“He tried to get Ezra arrested. The police had to come out and interview both of us and his folks. Ultimately they believed us. They said Dad’s language toward Ezra was a big clue what this was actually about—that he just hates wolves and doesn’t want his daughter dating one. But they couldn’t ignore it, Saffron. They came out and put my wolf in handcuffs while they talked to him, and he had done absolutely nothing wrong,nothing.”
Her pulse was up just talking through it again. She wanted to blurt to Saffron how hurtful and stressful it was for all the pack, how their history influenced their experience of police even today. How one officer who didn’t trust wolves—who maybe had damaged history of his own—had threatened Malachi at gunpoint, might have ended the life of a good alpha and wolf with one pull of his trigger.
But those things weren’t for Willow to share, not with Saffron and not today.
“I can’t believe Dad would do something like that,” Saffron said. “But…at the same time…I can. He would absolutely do it if he thought it would work.”
“So,” Willow said as if prefacing some big statement. Then she realized that’s exactly what she was doing. “I want you in my life, sis. I want it so much. But you have to understand—Dad and Mom chose this, not me. They chose it when they took my house key. They chose it when they spewed insults at Ezra, when Dad punched him over and over while Ezra just stood there and didn’t throw a single punch back. They chose it when Dad called 911 and lied about me and my wolf. All I have done—” Her voice broke, and she swallowed tears. “All I have done is choose who I’m dating. That’s it. But that’s not going to change, Saffron. I want Ezra for my wolf, and I hope someday soon for my husband.”
Saffron’s soft gasp came over the phone. Willow could picture her shaking her head. “If…if you’re sure you know that… Well, I don’t understand. I really don’t. But I want us to be sisters forever, no matter who we’re dating or married to. That’s what matters, Willow.”
“It matters to me too. But I have to have some rules now. I won’t let Ezra get walked on again by our family. I won’t let myself get walked on either.”
“You think Dad walked on you?”
“You think he didn’t?”
Saffron was quiet so long, Willow checked the phone. She hadn’t hung up though, just gone silent. At last she said, “I know this is going to make you mad, but I have to say it. I wish you’d never met him. If you’d never met a lupine, none of this would be happening.”
“Here’s an idea: you could actually get to know him and see if he’s worth knowing. The way family members usually do when one of them has a significant other.”
Silence again. But Saffron was wrong: Willow wasn’t mad. She was…well, she was sad.
“Maybe I can,” Saffron said at last.
“Can what?”
“Meet him.” Her voice trembled. “I guess I have to try.”
“You don’thaveto do anything. But if you’re willing to, I’ll ask him to get dinner with us.”
“Oh. Okay, yeah. Not—not this week, but maybe next week.” Her voice perked up. “Can we eat at the Pancake House?”
“No,” Willow said, and the word jarred down her spine, deep into her bones. She’d just said no to family. Again. She’d just voiced a preference. What on earth…she was becoming a different woman.
A wolf’s mate, looking out for him.
“What?” Saffron huffed. “But confetti pancakes and milkshakes.”
“Wolves need more sustenance than that. There’s nothing for Ezra to eat there—and no, a few strips of bacon don’t count.”
“Then…um, Harmony Diner?”
“That’s fine,” Willow said. “You give me a few dates and times, and I’ll run them by Ezra and get back to you.”
“Yeah,” Saffron said quietly. “Okay. I’ll meet your lupine.”
Wolf.Willow bristled. But maybe…maybe it would be wise and not passive to ignore the language gaffe in favor of the bigger step Saffron had just agreed to. She swallowed her correction. “Text me dates, okay?”
“Okay. Willow…I love you. No matter what else is going on.”
“I love you too.”
Saffron hung up, and Willow put her phone aside to begin the drive to the Lane. Halfway there, her phone chimed with a text. Three dates and times over the next ten days, followed by a heart.
She’d lost her parents last week, but maybe she hadn’t lost her sister.
Twenty-Six
