Her mother laughed as she sipped her coffee.
Triana tried not to be offended, but she couldn’t help it. Her heart felt like it was broken into a million pieces, and her mom seemed to think it was hilarious.
“I don’t see what’s so funny,” she snapped. “I certainly don’t feel like laughing.”
Her mother did her best to stop but couldn’t hide the smile that remained. “I know, honey, and I’m sorry. It’s just that you’re so much like me when I was your age and met your father. I told you I fell in love with him from the start, but what I didn’t tell you was that there were times when we were dating that his brooding drove me crazy. I probably would have sent him and his fangs packing if it hadn’t been for your grandma. She was able to see what we were both blind to—that we were in love with each other but too lazy to work for it.”
It was Triana’s turn to frown. “Meaning?”
“Meaning that loving a werewolf can be difficult. They’re big and strong, but that only means their luggage is a whole hell of a lot heavier. It takes a good soul mate to help them figure out how to carry it all. And right now, you suck in the soul mate category, dear.”
Her mom had always been blunt, but it was especially hard to hear her being so truthful when it came to Triana’s relationship with Remy.
“Were you afraid of Dad the first time you saw him change into a werewolf?” she asked.
“No, but that was because he wasn’t the first werewolf I’d seen.” Her mother gave her a sympathetic look. “Did seeing Remy like that scare you?”
Triana nodded.
“You were in shock, sugar. That’s normal.”
That didn’t make Triana feel any better. “Maybe, but you should have seen the look on his face when I backed away from him, Mom. I really hurt him.”
“Just because Remy is a werewolf, that doesn’t make him a monster. You know that, right?”
Triana nodded. She’d known that last night too—deep down, anyway—but that still hadn’t stopped her from cringing away from him. She picked up her fork and played with her eggs again. “Was it hard to love Dad?”
“You remember the part where I said his brooding drove me crazy, right?” Her mother’s eyes twinkled. “Honey, your father grew up on the streets, for all intents and purposes, on his own, and didn’t want anyone telling him how to run his life. I have to admit, I was stubborn too. There were a hundred times it could have all fallen apart, but it didn’t because we stuck to it and made it work. We weren’t perfect together, but we loved each other and recognized that we were better together than apart. And when you came along, we knew we’d done the right thing, because we were a family.”
Triana thought about that for a while until an absolutely crazy thought struck her, something she’d hadn’t considered at all since discovering werewolves existed and that her father was one.
“Since Dad was a werewolf, does that mean I’m going to be one too at some point? Is it hereditary, or is it passed through a bite, like in the movies?” She tensed as another thought struck her. “Oh crap, if Remy bit me anywhere while we were…you know…will that do it?”
Her mother shook her head. “A bite won’t do it, no matter how hard Remy might have nipped you. And while it might be hereditary, there are a lot of things that have to happen, at the right time and the right sequence, before a person can go through the first change.”
“What kind of things?” she asked, curious despite herself.
“From what I understand, a person has to have the werewolf gift inside him or her, then go through a horribly painful and traumatic experience. Usually something that nearly kills them,” her mother said. “If they survive, their body starts the change. As far as I can tell, while the gift itself might get passed on to a werewolf’s children, I’ve never seen it materialize in any of them, and I’ve talked to at least three dozen werewolves in my time.”
Triana was still wrapping her head around that when her mom looked pointedly at her plate of uneaten eggs.
“You aren’t hungry?”
“I don’t have much of an appetite. I’m not feeling very well.” When her mother gave her a worried look, Triana added, “It’s not a big deal. I’ve been feeling under the weather lately. I’m probably just coming down with a cold from being out in the rain so much.”
Her mother reached over to rest a hand on Triana’s forehead. “When did you start feeling like this?”
“Since Wednesday night, maybe Thursday morning,” Triana said. “Why?”
Her mom took her hand away with a sigh. “You’re not coming down with a cold, baby girl. What you’re feeling is the severing of the bond between you and Remy that you mentioned earlier.”
Triana shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense, Mom. Why would breaking up with him make me feel like this?” She’d broken up with guys before and never felt ill from it.
Her mother gave her a small smile. “Because you might have something so much more special with Remy than you could ever have imagined. You could be The One for him, and vice versa.”
The way her mom said the words made it seem significant, though Triana didn’t understand exactly how.
“Legend has it that there’s one person in all the world for a werewolf who can accept him for what he is,” her mother continued softly. “For Remy, you’re that person.”
