“Ma.” Leif swallowed his sigh. “We’ve had this discussion before. Nothing has changed.”
Her top lip curled in disdain, an expression Leif had seen often during his twenty-eight years. He restrained his temper, because losing control with their mother wasted mental energy. The best way to prove the worth of their venture was to become successful. A flourishing business wouldn’t impress Brigitte Swenson, but to him and his brothers, it’d mean everything.
She sniffed, and her expression grew more derisive. “I see you’ve all fucked one of the town tramps.”
Leif bit his tongue.
“Our life, Ma,” Runt spat out, and his glower encompassed Leif and Ma. “We’re adults and don’t need to seek your approval.”
A fact their mother hated.
“We’ll sleep with whoever we damn well please.” Kirk lifted his chin. “You might be our leader, but we’re not causing trouble or bringing the pack into disrepute.”
Crap. The last thing they needed was an all-out argument with their mother, and that might happen, given his brothers’ unguarded tongues.
“Are you heading out on the ice?” Leif asked in a change of subject.
“I came to give you one last chance to change your mind before the pack leaves,” she said.
“No,” Runt said.
“No,” Kirk chorused.
“Thanks, but no,” Leif said, trying to soften his brothers’ outright rejections.
“When will Arve and Josef return?” Ma demanded.
“A couple of days, depending on the weather,” Leif replied.
“I wanted to ask if they’d like to come with the rest of the pack.”
“I doubt it, though I’ll ask them,” Leif said when Kirk and Runt stiffened. Kirk opened his mouth to make a retort, but Leif jumped in first. “You don’t need to wait for them.”
“We’d only be two days ahead. They should manage to track us,” she mused, then gave a quick nod of assent. “That is acceptable.”
In the brief silence, the upper door clicked and light footsteps traversed the staircase.
Fuck. Damn. Hell.This was not happening.
“Ma, have a fruitful trip out to the ice,” Leif said, taking his mother’s arm and half-dragging her to the door. A losing battle since Ma had heard the door opening and the light footsteps, the same as them.
“Who do you have stashed up there?” She lifted her nose, her nostrils flaring as she tested the air. “Is it one of the single bears? Are you trying to pull a swift one on me?”
Despite their earlier argument, Kirk and Runt stepped up to flank him. A flimsy barrier to a determined mother.
She sniffed the air again before patent disgust settled on her broad features. “You bring a human to your den? A human! What have I taught you about the den being sacred?”
“Ma, you need to go,” Leif said. “Will you have a phone with you on the ice?”
“Heresy,” she snapped.
Leif wasn’t sure if she meant the modern technology or Fiona’s presence.
Fiona appeared at the base of the stairs, fully dressed in the clothes he’d washed for her. Her dark brown hair fell in tangled curls around her head, and she had the appearance of a well-fucked woman. “Ah, I did hear voices. Can I help with anything? Oh, you have a visitor. Hi, I’m Fiona.”
Leif wanted to close his eyes, but he forced his gaze on his mother, his gut tied in knots as he waited for her reaction.
“A human. I was right.” Ma’s nostrils flared as she worked through the myriad scents. “What is wrong with you boys? I raised my sons better. A fuckin’ human,” she spat, shaking her head. “All of you with a puny human. A tramp who doesn’t have enough self-respect to stay with one man. You’d never know if the children belonged to you.”
