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Chapter 7

“Are you hungry?” asked Lilly.

Jessica smiled. Of course that was the first question her mom asked. “Yeah a little bit. I eat out a lot so a homemade meal would be nice,” said Jessica.

“I made my famous meatloaf, does that sound good?”

Jessica nodded, “Yeah mom.”

She laid her stuff next to the wall and sat down at the kitchen table. Everything was nice and cozy in her parent’s house. They lived about two blocks over from her grandparents who she loved a lot. They were sweet and funny, just like her mom.

“Here you go Jess,” said her mom , setting down a heaping plate of food in front of her.

“Damn I’m not that skinny.”

“Oh just eat!” huffed Lilly.

They sat in silence for a while as Lilly watched her daughter lovingly. All her children were special but this was the first born and she had fought for her. Everything was worth it in the end because Jonathan made a fantastic pack leader.

“So, do you have any friends up there?” asked Lilly. She made sure to wait unti Jessica had finished almost half of her food.

Jessica immediately felt guilty. She had been so tied up in her sorority that she barely had time to call her parents. They didn’t really know much of her college life and it was probably eating her mom alive.

“Well I joined a sorority of all shifter girls. It’s pretty cool since we feel like a small pack.”

“Oh that’s wonderful but don’t party too much,” said Lilly, shaking her finger at her. “Make sure to concentrate on your school work.”

Jessica rolled her eyes and threw a tater tot at her mom. “You know I’m not much of a partier. My grades are almost perfect and I haven’t gotten into any trouble.”

“Well good keep it that way,” she said, throwing the tater tot back.

Lilly ganced down and practically mumled the next sentence. “Do you have any boyfriends?”

“God mom do we have to go over this every time we talk?,” huffed Jessica. “I don’t have any boyfriends but I do have boys that are my friends. My roommate Natalie has an older brother Nate that I’m friends with and a sort-of-brother Jake. His real name is Alexander though.”

She checked her mom’s face for some sort of recognition but nothing showed. All she did was nod her head and smile at Jessica. Maybe being blunt about it would get a better reaction.

“Mom I feel like I know this Jake kid from somewhere but I can’t put my finger on it. He looks at me like he knows something so I was just curious if maybe you could give me some answers.”

Lilly opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. She chewed on the corner of her lip and shifted her eyes nervously. Just then Jonathan walked in and wrapped both of his arms around his Jessica.

“Hey Jess, how are you?”

“Just fine Dad. I was just about to ask mom if she knew this kid that was called Alexander but went by the name Jake. I think I know him from somewhere and it looks like he feels the same.”

He gave Lilly a quick look before taking a seat next to Jessica. “I just don’t think it’s the right time to talk about this. You should just enjoy your stay here and then we’ll talk about it another time. There’s going to be pack run tonight if you’d like to go.”

“No,” exclaimed Jessica. “I mean no thanks,” she said, her voice softening. “I’m going to call it a night since I had to drive four hours. I’ll see you guys in the morning.”