I wanted to reassure Wren more than anything, but I didn’t know how to reassure her when I didn’t know what the root problem was.
Kian was deep in thought. Severing ties with his coven was a huge deal. Just like werewolves kept family ties close to our hearts, covens were supposed to be a big family. The necromancers were a terrible example of that, but other warlocks and witches in their covens were a lot kinder and loving. Kian must’ve been feeling a lot.
The sun started to set on the gray sky, and we walked up a staircase to the small wooden building that I had grown up in.
“Where is everybody?” Wren asked.
“It’s a full moon tonight,” Kian answered, and I tensed.
“Fuck.I didn’t even think about that,” I muttered.
With everything going on, the full moon had slipped my mind. I raised a fist and knocked on the wooden door.
“What does the full moon have to—oh.” Wren ran her hand through my hair. “Lachlan, it’ll be okay. You know I won’t think anything of your werewolf form.”
I kept quiet because I didn’t know how to explain to her that when we transformed, we looked likemonsters, not wolves.
The door opened to reveal my mother. Purple bags shone under her eyes, and her brown hair was pulled away from her face in a ponytail. She wiped her hands on her pale yellow dress that had wrinkles and stains. It wasn’t like her to not care about her appearance. Even after Lilly had gone missing, she always kept up appearances.
“Hey, Mom.”
“Lachlan. I wasn’t expecting you to stop by. You almost missed us.” Her voice came out monotone. “It’s nice to see you, Kian.” She forced a very small smile on her thin, cracked lips before her gaze settled on Wren, who hid behind my back.
“Hi, I’m Wren,” she murmured softly as she peeped over my shoulder and wiggled on my back.
“Wren. Why are you on my son’s back?”
Wren started scrambling to try to get off my back, but I gripped her thighs tighter to keep her on.
“Because she is exhausted and doesn’t need to be walking right now,” I answered for her in a clipped tone.
“I see.” Mom spun on her heels and disappeared inside.
I glanced at Kian, who shrugged. I could feel Wren’s face press hard into my back like she wanted to hide.
A low growl left my throat as the beast inside me squirmed, not liking my mother to have made my mate uncomfortable.
“It’s okay. Let’s just go in,” Wren murmured against my back, and my irritation subsided.
I walked in first, and Kian shut the door behind us.
We found Mom in the living room, packing a bag with my dad, who was balding now. Just like Mom, his eyes were sunk in, and there were permanent frown lines on his face.
Unlike Mom, he was able to muster a smile as he noticed us. “Lachlan, I didn’t know you were coming home.”
“Well, we actually have to talk to our alpha about something.”
“Really?” He frowned. “I’ll let him know before our transformation, and you can talk to him in the morning.”
I nodded.
”Is everything okay?”
“Not really.” I moved over to the couch and bent down so Wren could slide off me and onto the couch.
Kian took the seat next to her while I sat on her other side. Nightshade scurried off Kian and found himself on Wren’s lap getting belly rubs.
“Good to see you again, Kian.”
