Love, Bitterly Sweet

Chapter Eight

“Hey Sweetie. We’re about thirty minutes away. Do you want us to stop by to pick you up or are you at home?”

“Uhh…I’m actually out right now. With Max,” I respond to my mom over the phone, glancing at Max sheepishly.

“Oh. Everything okay?”

“Yea. Everything’s fine. I told him.”

I can almost see the smile on my mom’s face, even through the phone. “That’s great. Take your time then and your dad and I will see you later.”

“Okay. Love you. Bye.”

After hanging up, I turn to face my mate, who’s looking at me with open curiosity. “Sorry about that. My parents have been away on business.”

“They know about us?”

“Yea. I’m actually close with both of them. Besides, it’s kind of hard keeping secrets from them that have to do with my were-side considering that they’re the Alpha couple. And since my mom, and my dad, both have abilities.”

“I’ve heard about your mom’s ability. Is she as powerful as the rumors say?”

“Umm…” I don’t really know how to respond. On the one hand, Max is my mate, and I trust him. But on the other hand, I don’t really know him yet. I don’t know anything about his past or his loyalties. “I’m not really sure what the rumors are, but yea, I guess people would say that she’s pretty powerful.”

“Cool.”

Max doesn’t press me for details, which says a lot about his character. He looks interested, which is to be expected considering the legends about my mom that have been circulating amongst werewolf communities over the past three decades. But he makes no move to question me further. I now wish I had told him exactly what my mom is capable of because I know that I can trust him with anything, even my life. I’m sure he’ll find out sooner or later though, especially considering that he’s essentially part of the family now.

“Soo…I guess we have a lot to talk about,” I murmur.

“Yea. We do. There’s definitely a lot about me that you should know. I’m hoping that maybe we can take it slow? I mean, I don’t really know how this whole mating thing works, but I do know the logistics of how a human relationship is supposed to go, even if I haven’t had any real experience with one.”

“That sounds good to me. I like the idea of going slow. I mean, it was definitely frustrating for me in the beginning, but now that I’m used to it, I guess I enjoy it.” I laugh nervously and watch as Max grins slightly. “That probably means that I’m a sucker for punishment, huh? Anyway, going slow is good because I kind of need some time to break it to my friends.”

“And by ‘friends,’ you mean Clair.”

I nod in response.

“Can I ask you a question? Why are you friends with her?”

“Yea – I get that question a lot. Dylan hates her.” I wrinkle my nose and let out a sigh before continuing. “I met Clair on the first day of school freshman year. She was new in town and looked a bit overwhelmed. I helped her out, introduced her to my friends, and we all got along pretty well. Except for her and Dylan – he’s never liked her. Anyway, I had some…uh…guy trouble a couple of months later and Clair’s the one who helped me through it.”

I pause to eye Max’s reaction, which is a mix of curiosity and doubt. “No one else knows about it. I didn’t want to tell Dylan because I knew he would overreact. And I know Clair’s a bitch a lot of the time, but I always think back to those two weeks when she was really there for me. That’s the Clair I remember whenever she does something that bothers me.”