Page 43 of Lycan Prey
“Mother wanted it to be a surprise,”Damian tells me with a huge shit eating grin on his face. This is his doing; I am going to kill him.
“You’re so married! I am marrying you off, you little weasel!”I tell him through the mindlink. His smile drops. Oh he will pay for this; I know my mother would have told him my lie, they speak almost everyday—or more like my mother speaks and he is forced to listen to her gossiping.
“Soren, dear, I’m so happy to see you!” my mother exclaims as she wraps me in a tight hug. I struggle for a moment before giving in and returning the hug half-heartedly. My father clears his throat and I turn to face him, my expression guarded. He gives me a small smile before dumping my mother’s luggage on the floor.
“I have maids and butlers for a reason father,” I tell him, eyeing the luggage.
“You know your mother is always paranoid that she will see her underwear in the next news tabloid,” he mutters. I give my mother a look.
“What, you never know, there is a first time for everything,” she tells me. Gosh, she can be unreasonable.
“None of my staff are interested in your panties, Mother,” I tell her.
“We came to discuss the upcoming wedding plans,” my father says, falling into a seat on the couch.
“Your mother wants to help, she can’t wait.” He shoots her a look telling me this is all her plan. “You know a royal wedding is a big deal.”
I think it’s more that she annoyed him until he gave in and traveled here to get her off his back! Instead he is trying to palm her off to me!
Shit!This unexpected visit from my parents sends a surge of panic through me, their purpose clear as they eagerly await to meet my ‘fiancé’. My stupid lie is about to unravel and my brother is loving every second of this. I wanna punch his smug face.
“I can’t wait to meet the woman who captured your heart, Soren,” my mother beams, her eyes shining with anticipation. Then her eyes brim with tears. Damian snorts and I glare at him; he quickly excuses himself.
“Mother, Father,” he nods. “I must go, I have to sort out patrols,” he gives as an excuse. He may not be my father’s son, but my father has never treated him like anything but. My mother came from a poor family and was initially married to my father’s best friend. My father always fancied her. Unfortunately my mother’s ex husband was abusive and once my father learned that he took it upon himself to get her out. He killed his best friend for her, then took her and their son in. My father raised him as his own son, and it wasn’t until Damian was a teen that he was told about his true father.
Damian quickly gives my mother a peck on her cheek, and she smiles fondly at him before my father gives him a nod. “We’ll catch up later, son.”
Damian is about to leave when I speak. “Definitely, Mother met Sancha’s daughter the other week. She is looking for a husband. Mother will have to fill you in, she sounds delightful,” I tell him and Damian presses his lips in a line.
“Oh you’re finally looking to settle down, son, finally!” my mother exclaims beaming. “Oh, so exciting, I can help plan two weddings, and more grandbabies.” She gives a little wriggle of excitement and my father rolls his eyes at her but has a silly smirk on his face. If looks could kill I would be dust by the glare Damian gives me before stomping off.
“Oh, I’m so excited, so much good news, isn’t that right, dear?” my mother says addressing my father. He yawns and nods but isn’t as excited as her. He hates functions.
“Max deserves a mother, after all. He is still so young. So where is she?” my mother asks.
I’m caught off guard, my fabricated story about Brielle suddenly becoming a tangible reality. “She’s… ah… she’s with Max,” I manage to say, my mind racing to find a way out of this unforeseen situation. I am completely winging it.
My father, ever observant, narrows his eyes. “You seem surprised to see us. Is everything alright?”
I muster a smile, “Of course. I just wasn’t expecting you so soon.”
“Me neither, but you know your mother,” my father adds, cutting a look to my mother. “But first, I want to hear about this nanny of yours!” he snaps at me, and I glare at him.
“Excuse me?”
“Oh come on, dear. People talk. We’ve been hearing some concerning rumors about your new nanny. What happened to Blair, did the blood bond finally do the old bat in?” my mother asks sternly, fixing me with a piercing gaze. She never liked Blair. Blair often stood up for my wife against her.
My stomach drops. “Blair is fine, very much alive still. But what kind of rumors?”
“Rumors of her being…a werewolf,” she says carefully, as if choosing her words wisely. My parents don’t like that I allow werewolves in the neighboring towns as it is, let alone the rogues. What happened to Amelia, doesn’t mean all rogues should be punished; it’s why we created the council registry, though. Any rogues wanting to stay need to register. They also are required to hand their DNA over. We still have an active case going for the attack, and lots of rogues attacked that day, we have an entire library of DNA samples to compare against.
I swallow hard. “Well, there aren’t many Lycan Royals left, Mother,” I remind her and she seems to ponder this.
“This is true, but what’s this got to do with the nanny?” she asks and I know I just put my foot in it further.
“Well, that is how I met my fiancé”
My mother’s brows furrow slightly.
