“Not that our love life is any of your fucking business—” Callie responds, but she is immediately cut off.
“Not my business? He is my son, and I won’t stand idly by while his mate flagrantly destroys him!” she yells loud enough that both packs won’t have to wait for the details of this argument—they just have to stick their heads outside. “You aren’t a shifter, so clearly you don’t understand what it means to be mates. It’s a lifelong bond of joined souls. There’s a reason we carry our mate’s scent on us. It’s to warn off anyone stupid enough to try to get between us. Every time you cheat on him, you might as well stab him in the heart. It’d be less painful.”
“Rich of you to talk of Connor’s pain,” Callie roars, and as I reach the end of the hall, the temperature decreases dramatically. “The walls of this house drip with years of yourson’s blood. You abandoned him to a monster when he was a child. Every moment he suffered is because of you.”
My mother hisses with pain. “I’m not afraid of you, and I came back when I could protect him. Unlike you, I’m here every day supporting him. I know what it is to be alpha. I alone understand what he’s going through right now, while you make a mockery of your position in the pack.”
Sprinting across the front entryway, I skid to a halt outside of the kitchen. Frost crawls over the floors and up the walls, surrounding my mother on all sides. It’s so cold, her breath is visible in the air.
A haunting, icy laugh pours frommi reina’slips. “You know nothing. You understand nothing.” The frost reaches for my mother’s bare feet, and again, she hisses from the pain. “I see the memories. The silver tipped whips that shredded his back. The bruises and broken bones. The times he was forced to fight to the death, only to be punished for surviving. I know the darkness inside him because it matches my own. You have no idea who your son is, and you never will. All you are is another wound he’s forced to carry.”
“You bitch!” My mother lunges for Callie with the full force of her alpha strength, her claws and teeth extended with the intent to rip her apart.
Instantly, my wolf explodes forward as I leap to intercept. Fully shifted, my sharp teeth catch air, and I slide into the counter when my paws hit the frozen ground. Shaking myself back to standing, I prepare to try again when I realize why I missed the first time.
My mother is dangling midair, desperately clawing at an invisible noose around her neck. A mixture of rage and panic fillsher pale blue eyes as she comes face-to-face with the reality of my mate’s true power.
Callie approaches my struggling mother with the cool calculation of judgment. We stand in the presence of the ancient power within her—the avatar of the goddess.
“Witch. Not bitch.” She tilts her head to one side with her hands clasped behind her back. “And not any witch. I’m not just Connor’s mate. I’m the pack’s witch, and I take my position very seriously. You are a guest on this land that I’ve sworn to protect.” Suddenly, my mother drops to the floor, choking on the unobstructed air finally filling her lungs. “Remember your place before you overstay your welcome.”
My wolf beams with pride over the ease of which our mate can defend herself against a raging alpha. As much as I’m always proud and awed by her power, her point has been made, and I need to step in. Shifting back into my human form, my clothes a torn mess hanging off my body, I walk across the icy floor to Callie’s side. With each step, I make sure to show no sign of how the frost burns the soles of my feet. When I pull her into my arms, I find her body is bitterly cold against my heated skin.
“Come back to me,mi reina,” I murmur into her ear, feeding our bond with the love and peace I felt this morning. “I’m safe. The pack is safe. You can let go.”
My mother remains on the floor, silently observing as the frost begins to melt. Beads of water slide down the walls, and there’s the subtle beat of dripping. Similar to the way spring thaws the cold grasp of winter and nurtures the sprouts of dormant life, the ancient magic releases Callie. She’s still upset, but it’s a warm displeasure driven by her love for me. I cup the back of her head and lead her to rest her ear against my chest.The steady thump of my heart soothes her, a confirmation of my words. I’m alive. I’m safe. She can let go.
As she returns to herself, her body growing warm in the heat of my embrace, I stare down at my mother. For so many years, she was my hope for a better life. Unfortunately, she came too late. I love her, but the years apart will always remain between us. I found my better life without her through a family I built myself, and at its center is a girl who shines light and love on the darkness inside me.
My wolf demands retribution for an alpha daring to harm our mate, even if her attempt had no chance of succeeding. He wants blood. He wants banishment. Pity keeps me from indulging his rage. She is my mother and has nowhere to go. Her pack has nowhere to go. However, I must hold her accountable, so I strike what will hurt far more than teeth and claws—her pride.
With all of my power and authority resonating in my voice, I state, “Alpha Martina, you have attempted to harm my mate and marked yourself as a threat to me and mine.”
“No,” my mother insists, crawling to her knees. “I’m not a threat to you. I love you. All I want is to protect you.Mijo, you are so young and tenderhearted. You deserve better from your mate.” Her eyes narrow with disgust as she turns her gaze toward Callie. “She’s a manipulative, selfish…” Her sentence stutters off when a menacing growl vibrates from my chest.
Stepping away from Callie, I stalk toward my mother and aggressively lift her to her feet. Looming over her, I snarl, “Get out of my house. You are not welcome here anymore.” My wolf presses underneath my skin, and it takes all my self-control to hold him back.
Real fear enters her eyes as the damage she’s done fully sinks in—not only to her relationship with me, but to the future of her pack. She holds no power here. Her status as an alpha means nothing against me and my mate.
It’s Callie’s gentle touch on my back that soothes my wolf and brings me back from the edge of my rage.
I move closer to my mate, putting space between me and my mother, my voice threaded with my wolf’s dark warning. “Sam will find somewhere for you and your mate to stay. You are banished from my home. If you dare to set foot in here again or speak ill of my mate, you will be banished from my land.”
“My pack?” Her simple question is fueled by fear for their future. Did she damn them when she damned herself?
“You will command them to integrate with my people and follow their instructions,” I answer coolly, wrapping my arm around Callie to further reinforce the understanding that we are one unit and my loyalty will always belong to her. “Walk carefully, Alpha Martina, or they will be forced to choose loyalty to me or exile with you.”
My mother’s shoulders slump as she nods her head, the truth of her tenuous hold evident in her surrender. “I will seek out your second right away.”
Before she can skulk away to lick her wounds, I demand, “Apologize to my mate for your disrespect.”
Her battered pride burns in her eyes, and her teeth clench with an angry tick to her jaw.
Callie stands tall beside me, her chin tilted up as she waits patiently. Normally, this is something she’d brush aside, insisting she doesn’t need an apology, only the promise to do better. However, she’s grown to understand the power dynamicsof shifters and the importance of her place in the pack. Disrespecting her disrespects all of us.
My mother knows what her stubbornness risks and humbles herself for the sake of her pack. “My apologies, Callie. I overstepped my place as a guest in your home, and I hope you can forgive my outburst. My love for my son made me reckless and act unbecoming of a visiting alpha.” The apology is thin, but the slight lift of her chin—exposing her neck—is a far greater sign. It’s the acknowledgement that her future rests in my mate’s hands.
Callie accepts the apology graciously, and then my mother flees to find Sam so she may salvage her final chance. I dislike that it had to come to this, but hopefully this will lead to some peace and stability between the two packs.
