Then, Roderick shrugs.“She doesn’t look like an outsider.”
Mom’s mouth hangs open before she snaps it shut and lets out another menacing growl.
Rebecca Jameson is not the bubbliest woman on a normal day, but this level of anger worries me.I get the sense that something deeper is going on that I’m not aware of.
“Mom, I know you want what’s best for me, and you don’t think this is it.But I’m telling you, Zoey is all I want.I’ll only be happy if I’m where she is.If we’re together.”
My passionate words don’t sway her.
She continues to glare at the woman in my arms.“Until she leaves you.”
“Rebecca”—a new voice enters the fray, somehow both apologetic and commanding—“please stop putting my sins on my daughter’s head.If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me.”
The gentle words come from the mouth of the alley, and we all turn in sync.Standing under the light of a streetlamp is a beautiful woman.Her hair hangs in a golden braid over her shoulder, and there’s an impressiveness to her that’s only amplified by her height.I’m guessing that she’s close to six feet.
“Selena?”Uncle Mason whispers the name, and I realize who I’m looking at.
Zoey’s mother.
The gorgeous woman smiles, but the expression is regretful.“Mason.Been a long time.”
“Could’ve been longer and we all would’ve benefited,” my mom snaps.
Selena Gunner looks back at my mother, taking in the defensiveness of her posture.
“I know you don’t want me here.But this isn’t about me.It’s about our children.Believe me, I didn’t expect something like this to happen.But it did.And I swear, Zoey is a more reliable person than I ever was.”
“Am I missing something?I feel like I have half the story,” Zoey asks as her gaze jumps around the group, taking in Mason’s grimace, Roderick’s scrutiny, Tanya’s lost look, Isaac’s confusion, Rebecca’s disdain before finally landing back on me.
“Drama from another decade,” I mutter, suddenly very annoyed that all of this is being bickered over when I’m trying to declare my love.“Not our problem.”
“I mean, for what it’s worth”—Zoey leans to the side, meeting my mother’s glare head-on—“I love your son, and I want to be with him.”
“You don’t deserve him!”My mother’s declaration tears from her, and I notice her eyes are half black with anger.“He fixes your car!He pulls you from trees!He nurses your wounds!And how do you pay him back?By threatening to leave town!Like mother, like daughter.But I won’t let you play your games with my son.”
She takes a menacing step toward us, as if she plans on ripping Zoey from my arms.Roderick and Mason tense, and I shift my body between my love and my mother.
Then, something in her words registers in my mind.
“How did you know Zoey was hiding in a tree?”
The color leaves my mom’s cheeks, hinting that my instinct is correct.What felt like a slap to the face now feels like a hand around my throat.
The truth chokes me.
“You mentioned it.”Mom waves my words away, keeping her glare trained on the woman I love.But now, it seems her glowering is an attempt to keep from meeting my eyes.
“No”—I speak slowly around the despair and anger that clogs my chest—“I didn’t.”
In fact, I haven’t said much to my mom about Zoey at all.Every time I brought her up, I noticed the tight lines get deeper at the corner of my mom’s eyes.A subtle hint that she was unhappy.So, I’d cut my stories short.Talked to Roderick or Courtney instead.But I thought she just didn’t like the idea of me dating Zoey because human-werewolf relationships could be tricky.
But it was more than that.
“I’m sure you did.You just forgot.”Her continued denial snuffs out my sadness and leaves behind rage.
“I didnot.It was you.All of the shit that Zoey’s been dealing with was you, wasn’t it?”
Rebecca Jameson—who taught me everything I know about cars, who can turn into a wolf, who has unlimited supplies for cutting wood—crosses her arms over her chest defensively.
