Death at the door

Emily walks out of her room, going to meet her mother, who is already up and making breakfast in the tiny kitchenette.

"Good morning, Mama. Had a restful night?" she greets, her tone sounding more cheerful than she feels.

Rachel gives her daughter the smile that always brings warmth to her heart as she responds.

Rachel is a very beautiful and charming woman. With her straight blond hair, straight nose, and well-shaped lips, she is always the most beautiful woman in the room, and Emily sometimes wishes she had her mother's looks, not that she is bad looking herself; it is that she looks nothing like either of her parents, who often look like models straight out of a fashion magazine.

Emily has the looks of a half Mexican girl; her brows and hair jet black and thick , and her lips, she would have liked them to be a little smaller than they are. But she has had enough people gush about her beauty to know that she is blessed in terms of looks, even though she may not meet her Mama's standards.

"I am glad to hear that. Mama, I will be going out today. I won't have lunch with you and Papa."

Her mother glances at her.

"Don't tell me you are meeting that boy again, Milly. I keep telling you he is..."

There they go.

"I am not asking for permission," Emily tries to rid her voice of the sudden stab of annoyance she feels. "I just wanted to let you know." She doesn't want to receive the lecture of the century about what is good for her and what is not, and be reminded that her mama dislikes her man. She is a woman now and sometimes feels like her parents forget that.

She sees her mother shrug.

"Fine. Don't come crying to me or your Papa the day that he hurts you!"

"Hey, just calm down, okay? He is a good guy, I promise you. If he wasn't, I would sense that."

Rachel's brow shoots up. "How would you do that?"

Emily shrugs, grabbing herself a cup and pouring coffee in it. She lowers her voice an octave, making sure no one will overhear her. "I am a werewolf, remember?" she tells the coffee, much to the delight of her wolf Star, because it is not always Emily gets to acknowledge herself as such.

~

Jack arrives ten minutes before Emily is done getting ready, and he reminds her once again how much he detests her habit of being late. She frowns at that, but decides to shake it off. After all, she does have a tendency to be late. Jack is not the only one who has complained about it. She will not go picking little flaws about him like her parents do, because she understands everyone has their own flaws.

He drives her to a fancy hotel where he books a room, winking at her as he grabs her hand and leads her to the room.

Wait, a hotel room. Does that mean he is making love to her today?

There's not much conversation that goes on between them, as they don't have much in common just yet. Emily tries several times to make small talk but she felt like it kept hitting dead ends, until she finally gave up.

All that doesn't matter. She is in love with him, she can feel the sparks whenever he brushes her hand with his.

Whenever he meets her gaze.

This is enough to keep them together until they can work on ways to communicate.

In no time at all, he has her out of her dress and tossed on the King size bed in the room. She gives a little squeal of surprise as she bounces on the mattress, then sighs as the satisfying weight of her mate drops down on her gently.

"Do you understand what will happen after this, sweet pie? our bond will be sealed, and nothing will ever come between us, not even your parents."

She stiffens slightly at the last part of Jack's words. Their bond will be sealed? what does that even mean? Her parents keep warning her about him, yet here she is, about to seal bonds with him.

"Do you...do you think it is a good idea? to seal our bond, I mean. I don't think my parents will like it..."

"Come on," he interrupts her, stealing a kiss on her lips. "You are twenty. You don't have to involve your parents in every decision you make. If you need assurance, I will marry you soon. I am just waiting for your parents to get used to my presence in your life. Okay, sweetie pie?"

And she hates that name.

But she nods. Jack seems too good to be true, but she supposes a mate bond makes one feel that way.

When he starts making love to her, he expresses his disappointment about her not being a virgin. He expected her to wait for him, he says. She shouldn't have rushed to have sex before finding her mate.

"But I didn't even know I was going to be a mate to someone, didn't even know what a mate was until I met you. My parents never told me."

His criticism has taken the fun out of the act. She is now just waiting for him to finish.

"That's because they are humans," he says. "How did you expect humans to know anything about werewolves? Anyway, how was a werewolf child even born to a human couple? Things don't add up here, but it's none of my business, right?"

He pumps harder into her.

Emily feels herself getting riled up. She pushes him off of her, staring indignantly at his face.

"What are you trying to say? my parents used to be werewolves, but since both of them got ill, they lost their wolves!"

That's what they told her on the day she shifted.

Jack shakes his head as he plays with his manhood, perhaps deciding he is going to relieve himself without her.

"You are so naive. How can you believe such a story? Even a child wouldn't believe such nonsense. Your parents are humans. They were born that way. There's no such thing as they got ill and lost their wolves. They lied to you, darlin'. You have a wolf within you, do you know you can use her to detect lies, or identify any creature for what they really are?"

She takes a sharp breath, feeling the need to hurt him now.

"And you want me to believe your word over my parents'? you must be sick!"

He puts his hand on the side of her flushed cheek, gazing into her eyes.

"You are a sight when you are upset. I have never seen you upset before. It's okay, we won't talk about your parents any longer if you don't like it. Sweet darling, how about we finish this and then get some food? I don't like it when you are upset with me." He pouts.

Emily hesitates, then allows him to get back on top of her.

After leaving the hotel, the couple goes to a fancy restaurant for lunch.

Emily has discovered that her mate can be entertaining when he wants to be. He takes her to ride horses with him, spending a fortune on some of the best-kept horses in the country. By the time he decides to take her back home, she is tired but happy.

Jack drops her off, informing her that he has to rush somewhere for business or something, she doesn't catch what he says properly because her wolf is restless. Star seems to have something to say to her, but she isn't quite sure if Emily will pay attention. Emily has never liked having a wolf because it makes her feel weird and ashamed, and the fact that no one else she knows ( apart from Jack) that she has a wolf, does nothing to help matters.

Nevertheless, Star tries talking to her while she is kissing her mate goodbye.

"Hurry home. Our...our Dad is...in peril."

Even if she likes ignoring her wolf, this kind of news is not something Emily can ignore. She tears her lips from Jack's, her eyes widening.

Jack surveys her face and frowns.

"Damn," he says. "I forgot to mark you. I shouldn't have to ask you what is troubling you then."

This confuses Emily as she doesn't understand what he means.

"What?"

"Oh, I keep forgetting that you grew up with humans..." He rolls his eyes in exasperation.

"They are not humans!"

"Okay, I will rephrase this. I keep forgetting that you grew up with people that have little to no knowledge about being a werewolf. After I have given you my mark, our bond will be strengthened and nothing is going to break it no matter what because our very souls will be intertwined. Which means I will be able to feel your emotions, see what you are thinking, and the memories of your past, among other things."

That does not sound appealing, but she has no time to dwell on it at the moment. Their relationship is still growing. She is somehow glad the marking he has mentioned has not taken place because she is not sure if she is ready for all that yet. Being a werewolf is a very exhausting business sometimes.

"Look, I have to go in now. My wolf has informed me that my father is not well."

His expression does not change even after hearing what she has said. Doesn't he care about her parents? She expected him to look worried or concerned at least.

But she has to brush the thought aside. He is a man and most men especially Texans are not known to wear emotions on their sleeves.

"I wish I could come with you, but I have to rush back. I hope you understand, baby. I will give you a call to ask how your father is doing after you have seen him."

She gives him a single nod and gets out of his car, rushing towards the trailer.

When Emily opens the door of the trailer, the sight on the floor breaks her heart.

When Star told her about her father, she thought he had another seizure as he has been having the episodes for some time now, so she didn't think it was much of a big deal.

But her father is not having a seizure at all, he is lying in a pool of his own blood on the floor, next to the dead body of his wife, Rachel.