Nico pulled the sheets back and kicked off his shoes before climbing under the covers with me. The bed was made for one person, but was still wide enough that he could pull me into his arms as Doc left. I laid my head on his chest and let him comfort me. As I drifted off to sleep, I still couldn’t believe what my life had become.
30
NICO
My phone was ringing again. Maddy didn’t want to talk to her parents. Even bringing it up would set her off. After the fifth or sixth call, I finally gave her mother my personal cell number. I felt terrible, but I couldn’t fully cut off contact. Maddy was angry, but they were still her parents. I was the go-between for them. Still, three or four calls a day was starting to wear on me.
I answered the phone. “Hello again, Mrs. Sutton.”
“Oh, hello, Nico. How are you?”
I chuckled. “The same as I was three hours ago the last time you called.”
She sighed and laughed. “I’m being a pain, I know.”
“No, it’s fine. I get it. I spoke with your husband about an hour ago.”
“Oh lord. I didn’t know he’d called.”
“What can I do for you?’ I wanted to get this over with. There wasn’t anything I could pass along that I hadn’t already.
“I just…I was thinking and…I don’t want her to think I’m ashamed of her. Of what she is. We’ve always loved her. We’re so, so guilty about all this. We miss our girl. We want her toknow that. And we’re happy that she’s with such a nice young man as yourself.”
Maddy hadn’t told her parents about us. That fact didn’t make me mad. She’d had a ton of things going on. When I mentioned our relationship in one of our first phone calls, her mother had been surprised. Over the course of the last few days, we’d kind of gotten to know each other a bit. She was a nice woman. Her father was pretty cool, too. Both of them had made some pretty shitty decisions when it came to lying to her, but I could tell they did love her.
“Well, Mrs. Sutton, I appreciate that.”
“Nico, all we want is to fix things with Maddy. It’s all either of us can think about.”
“I know. Just give her time. She’s angry. Not only that, but she’s also dealing with her wolf trying to emerge. It’s a lot. I know you don’t understand that part of it, but all I can say is that it’s not a great time.”
“Can you let her know that her father and I love her?”
I sighed. This was depressing. “I can tell her. Don’t worry. A few more days, and she’ll calm down. Then you can tell her that yourself.”
“Thank you, Nico. I’ll try not to bother you too much.”
“Totally fine, Mrs. Sutton. Have a great day.”
The one good thing was that it seemed like Maddy was getting control of herself and her wolf. Ever since she’d found out about the fake medicine, she’d been in a much better mood. No more snapping at people or losing her cool. I hadn’t seen her so calm and at ease in weeks. When I came home that afternoon for lunch, I found her reading a book. Over the last little while, it had been all she could do to sit still for five minutes, much less sit and read for an extended period.
“Okay, what’s going on?” I asked as I sat beside her.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re totally chill. Have you made peace with your wolf? I’m not complaining,” I added quickly. “But it seems crazy how fast things changed.”
Maddy marked her page and sat the book aside. “I’ll be honest, it was what happened at the clinic.”
Over the last few days, I’d refrained from talking about her hands turning into claws. It happened sometimes when shifters went through puberty. It was very rare, but I’d heard of it before. It was almost like the way the werewolves of legend could change certain parts of their bodies. I doubted that was what she meant when she was talking about what had happened at the clinic. I sat silently and waited for her to go on.
“I’m angry, and frustrated, but I feel like I’m finally making contact with what’s inside me. It’s sort of like meeting up with a long-lost relative. Plus, my wolf understands that I didn’t knowingly take the pills. I think that was the main issue. Our connection was so slight and distant that she couldn’t understand what I was doing or why. I think the wolf knew I was taking something that was holding her back, but the rest was sort of a blur. The anger was mostly because she thought I was doing it on purpose. As soon as she knew what was happening?” Maddy shook her head in wonder. “It was like a light switching on. Everything became a little less intense, a little more cohesive, I guess. That’s the only way I can explain it. It’s been nice not to have some kind of war going on inside my head.”
“I’ll bet. I’m happy that things are going better. Um…your parents said to tell you they love you.”
Maddy let out the most dramatic sigh I’d ever heard. “I guess I need to talk to them at some point.”
I shrugged. “That, or you’re gonna have to buy me a new phone, because they’ll wear mine out if it keeps going on like this.”
