Page 8 of My Pucking Mates (Pucking Werewolves #4)

M ama sleeps for three whole days before she wakes up weak and disoriented, but alive. Eris and I have been taking shifts to make sure the chores stay done while we continue watching over her.

The strangeness that came over Eris the night it all happened has disappeared, and back is my animated and silly twin.

The shift in him must have been a reaction to what was happening…

or at least that’s what I try to convince myself.

Something very deep inside of me says it’s something else, though.

I’m watching over her when she wakes, and she’s visibly dizzy from sitting up. She instinctually looks over to the empty side of her bed, and a tear trickles down her soft cheek.

“It’s okay, Mama. Eris and I will take care of you. We don’t need him!” I encourage her with my smile that she says is her favorite.

Her teary eyes meet mine I worry that she’ll miss him, that she’ll want him back.

So, I do the thing I’m good at. I keep smiling, and I keep talking.

“Me and Eris have kept all the chores done, and one of us has been by your side since that night. You never have to worry about anything again, Mama.” I beam at her and pray to the Goddess that she sends me a sign in the form of the tiniest smile on our sweet mother’s face.

My prayers are answered when she nods to herself, straightens her shoulders, wipes her tears, and says, “You’re right, sweet boy. We don’t need him. I’ve got the two best men in the world right here.”

And then she does it; she smiles big and bright. It’s not even a fake smile like when you have to pretend. It’s a sparkling smile, and I decide that if my mama can smile after what she’s going through, there will never be a reason for me not to smile.