Page 89 of Blue Moon Mistress

“And I brought breakfast.” Johnny holds up a bag.

That will probably soften up my mother a little bit.

With six people and four wolves—no matter how ghostly—the house feels impossibly small.

“Go run the property,” I say, sweeping my hand toward the door, and the wolves glance once at my mother and then bound away.

Johnny leads the way back into the kitchen and sets to work.

“You’re awfully familiar with my daughter’s kitchen.”

He glances over his shoulder and just gives her a wide grin, no other explanation.

She’ll press if she doesn’t get an answer, or worse, make wild assumptions.

“I got sucked into a spell search at the beginning of the week. They were kind enough to take turns coming out to check on me.”

“We’re still a little mad at you for that.” Joshua gives me a long glance and then eyes the stack of spells that I need to look further into.

“Comes with the territory.”

My mother glares at me, and I know that she’s going to have more questions for me once they’re gone. But her gaze doesn’t linger.

“I need to know your intentions.”

Again, I sigh, but before I can scold her, Chase is the one who speaks.

“Which intentions? Because if you’re worried about your daughter’s safety, it should be perfectly clear that she is in no danger from us. As for our other intentions. I think that’s between her and the four of us.

“What we want can only go as far as what she’s willing to give. We won’t take more.”

“And if this relationship becomes what you all hope it will?”

Thomas’s lips quirk in a smile. “Then you can rest in the knowledge that we are all happy and that should be your main concern for your daughter.”

“What about my grandchildren?”

All of them flinch, startled by the sudden shift.

“Mother,” I say, pinching the bridge of my nose. “It’s been less than a month.”

“And you could already be pregnant.”

“I’m not.”

I manage to keep from reminding her—again—that I’m not sixteen. I almost do remind her that she’s the one who taught me how to keep that happy event from being an unexpected one.

She looks at me like I’m being naive before turning back to them. “Even if you raise them asyourchild,” she waves her hand at all of them. “The world at large will require that only one of you is legally the father.”

At the mention of fatherhood, they all soften and look at me.

Chase is the one who turns back to her, irritation in his eyes. “If that is what Scarlette wants, the five of us will discuss it when the time comes. You will not be involved in that decision.”

The smirk on my mother’s face tells me the accusation was just a fishing expedition.

“She just wanted to be sure there was a chance for grandkids with you. She doesn’t actually care about the legal aspect of parentage.”

Johnny brings a spinach and feta casserole—its top cobbled with the bright rings of heirloom tomatoes—to the table. “It would be better, easier even, if you just ask us what you want to know. We don’t have anything to hide from you.”

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