Truce and Lies

Grant: back from the hunt

A knock on the door brought me to my feet. I unlocked it and was tackled by Aidan as he ruffled my hair, kissed my face and then wrapped me in a fierce bear hug. He smelled like pine and his clothes were cold.

"Did you miss me?" I laughed.

"So much," he replied. "But my ring stayed on."

He showed me the chain proudly and then tilted my chin to kiss me again. My fangs lengthened, but I felt that if I could manage to not bite my human mother, I could last a couple minutes in Aidan's arms.

"Am I allowed to leave now?" I inquired.

Aidan grinned and scooped me up into his arms. I watched my dangling feet as we crossed the threshold, but Aidan didn't put me down.

"Aidan, this is weird," I told him.

"To you maybe," he laughed.

The rest of the pack was at the house working on lunch together. Everyone's clothes were rumpled and hair unkempt; they had just gotten back. Susie Lynn grinned at me as Aidan finally let me down.

"I caught a deer by myself," she told me.

"What am I, a ham sandwich?" Brian protested. "I was an integral part of that operation."

"Brian, you ran into a tree," Katie laughed and tried to pat his hair down. He glanced up at his mop.

"I see why you insist on the buzz cut," he admitted. "But you pull it off better than I do."

"You'd look fine," she told him.

"Hey Ralph, can I talk with you for a minute?" I inquired, needing to get this over with as soon as possible. If he said no, then I could tell my mother off and worry no more on the matter. She had emailed me as I had ordered, but I had been waiting on the pack's return.

Ralph frowned, but nodded his head toward the living room, Aidan squeezed my hand as I passed, but I was glad that he didn't follow.

"What's wrong?" Ralph inquired.

"My mother showed up yesterday," I said. "She got the address from my father and wants to make sure that I'm not a danger to society. I...I ordered her away and told her to wait for permission to be here."

"Damn it," Ralph sighed. "What happens if we tell her no?"

"I already told her that was likely, so maybe nothing?" I hazarded. "I'm not sure how far my mother would go. I am a little incredulous that she flew here without any sort of warning; I'm a little concerned she plans to kill me."

"Well that's not going to happen," Ralph told me shortly. "We'll bring it to a vote at lunch. Thank you for telling me, Grant."

"We don't need a repeat of my father," I agreed. "Or Stefa. I want to handle this the right way."

Ralph clapped me on the shoulder and we headed back into the kitchen. Aidan gave me a worried smile and I smiled back at him.

"Ralph will bring it up at lunch," I said quietly. "It's nothing to worry about."

"I'm always worried about you," he joked.

Lunch was an uneventful affair of sandwiches and chips until Ralph cleared his throat and glanced at me.

"Grant's mother showed up yesterday," he said. "Grant sent her away, but I imagine that it was an unresolved interaction."

I nodded. Aidan took my hand under the table as the rest of the pack eyed me and then looked to Ralph for guidance.