“Who is it?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know.”
He accepted the call and lifted the phone to his ear. For a moment, we could only hear one side of the conversation.
“Yes. No. Yes. Okay. We will be there in twenty minutes.”
We listened with rapt attention, trying to figure out what was happening.
Spencer hung up the call, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“What’s happening?” Bear asked, his brow furrowed deeply.
He groaned and looked at Flora. “Apparently, when your mother didn’t hear from you during your heat, she got worried. She’s currently at your old apartment, kicking upquitethe fuss. They called me because I put my name down as an emergency contact.”
“What?” Flora screeched, panicked. “Mymotheris here?”
Shit. That wasn’t good.
“Well, I suppose we’re gonna have to go see her,” I said, trying to inject a little brightness into the conversation. I was met with a sea of unconvinced stares.
Flora groaned. “Thisisn’tgoing to be fun.”
Chapter 39
Flora
The entire drive to my old apartment, my heart was in my throat. This was right up there with going to the dentist on my list of nightmares, and my day just seemed to be getting worse and worse. I tried to push that thought away, to allow myself to feel protected by my alphas. Thankfully, the distraction of my mother bursting onto the scene was helping.
“Why didn’t she bother to tell me she was coming?” I asked, scrolling through my phone, another diversion that was rather hit-or-miss.
“I have no idea, honeybee, but it will be okay,” Chase assured me. “We’re all here with you.”
Next to me in the driver’s seat, Spencer placed his hand on my upper thigh and squeezed lightly, his touch reassuring. In most cases, I would have given him shit for thinking he could just cuddle up to me, but in that moment, I needed the physical reminder that I wasn’t alone in this.
“Do you want me to sit this one out?” Bear suggested quietly as we approached the building, his steps dragging.
“Why would I want that?” I asked, turning to look at him.
“I don’t exactly givegoodfirst impressions,” he said pointedly.
“Like I give a fuck,” I growled, shaking my head. “You’re mine, and you’re going with me. End of story.”
Bear looked like he was going to say something, his mouth opening and closing several times, and his eyebrows way up by his hairline. As we pulled up in front of the building, though, he shook himself, straightening and staring right ahead.
“According to the building manager, she’s in the lobby,” Spencer informed us, his tone as direct and flat as ever.
“I honestly think I would rather deal with my stalker than this.” I sighed, only half joking.
“Unfortunately, there’s no avoiding it, princess,” Spencer sighed, holding the door open for me.
It wasn’t hard to find my mother. The minute we walked into the building, I could hear her shrill voice ringing through the echoey halls. She was shouting at the building manager, a man in his late twenties, with long, greasy hair and a look on his face that said he was not interested in having this conversation whatsoever.
Next to her was someone I hadn’t met: a blond-haired alpha who towered over her and would certainly do the same to me. He was wearing khakis and a polo. He looked like what I could only describe as the perfect all-American alpha.
“I don’t care. I want to see my daughter now,” my mother insisted, stomping her foot.
“Mom,” I greeted, walking forward.
