Page 26 of Wolf's Midlife Secret Child

“Mom!” Ava’s eyes welled as she backed up again, looking at Hunter and Max. Her cheeks reddened. “You’re embarrassing me!”

“There are things much more important than being embarrassed!” Sarah flung out her hand to emphasize what she’d already asked her daughter to do. “I don’t want you to have anything to do with Selene.”

Ava’s hands shook as she undid the clasp and dropped the necklace in Sarah’s palm. “I can’t believe you would do this to me!”

“You’ll understand when you’re older.”

But Ava didn’t stick around to hear anything that Sarah had to say. She darted from the room, sobs escaping her lips as she hurtled up the stairs. Her bedroom door slammed shut a moment later.

A thick silence descended on the living room. The fantasy of a happy little family had been utterly destroyed, all over a simple necklace. Max steeled his jaw. He knew what was coming, and he was ready for it. He pulled in a breath, ready to tell Hunter to leave the room. What he had to say to Sarah probably shouldn’t be said in front of their son, even if he was eighteen.

“I can’t believe your mother would do that,” Sarah snapped before Max had a chance to get the first word out.

“Excuse me?” Max had understood a long time ago that Sarah didn’t agree with the way his pack did things, but this felt like a direct attack on his mother. He didn’t like it.

Sarah put the necklace down on the coffee table and dusted off her fingers as though it’d left a nasty residue behind. “She knows—shehasto know—how I feel about the whole Selene thing. But did that matter? No, she just waltzed right up and bestowed Ava with some family heirloom, all to make it seem so special and make sure that Ava couldn’t say no. She should’ve asked me first.”

“I’m sure she didn’t mean anything by it,” Hunter started.

“That’s really not the point.” Sarah folded her arms in front of her chest.

“But itisa point,” Max countered. “Selene is important to this pack, even if not to you. You can’t just pretend that she doesn’t exist, and you don’t get to decide everything for our kids.”

“It seems like I don’t get to decide much of anything.” Rage filled Sarah’s eyes as she turned to look at him. “The choice gets taken away from me almost every damn time there’s one to be made. Everyone else always thinks they know best. Everyone else is always right. And what about me, Max? When do I get to have a say? Or do I have to bow my head and just go along the lines of tradition simply because that’s what the pack demands? Trust me, I’ve had more than my fair share of listening to the pack.” She turned in a hurry and left the room.

Max’s wolf reacted violently, remembering that the argument on that fateful night so many years ago hadn’t been so different. He’d dug in his heels and made all his points, but she’d dug in her heels and resisted all of them. At least this time, she went upstairs instead of outside.

When her door shut, Hunter turned to Max. “Maybe I can talk to her.”

Max’s heart went out to his son. He was just a kid, really, but he was trying so hard to be an adult. It made Max proud to know that he’d at least done a few things right. “I appreciate that, son, but this is between the two of us. There’s no need for you to get involved.”

“But she might listen to me,” he insisted. “She’s my mom, even if I haven’t had her around all this time.”

“She is, but this debate dates back to before you were even born. I’ll handle it.” Max put his hands on his hips and looked at the staircase. Half of him wished that Sarah would come back down and finish the fight. He wanted to tell her how angry he was for the way she’d hurt Ava. He wanted to yell and scream and let her know just how much she’d hurt him, too. But the other half of him knew that it probably wouldn’t do any good.

“I’m going to go see what Conner is up to,” Hunter mumbled as he headed off. “He’s probably busy with McKenzie, though.”

Max was left alone. He wondered if that was how he was going to end up permanently. He picked up the fireplace shovel and slowly doused the little flame that Ava had been so happy about. It was impossible not to see the connection between that fire and the family that had finally been brought back together. Both were the work of magic, and it seemed that both were too fragile. He’d hoped beyond hope that he and Sarah could manage to keep their little family together, but now he wasn’t sure he could do it.

14

“What can I get for you?”Max shouted above the bump and thrum of the music at Selene’s. He could hardly even pick up a rhythm from the band’s racket, but that was fine. The noise was just what he needed, tunneling into his ears to drown out his other thoughts.

“Bourbon. Neat.”

“Coming right up.” It was too simple. While Max had never been a big fan of making mixed drinks in the past, right now, he wanted something more than just dumping a bit of bourbon in a rocks glass and sliding it across the bar. “Here you go. How about you?” He turned to the next customer.

“I just want a moment to talk to my brother.” Dawn gave him a finger wave and smiled. “I’ll take a margarita, though.”

“No wine tonight?” He knew all their regulars pretty well, but he definitely knew his sister.

She shrugged. “So I want something different. Let me live a little.”

“Coming right up.” It wasn’t exactly complicated, but it would keep his hands busy for a moment. He grabbed a shaker and added tequila. “What brings you in? You usually go right home after working those long shifts.”

The music came to a crashing stop. “Thank you, Eugene! We love playing here at Selene’s. The Bed Bugs will be back again next week, so make sure you come on out and see us!” Recorded rock tracks started playing in the absence of the band, which were blessedly quieter than The Bed Bugs had been.

Dawn watched Max bypass the premade margarita mix and grab fresh lemons and limes. “Can you muddle a few jalapeño slices in there? And yeah, I do. I heard you were actually here tonight, though, and I thought maybe it was time we had a little chat.”

---