s benefit.
Holly sits through the entire conversation and watches the back and forth like she’s got front row seats at Wimbledon.
Anything I might have said to gain Grayson some respect falls on deaf ears. There are no points awarded for him tonight. There are no points awarded to anyone.
Except Jrue, by merit of his breeding alone.
Mom’s lips screw up in a purse. The veal on her fork might as well be lemon. “Oh. Yes.”
“He has a name. Grayson Larimore is a good person. It’s not his fault he was attacked. Right outside our gates, I might add.”
I point in the general direction amidst the leers and the delicately cleared throat Mom thinks is better than an opinion.
The Ironwood distaste for anything they don’t understand has only gotten worse with the losses suffered. Out of all the packs, before our move, we’ve suffered the most loss from the moon-mad. They wanted to be safer here.
They were. Until now.
“Yes, poor thing.” Dad is quick to brush my statement under the rug. “We’ll figure out what to do with him in the morning. Right now, my concern is you. You’re not eating.”
I push the plate a few inches away until it knocks against the salt and pepper shakers. “I’m not hungry.”
I’m starving. But not for veal.
“Do we need to have Doc Adams come and check you?” Mom’s concern is suffocating.
Doc Adams has been with the pack forever. I’m fairly certain she delivered me and my sister.
“I’m fine.”
No one cares. I might as well say I’ve turned with the moon but into a ferret instead of a wolf. My parent’s voices mingle in a constant stream of worry and misguided normalcy.
Everything about this is normal, so separate from the chaos of the moon-mad wolves and the vampire’s involvement. Farfrom my secrets and my shame. I tune out until Jrue’s name linked with mine lands with a wet plop in the bowl of mashed potatoes.
I jerk up. “What about Jrue?”
“The mating ceremony, of course. We’ve decided to hold it with the next full moon,” Mom replies. “There’s no sense in dragging this out any longer.”
Dad drags his knife through his meat, screeching against the plate. “It’s time.”
“We’re hopeful it will trigger your shift, Mandi. And it gives you plenty of time to recover from whatever happened to you.”The thing you won’t tell us about.
Mom is nothing if not determined, but there are some things it’s not safe to share. No matter how many of my secrets she thinks she knows.
They’ve shoved me under the rug too. Everything I am or want to be.
“Jrue’s family is getting antsy to see this match be made. I don’t want his father to think we’re alienating them for any particular reason.”
I grip the edges of the table, my stomach shrinking further. “You’re the alpha, Dad. Hold them off. I’m not ready.”
Pressure won’t change anything.