“And, like I’m trying to tell you, dear boy, this isn’t about you.” Ma pinched my cheek. “This is about Reid. About making him happy. Don’t you want that?”
“Of course. But part of him being happy means keeping him safe.”
Ma rolled her eyes and threw her hands up in the air. “What did I do to deserve to be surrounded by stubborn, cloth-eared males?”
My lips twitched. “Hang on, a few minutes ago you were proud of the male I’d become.”
“Aye, well, I’m fickle like that.”
I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug. “I understand what yer saying, Ma, I do. And I do want Reid to be happy. Both my wolf and I do.”
“Hmm.” Ma drew back, studying me closely. “You’ve mentioned your wolf several times tonight. Has he been more present than usual around Reid?”
“Yeah, but it makes sense.”
She tilted her head to the side. “It does?”
My head bobbed. “Aye. I failed Reid once and my wolf doesn’t like that. We both want him safe and happy to make up for failing him as a child.”
Ma was quiet for a long time. So long that I started to worry. It was never a good sign when she stopped talking.
“And yer sure that’s the only reason?”
My brow furrowed. “Course it is. What else would it be?”
She sighed and patted my back. “Never mind, pet. Just know that I’ll be here for ye for whatever comes next.”
“I know. Thanks, Ma.” I kissed her temple. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what you went through. If Pa hadn’t killed them already, I’d offer to do it for you.”
“I’d take you up on it too,” she said. “But that’s thedifference between me and Reid. I wanted mine dead, he clearly doesn’t.”
“It’d be easier if he did.”
“Aye. But, as he doesn’t, you have to respect that.”
“I already said I would,” I grumbled.
“Technically, you didn’t. Now, you’re right that you can’t ignore the threat in our community, but I’m sure you can come up with a way to protect Reid and everyone else without getting in his space.”
“I can. In my defence, I’d already decided to do that.”
“That’s because you’re a wonderful male,” she said softly. It was a good thing I was used to keeping up with her mercurial moods, given how she’d both praised and insulted me during this conversation. “And because you’re that, promise me you won’t approach Reid until he asks you to.”
Until?“What makes you think he will?”
“Oh, just call it mother’s intuition,” she said mysteriously. “Now, come on, let’s get back to the cottage. Your poor pa’s probably wearing a path in the floor waiting for us.”
I thought about how I’d done that outside the clan house earlier. The almost physical pain I’d felt having to wait for Reid to step outside. “Yeah. Let’s not keep him waiting.”
Ma didn’t let me leave until I’d eaten two platefuls and pudding. Given she’d made apple crumble, it wasn’t a hardship. Hamish and Brodie were long gone, their shifts on the borders calling. I couldn’t lie though, the moretime that passed, the more my wolf protested. There was an almost incessant itch beneath my skin that I knew wouldn’t go until I was sat back outside Reid’s.
“Go on,” Ma said eventually, waving a hand. “If I have to hear your bones crack once more I’ll drive you there myself.”
She was perched where she’d been since we’d returned—on my pa’s lap, both his arms wrapped around her waist. What I’d told them tonight had reopened a lot of old wounds, and I hated that. Almost as much as I hated what Ma had been put through.
I mean, who thefuckdid that to someone they were supposed to love?
Pa nodded at me to let me know he’d take care of her, just as he had for all these centuries. My chest ached as he kissed the top of her head before whispering in her ear.
