Page 13 of Wolf Embraced

I ran a finger over the gold bracelet on my wrist.

Our bracelets allowed us to make payments, to teleport, and contact each other, but Natalie and the others had lost their bracelets long ago. With everything going on, getting them replaced obviously wasn't much of a priority.

“You two were inseparable as kids,” Mom said after some time. "You and Rehema, I mean. You two were so different, yet you were always together whenever you got the chance.”

"Yeah, well, when she visited, there were no other young pups at the time for her to bond with," I grumbled. "You practically threw her at me."

My eyes drifted to my dad, whose elbow was resting on the arm of the chair while his fingers moved back and forth across his chin. Like me, he was probably thinking of the conversation we’d had some time ago about my true feelings for Rehema. I couldn’t help wondering if he’d said anything to Mom.

“She’s a strong girl,” Mom said. "Beautiful, kind, and brave."

"She is," I replied, clearing my throat. She grinned. "What? Why are you smiling like that?"

"Can't a mother find it adorable that her son thinks he can hide things from her?" she argued.

I looked at my father quickly. His eyes were averted, but the corner of his mouth was curved in a smile.

"You should tell her how you feel, the next chance you get," Mom added.

"Mom," I drawled, pinching the bridge of my nose.

She held her hands up in surrender. “Just giving you some advice, that’s all.” She sat back and crossed her legs. “You used to follow her around like a lost puppy.”

She chuckled, the sound engraved in my mind, and I felt my cheeks heating.

“Well,” I exclaimed, slapping my knees to get up. “Would you look at the time?”

“Talk to me,” she said abruptly. I froze before sitting down again. When I looked at Dad, I saw that his smile had disappeared, as had Mom's.

This conversation was taking a new turn.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” she continued. “I understand why you might be unsure of telling Rehema the truth…but you’ve never hidden anything from me before. I don’t—I don’t want secrets between us, Brian. I didn't push out of respect for your privacy, but things are changing and….”

“And I planned to tell her someday. But if she turned me down, I wanted to be the only one to know about it," I replied before she'd finished speaking. "A little cowardly, I know. But you’d worry, Mom. And you wouldn’t be able to help feeling sorry for me. I didn’t want that—it would hurt too much.”

She didn't reply, but she knew it was true. Growing up, my mom had smothered me at times. I understood that I was her only child and the only one of my kind—a vampire/werewolf hybrid—and that I’d need to be closely watched. After all, it would have been a disaster if my vampire side ever got the better of me.

But even now that I was an adult, she still worried. And her pity would break me if Rehema rejected me.

“You’d worry about my mental state, about if I’d lose control. You'd prioritize that over everything else,” I continued. “I'm sorry, but that’s why I didn't say anything. And Mom, please don’t talk as if this is the end and we all need to get everything out.” I exhaled after my somewhat rushed words. “We don’t need to do that.” I looked away. “I have time to tell Rehema how I feel. I just didn’t want to talk about it because you’d get all excited. And I don’t have any idea how Rehema feels about me.”

No one spoke for a time, and I took a breath. When I finally looked at Mom, she was smiling softly. We stared at each other, and eventually, I smiled as well.

“I love you,” I told her. "Both of you. And I know it was rough when I was born, and you were plagued with worry that I might lose it and hurt someone. But I'm not that boy anymore. As bad as it might be, a little heartbreak wouldn't send me over the rails."

The first time I’d tasted blood, I’d been a child. Rehema had had a scratch, and since Mom always kissed my wounds, I thought I’d give Rehema the same kind of comfort. Instead, I’d tasted her blood and lost it. I’d been so confused about the hunger I was feeling.

When my parents found me in the woods, I’d slaughtered a few small animals. And though I’d never had an accident like that again, they’d kept a close eye on me from that time on.

I hadn’t craved blood before that time, but afterwards, I’d needed it…at least a little. I had my father’s DNA, after all. I could consume normal food, so Mom devised a plan to mix small amounts of blood with a special shake she gave me from time to time.

It kept my hunger at bay and I wasn’t drinking blood directly, let alone biting anyone. Still, I had normal outbursts of anger—as kids do. But because I was a hybrid, those outbursts posed a greater threat.

They weren’t certain whether my bite could turn anyone, but we discovered it was even more lethal than my dad’s, whose bite had been poisonous even to vampires back on earth. After my one and only incident, my parents had taken a good look at the animals I’d slaughtered. Their bodies had been left in such a state, it shocked even Dad.

"You think that now, because you've never experienced heartbreak," Dad said. I frowned, pulled back to the conversation we were having. "Even the most controlled person can slip—and heartache is a very raw and controlling kind of pain.”

He was right. I’d never experienced a broken heart…because I'd only ever loved one woman. I'd thought so many times about what might happen to our friendship if I confessed how I felt…and she didn't feel the same.