Another nod. He knew that.
“Don’t you think if your folks were going through something like this, they’d talk about it together?”
It was as if she’d somehow overheard the family discussion Thursday night. He had to nod again, because yes, obviously Dad and Mom had talked over Granny’s treatment of Dad. Mom hadn’t shied from the topic simply because it was her own mother at fault.
Willow put her hands on her hips and gave him a look of challenge, her eyebrows arching. “Well? Spill it, wolf.”
He chuckled, but it came out half-rumbling and half-choked. He cleared his throat. “I’ve been trying to form a strategy to make it right between me and your parents. For us, for you as my mate.”
Willow’s lips parted, and she stood silent for a long moment, then said, “Ezra,youhave nothing to make right. He’s the one who’s got to do that. And if he apologizes tomorrow, I don’t care how sincere it sounds, we’re going to approach with caution for, like, a full year.”
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely. So just get that out of your head. Please. You owe nothing to my folks. You owe less than nothing. And I’d have told you that if I thought for a second you were thinking otherwise.”
“Yeah?” His mouth crimped as his throat closed with emotion he couldn’t even identify. That his mate stood with him against her own family was big enough to his wolf heart. That she stated all this as if it were simple and obvious… “Okay. Thanks, Wil.”
But her hands stayed planted on her hips. She took a step back and tilted her head for a side-eye. “Hold on. You talked to the other wolves about this, didn’t you? You went to them instead of me.”
“Not like that,” he said, then stopped. Yeah, it had been like that. Exactly like that. He bit his lip.
“Ezra Sterling.” His mate’s eyes blazed.
“I asked for advice, how to fix things with your dad.”
“And they said…?”
“They said…well, basically what you said.”
“Of course they did, because they’re reasonable people.” She pushed her hands halfway into her curls and stood still for a long moment, staring at him. “Okay, listen to me, Ez. Getting advice from your pack—obviously that’s fine. And I know I can’t be totally objective here, so…yeah. Extra fine. But you deliberately talked to everyoneexceptme.”
When she put it that way… “I didn’t want you stuck in the middle.”
“Well, if I’m stuck in the middle between my parents and my wolf, then I’m not ready to be your mate. I’m new to wolves and new to bonding, but I know how relationships work, and any woman who won’t back her guy when he’s abused by her folks—and vice versa applies, if your folks were the problem—is doing it wrong. Period.”
“Oh,” he said. “Yeah. I didn’t think of it like that. Guess I wasn’t thinking straight about it.”
“I guess not.” She let her arms fall to her sides, and her eyes softened. “Would you say I’m yours to protect? Yours to care for, to defend against mistreatment?”
A long growl rose from his chest, and in a single instinctive move he swept his mate off her feet and into his arms. From the depth of his wolf heart he rumbled close to her ear, “Mine.”
“So there,” she whispered back with a hint of warm laughter. “I get to say the same. I get to care and defend too.” She set her palm against his heart and said, “Mine.”
They talked awhile longer, sitting together on the porch swing, Ezra’s longer legs pushing them in a gentle motion. At last he got up, ready to head home. As he did, his dad’s truck coasted up the driveway.
“Guess the cookout’s wrapping up,” he said with a chuckle. “Guess we talked longer than we thought.”
“Well, I hope you can go right to sleep,” Willow said. “Now that we talked it out.”
He might need an hour or so to build with his bricks, just to finish unwinding. But after that…yes, he could put this away. He could trust them all—his pack, his family, and his mate. He leaned in for a kiss but only briefly, since Dad and Mom were on their way up to the house. “Good night.”
Willow stood up and yawned. “Good night. I’m officially done with all the things and all the people. Until tomorrow.”
He rumbled a laugh as she waved to him and went inside. Then he met his parents halfway.
“Bob, do you smell that?” Dad said, his own scent sharp and alert.
Ezra sniffed the night air. “Exhaust from your—oh, not your truck.”
