Page 12 of Fight
"Anyone home?"I stepped through the door.
"In here, dear."Mom's voice came from the kitchen.I rounded the corner into the kitchen and found Dad sitting at the table, a nearly full plate on the table in front of him.Mom had gotten up and was gathering another place setting, so I could join them for dinner.I fixed myself something to drink, pulled out a chair, and sat down, serving myself from the dishes already sitting on the table.
"How've you been doing, dear?"Mom asked.
"Good, keeping busy."I replied in between bites.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, things are going great."
"Not that we don't appreciate the visit, but you don't make the trip out here after work often.Especially with the long hours you’re putting in this summer."Mom was right, with the schedule my boss had chosen this summer, I didn't come out often after work.After a ten hour shift, I rarely felt like taking another twenty minutes each way to make the drive.
"You're right.I wanted a chance to talk to the two of you without the rest of the family around."
"I assume this has something to do with shape-shifting?"Dad asked.
"It does."I took another bite, waiting for a response.
"Trouble?"
"No, Not really."I paused for a moment."I'm not sure if you're aware that Devin is Kitsune too."
Dad frowned."If he's a shifter, why hasn't his leg healed?"
"Because the improved healing doesn't kick in until after the first time you shift, and until recently, Devon had been unable to shift."
"I see."
"One of the things I wanted to let you know, other than that Devon's a shifter too, is that he and I are seeing each other."
"That's wonderful!"Mom laid her hand over one of mine.
"That's all?"Dad asked.
"Not really."I took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, bracing for the next part."I'm having some trouble with Brandon."
"What kind of trouble?"Dad asked.
I was silent for a moment, trying to find the right words."He seems to think I belong to him.He thinks I'm his mate."
"His mate?"Mom was confused.
"It's a Kitsune thing.It's kind of like an enhanced attraction that tells you if someone could be the right person for you.It's not infallible or certain though, and once mated, it's for life."
"There's no divorce among the Kitsune?"Dad asked.
"I wouldn't say that.I'm sure that there are some who marry without being mated, and they may divorce.I don't really know.But a mated pair won't divorce, they’re tied together by more than law and love.It's a mystical, magical thing."
Dad nodded, satisfied.
"Why would Brandon think you're his mate?"Mom asked.
"I may be his potential mate."I said, "but he's not mine.And with his behavior recently, I don't even want to see him."
"What's he done?"Dad asked.
"Recently, he just won't leave me alone.I don't want to see him, and I've told him so, but he just keeps showing up.What started my refusing to see or talk to him, is that he hit me."I could see the color in Dad's face, the anger rising in him."He tried to tell me what to do, I refused to take orders, and he slapped me.I broke his nose in return."I smiled wryly.
