“Lyn! What are you doing here?” A copper headed woman greeted in a hushed whisper, her voice holding a tone tinted with surprise, anger, and worry. “They still haven’t lifted the law!” Quickly, the thin woman yanked her daughter out of the threshold of their cabin, before forcing her to take a seat in the wicker chair. Despite her uneasiness, Junie held a smile on her lips. “Oh Lyn! Nathaniel’s going to be so happy to see you.”
She knew coming back probably wasn’t the best idea, but she needed to see her family. A person can go only so long without the warmth of a family; she had Rex, but right now, she needed more. “Momma, I-” She hesitated, drew in a long breath and watched as her mother eyed her expectantly. “I’m sure he will be.” Her brother had died months before this visit, and since then, her mother had dropped into a state of denial. Her father had tried to pull her out of it; her constant, persistent talk of a present Nate depressed Michael, but with time, he grew used to it.
Bussing around the kitchen, Junie set a kettle to their cast iron stove, readying tea for herself and Lynda. “Well, why are you here?” She asked as she left the kitchen to join her daughter in the living room. “You know you can’t come live with us. If they find out, they’ll hang you for being what you are.” Her face twitched, wanting to drop into a frown,  but she managed to hold her smile.
“I know, but I don’t wanna anyway.” She grinned, her lips holding that tale-tell sign her mother knew so well. Laughter fell from Lynda’s lips as she watched the most proper woman she knew jump around excitedly, “Momma, you’re gonna break your back! Settle down and get Da’, and I’ll tell you about him.”
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“So w’ats ‘is name, Lyn?” Her father demanded. He wasn’t sure if he liked the idea of his baby girl dating anyone.
“His name’s Rex, Daddy.” She respond with a grin. She found this to be a rather odd sight, a giant of a man sitting on a couch too small for him next to a woman, who, compared to him, looked like nothing more than a twig with curves and copper curls. And the fact that he was drinking tea didn’t help this situation. On more than one occasion, she had to hide a laugh behind a cough.
“What a lovely name!” Her mother cooed, clapping her hands with eagerness. “Is he handsome? Is he strong?”
“He’s –very- good lookin’.” Lynda quickly rolled her eyes towards her father, watching his expression for any sign of change. There wasn’t one; his brooding expression stayed constant. Chewing on her lip, she turned back towards her mother, “From what I’ve seen, he’s strong. But he’s nothing like Daddy.”
“O’course he ain’t!” Her father snorted with pride. He loved the fact that he was the only man he knew built like an ox. “Well, ‘ow long ‘ave yeh known ‘em?” He ignored the tea chilling in front of him.
“Almost a year. I live with him.” Watching her father’s face contort, as if ready to scream at her, she hurried through. “He let me come stay with him for a few days to begin with, ‘cause there was this guy, Jased or something like that. He was literally stalking me. I had me a house and everything, and he was persistent. Followed me everywhere, staked out my house. Rex, more so or less, rescued me, Daddy. Jased even attacked me. Rex nearly killed him for that.” Sable eyes followed the wrinkles and curves on her Dad’s face, watching as they settled into a stoic expression. She said something right.
“Oh how romantic! Lyn, I want to meet this guy. How long have you been living with him?” Her deranged mother ventured, before leaning in to whisper an obvious, “Have you slept with him?”
Before Lynda could answer, Michael stood abruptly, his features holding his infamous expression, the one he used to scare the wits out of anyone with. It always worked. “If tha guy knows what’s good for ‘em an’ Lyn, ‘e ‘asn’t touched her.” He growled. Her mother fell silent, adopting a stoic look and stared into space. Lyn on the other hand, waited a while in the silence before clearing her throat nervously.
“Da’ sit down.” Strangely, he obliged her demand, and stole back his seat with mumbles. Turning back to her mother, she gifted her a smile. “Momma. Let me tell you everything, and then you can ask questions.
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                “There’s this local place where I live, and it’s only attraction is a bulletin board. It’s pretty strange. Anyway, just a few days after I settled into my home, I finally decided to go out and have a look around town, and that’s where I ended up. On a dirt road.” Pausing, she stopped to take a sip of her tea. “I remember smelling something that was almost familiar; it’s weird being able to have such a strong sense of smell, ya’know? Well anyway, he was standin’ there, actin’ all nonchalant, and there was this girl; she had blonde hair, real skinny, tryin’ to get him to bite her. I didn’t understand it. I can’t actually recall if he did or not, but once she left, he looked at me, grinned, and asked if I wanted him to bite me too.”
                 “What tha hell you mean, bite?” Her father narrowed his eyes towards her, a frown still rooted on his lips. “You didn’t tell ‘em what you were, did’ja?”
