Everyone Grows Up
Emory
I’d just finished unpacking my final suitcase when Willow knocked on my bedroom door. I’d welcomed her in, and now, we’re seated at the small dining table in my suite. Helga has brought me a small lunch from the kitchens, consisting of thick steak sandwiches and a yogurt parfait for dessert. Of course, Willow is sipping on a goblet of blood as she asks me a thousand questions about the Moon Goddess Ball and my family tradition.
I’m trying to explain the mate bond to her, but it’s complicated and not something most Vampires can relate to. She asks, “Is it like love at first sight?”
“Not really,” I explain. “It doesn’t usually happen the first time you see the person, though it does have to do with the full moon and our age. It’s very complicated, honestly. There’s just this sudden new awareness of this person. You feel drawn to them, and there’s this rightness when you’re with them.”
She seems to be thinking over my answer. “If Kane had been a shifter, do you think you would have known he was your mate sooner?”
“Maybe. I really don’t know. I also hadn’t shifted and met my wolf yet at the time we met so I have no idea how that would factor into it.”
“What was it like for your brother?”
“He couldn’t stop staring at his mate. I think he would have thrown her over his shoulder and ran out of the room caveman style if her grandparents weren’t right
there.”
She laughs like she thinks I’m joking, though I’m not. “Can shifters just do that?” she
asks.
“Drag our mates from a crowd of people? I’ve heard some truly unhinged stories. When it comes to mates, shifters tend to lose it.”
“You didn’t.”
“I had a child and then fought in a war all within the same year,” I point out. “I would say I had plenty of time to get used to the idea that Kane was my mate.”
Willow nods, conceding. “You’re one for the history books, Emory.”
I try not to think about how one day someone may be be writing books about my
life
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Everyone Grows Up
and the things I’ve done. It could drive a girl insane from overthinking. All I want to do is take everything a day at a time instead of worrying about what future generations will think of my actions. I’ll probably be long dead by then anyway.
“I shudder to think what Coit is going to be doing with his mate,” I admit. “He has always been the troublemaker. I am the responsible one, and Lola is the sweetheart. Well, she used to be.”
Willow, who has been close to my little sister since Lola moved here, doesn’t seem surprised. She remarks, “Lola will outgrow it. She’s just in her teen angst era.”
“I know, but any time I’m around her, I get the feeling she’s judging me.” I cup my cheeks in my hands woefully. “She thinks I’m lame.”
Willow doesn’t disagree. “Well…”
I stare at her in shock. “Do you think I’m lame?”
“I do not think you’re lame. I think you’re amazing.”
“But?”
“But you’re Lola’s primary parental figure…” she reminds me. “And that makes you lame to her by default.”
“No!” I exclaim in dismay. “I’m still so young. I’m only twenty–five!”
“That’s old for a sixteen–year–old.” Willow reaches across the table to pat my hand. It’s not personal.”
“How can this not be personal? This is what I get for being a good person my entire life? I should have rebelled in high school and just had fun.” Willow snorts and I shoot her a sharp look and tell her, “You’re way older than me. How are you not
lame?”
“I’m not related to Lola. That’s enough.”
”
I frown, wanting to pout like a child from the unfairness of it all. “I hope you that once Bryony grows up, she’s going to think you’re lame too.”
know
“That’s never mattered to me,” Willow says. “And I don’t have to worry about the mating thing with her, so I’m fine.”
The reminder that Lola will be old enough to shift into her wolf form and find her mate someday makes me want to cry more than anything else. Dealing with the teenage angst is bad enough, but all the madness with mating? She’s growing up so
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Everyone Grows Up
fast, and soon, she won’t even need me anymore. Where has the time gone? I’ve been too focused on being an Alpha, a mother,, and a good wife to realize it’s slipping through my fingers.
“I can’t even think about Lola finding her mate,” I confess. “It feels like yesterday she was this tiny baby I held in my arms. And in no time, she’ll be a grown woman.”
“That’s pretty much what being a parent is supposed to be like.”
“Well, make it stop.”
Willow rolls her blue eyes. “I’ll get on that.”
We both giggle, but I can’t help but think time is going by too quickly. I wonder if Kane thinks about that. One day, I’ll die, and he’ll still have a great deal of life ahead of him.
The thought makes me stop laughing. Nothing in life is fair.
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