Page 38 of Broken Wolf

“Everything is different. You’re here now. Your mate could have a whole different opinion on this situation, here and now, and we both know that.” I moved closer and rubbed his arm. “Honoring her memory is different than what you’re doing. I can’t begin to understand where you are, but I’m on the outside of this, so trust me in what I’m seeing.

“You’re wrong in this. You’re speaking for a woman gone who could have a completely different opinion on this situation given it’s years later and everything has changed. What hasn’t changed? She loved your daughter. She’d want her happy and safe, right? That’s the important part. That’s what you need to focus on. Always making sure she knows she was loved.”

“She adored her children more than anything, more than me,” he said firmly.

“Then that is what you tell your daughter,” I whispered. “Not make her the villain who won’t let your teenage daughter have a phone when everyone else will. That’s what you just did.”

His shoulders slumped and he looked like a pup who got hit with a newspaper. “I am out of my depth. I cannot handle a teenage girl.”

“Luckily for you, I was one. And I deal with them all of the damn time in my pack. We’ve handled this issue. In all of my packs. So this is where being Alpha comes in, okay?” I felt better when he looked relieved. Just to be a brat, I leaned in and flicked his forehead. “Don’t be a dick and accuse me of trying to move in as their mom again.”

“That was too much. I apologize.” He snuck a quick kiss.

Dick.

I called in his daughter and sat them both down at the counter on the new stools they had. “Now, first of all, what your dad was trying to say was—”

“I heard,” she told me. “And Mother did hate—he’s right that she hated those girls who live on their phones and everything is influencers. But she also said that it was sexist, and they picked on women but never men and the gym bros. It was all sexist against Americans.”

I smiled at her passion. “I would have liked your mother a lot. Truly. She sounds awesome.” I was glad when she smiled. “Good. Then I’m glad you know what your mom really thought. Yes, you can get a phone.” I held up my hand to Felix when he growled. “For safety, you should have one as a freshman in high school.

“All our pack has them. But you cannot break the school rules with it. Other kids might, but you do not. None of you will or you will be punished even if the human kids aren’t. We cannot take the scrutiny.” I waited until she nodded. “And as the daughter of the Alpha, you have to set the example. My little brothers do. It’s a burden but also a privilege.”

I gestured to their new fancy mansion as the example.

“Yes, Alpha, that is fair.”

“Good. Now, everything is also about perception,” I continued. “You have to get out in front of things. That is how you sidestep a lot of the bullying and issues you will face in school. You all get on the same page—all the shifters who will be at that school. That’s how my pack did it, and they stuck together to avoid the pitfalls and protect each other.”

She frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“I know, and I will have a few of the college girls speak with the teenage and preteen females of this pack to help,” I told her and Felix. “They will help and make the parents understand. But the main one is how—you can’t be bullied on social media if you don’t have it. But you want social media. Of course, you do.

“You want to be normal and have fun.” I patted her hand when she blushed, totally busted. “It’s all about attitude. So you’ll have a private Instagram. Why? Because you know you’re gorgeous and you don’t want creepers checking out your pictures.” I turned up my nose. “Gross. Like old guys and people you don’t know? Yuck.”

She chuckled, but Felix looked less than thrilled.

“But no one at school can then just access your stuff and bully you,” I said gently. “You’re a wolf and you can’t be normal. You will be hated for being a wolf but honestly, I’d do the same if you were a human teenager. The world is scary. You shouldn’t have public social media. And someone will check your social media for threats.”

It was hard not to laugh when she shot Felix a scared look.

“Not your dad,” I hurried to say. “Some of the older female wolves in the club check it for the college girls just to make sure and report any threats. Just so—the world is scary. We should all have backup. They’re not going to read your DMs and tell your dad. Just glance through things as long as you’re not being shady. No deleting stuff—be open and there’s no reason to worry.”

“It seems invasive,” she grumbled.

“It is.” There was no reason to deny it. “It’s training wheels to acclimate you to the US and being an adult. You’re not an adult, and if you want the privilege of being on social media and having this extra that not everyone has, you need a bit of…” I rubbed my neck, thinking how Simone put it. “‘Auntie oversight.’ That’s how we keep people safe.

“But it’s also—Ashley doesn’t care if Gail sees she liked some guy’s abs or commented he’s looking fine. You should not be doing that yet at fourteen, but she’s an adult. You’ll get that comfortable and realize it’s no big deal.” I shrugged. “I have an open phone policy with my lovers. They never use it because I have it. You get what I mean?”

I was glad that she did.

“What else?”

“For now, you only get private Instagram,” I told her. “What you say to others is Twitter doesn’t interest you because of bots and Facebook is for grandparents. That’s the brush-off you give. You also don’t give your phone number out. You blame the pack. Pack rules are you don’t give your phone number out within thirty days of changing schools or jobs for security.”

That shocked both of them.

I smirked at Felix. “As I said, we’ve done this. It worked well as all the demon boys and bully girls get bored by then, and it’s normally just shared with the nice humans who they can do school projects with and make friends with. But it’s all about having the answers ready so you don’t get cornered and then you’re prey. You’re not prey.

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