                 “Well, the thing is, Daddy, people don’t actually –care- there. I mean, there are a few people who hate what I am, but the majority really don’t mind.” She watched her father’s face twist into confusion, and with a smile she continued. “Yeah. I actually was accepted into a pack; Rex was in.” This dropped her father’s jaw, and plastered a smile on her mother’s lips. “Yes, Rex has the infection too. I actually have a lot of friends who are infected.”
                 Clearing his throat, Michael shifted uneasily. “So you live like a wolf now?”
                  “No. Well, in some aspects I do. But I live in a house, I wear clothes, I eat food; whether it’s raw or cooked, I sleep on a bed. I’m still me, Daddy.” His lack of understanding was wearing her patience thin.
                  “But like I was saying, before I got interrupted. He asked me if I wanted him to bite me too. That’s when I realized why he smelt familiar. It was the same kind of scent Drew had. Not matching, but similar. He smelt warm, like the way the woods do after it rains; it was comforting. He also had this smell about him, his own personal scent. I think that’s why I was drawn to him in the first place; -that- was intoxicating.” A grin tilted her lips as she watched her father shift and her mother scoot closer, as if the lack of distance between her and her daughter would cause her words to fall faster.
“I told him there was no need, and then it dawned on him that I was a werewolf too. We kinda just hit it off from there. There was a point, a month or so into our relationship, that I found out he cheated on me though. It nearly broke my heart. I can’t remember whether or not it was before or after I told him I didn’t enjoy havin’ sex with him for the first time.”
                 “W’at the ‘ell, Lyn! You ain’t even married teh tha guy and yer already sleepin’ with him?!” Bravely, Junie swatted her husband, silencing him.
                 “Men don’t like to hear that, Lyn. But you’ve always been the one to make your opinions known. So,” She eyed her daughter expectantly. “Do I have any grandchildren?”
                   Ignoring her mother’s statement and question for the time being, she threw a glare at her quiet father. “That there is another example of how I live like a wolf. Wolves have mates, not husbands. Rex is my –mate-.” Finally, she turned to Junie. “No, Momma. No grandbabies.”
                  This brought a frown to the family oriented woman, “But there will be right?”
                   “I don’t know, Momma.” She answered, eyebrows dipped into an uneasy frown. “Me and Rex never talked about it. Right know though, we’re takin’ care of one of his friend’s kid. His name’s Kalum. There’s not enough time to take care of two kids and ourselves.”
                   “Well,” Michael started, looking a bit taken back by Lynda’s words. “Ya’ll ‘aven’t ‘ad any trouble since then, have you?”
                  “Well, after the first time, he didn’t really seem to take an interest in other girls. But this one woman, gods damn was she persistent! She tried every which way to get Rex to leave me and sleep with her. But he stayed faithful. Until some other woman got a hold of hi-”
                   “Do I need to kick his stupid ass?” Her father interrupted, hands already curled into fists. Her mother look displeased by this news, but didn’t say anything.
                    “No Da’. She drugged him. He didn’t quite remember it at first, but when he did, he came out and told me about it. I forgave him, but it doesn’t mean my heart wasn’t shattered. The only thing now that puts riffs in the relationship is the fact that I can’t trust him as much as I want to. I mean, it’s building back, but not as quick as I or he want it to.”
                    “Well, trust is an important factor in any relationship. In twenty-seven years, I ain’t ever cheated on yer mom. Ain’t never seen any other woman who’d come close in comparison.” His rigid arms relaxed and one slipped around Junie’s waist to draw her next to him. It was a strange watching them two cuddle, due to size difference, but they fit together perfectly. Lynda’s chest tightened with a form of jealously, trying to hide her displeased frown as she looked off towards the kitchen.
                     “I know mine and Rex’s relationship isn’t ‘perfect.’” She started, refusing to meet her cuddling parents. “In fact, it’s not anywhere close to being the ‘ideal’ relationship.” From her peripherals, she could see her father nodding to her words, agreeing with them as a frown settled across his brow. “But, Rex is perfect for me. He has this way of making everything right, of making everything just fit. He knows how to make me laugh when I’m upset, and he can forgive me with a blink of an eye if I screw up.” A smile found her lips as she turned her gaze back upon her cuddling parents. “With me and Rex, it’s not ‘I’m his girl and he takes care of me.’ We work together. Not only is he my lover, he’s my partner. My best friend. Thinking about it, our relationship might not be perfect for you, but for me, I don’t think I could live without it.”
                       That brought an unexpected frown her father’s lips, and her disturbed mother still carried that undaunted smile. “So, you love him?” They asked in almost complete unison, forcing a blush to rise on Lynda’s cheeks.
“Yeah. I do.”