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Chaos descended on the house as soon as morning came.

“Oh, Flick…”

Aidan’s mum, Renee, was standing in the doorway, looking at a very bedraggled me, while I just stood there in one of Peter’s discarded shirts and nothing else. She swept in and grabbed me in a hug.

“We’ve barely had a chance to chat, what with your recovery and everything, but, darling…

” She pulled back to look me over, something I didn’t want anyone doing before a shower and a coffee.

“I’m so happy you chose my boy! He loves Kade so much.

He tells me about everything he’s been up to when we talk on the phone.

Now, this is probably a bit presumptuous, but he mentioned how much Kade likes Star Wars so?—”

“Mum?” Aidan staggered out of the bedroom, blinking owlishly. “What are you doing here? It’s really bloody early.”

“Well, I thought we’d do a nice celebration breakfast to start to get to know each other as a family.

We have so much to do today, and I don’t really know any of Flick’s preferences.

This is different than if you’d been accepted by a local girl.

I could ring her mum and get the low down in two seconds flat.

What if I order food she doesn’t like? Or if I get the boys to bring beer around and she doesn’t want alcohol served? ”

“Ssh…” he said, closing the door carefully behind him. “Kade’s still asleep. We’re letting him sleep in, and we’ll see if he wants to go to school when he gets up.”

Renee paused for a moment, looking at her son with a look I knew well. Her eyes shone with pride as she swallowed, then smiled.

“I always knew you’d make a great dad, darling. Ophelia says you’ve been instrumental in that boy’s recovery. Honey, I’m so proud!”

“Well, how about you tell me all about it while we give Flick time to have a shower and get dressed?”

“Oh my god, of course! I’m so sorry. Aidan is the first of my sons to find a mate, so I admit I’m a little flustered. I’m gushing, aren’t I, Aidan? Oh my god.”

“Siddown, Mum. I’ll make you a cuppa.”

I beat a hasty retreat, looking blankly at the mirror in the bathroom once I’d closed the door and stripped down. Same old Flick looked back at me, though thankfully, injury free now.

But I wasn’t the same me, was I? I searched for signs of the new me, of the me who might transform into a whole other thing, but didn’t see it. I just nodded, acknowledging the woman in the mirror for the moment, even if I was still getting to know her, and then had a shower and got dressed.

“So you might think this is a bit much…”

Renee stood in front of her car, trying to shield us from the packages inside.

“Holy shit, Mum. What did you buy?”

“Well, Kade’s my first grandchild and?—”

“Mum?”

“I might have gone a little overboard. I saw the two of you together at the mess, and I just knew this would happen, so I did some research and found so many cute things online!”

So, so many. We peered past the woman to a back seat crammed with gifts.

“It’s customary that when a man joins a pack that already has children within it, his family brings them something nice. I got something nice.”

“She looked at so many something nices, she couldn’t decide and then bought them all.”

We turned to see three tall men walking up the driveway.

“Honey, we talked about waiting until they got up,” one man said, moving over and wrapping his arm around Renee’s waist.

“How’re you doing, son?” another man said, placing his hand on Aidan’s shoulder and looking down at him in that manly way men do, before he pulled him in to a backslapping hug.

“Sorry,” he said when he finally pulled away.

“I’m Cooper, Aidan’s dad, and this is Smokey and Vin.

” Vin was the guy standing with Renee, shooting me a smile and a wave, but Smokey hung back a little.

He stepped forward and offered me his hand when named, but there was something reserved in those grey eyes.

This was the parent I needed to impress, who was waiting to see if I was good enough for his boy.

“So I assume Renee’s brought enough food to feed a horde,” Vin said. She fidgeted a little at that, but was clearly pleased. “Why don’t we get things started and get to know each other a bit better?”

“I didn’t bring the boys, Aidan’s brothers,” Renee said as we set the table.

The guys had gone out the back to cook up a protein rich breakfast on the BBQ that came with the house, leaving the two of us alone.

“I figured that might be too much all at once, but they’re terribly excited to meet you and Kade.

My youngest, Mikey, is in high school. He’s kept an eye out for Kade at the school, made sure the other kids know not to mess with him.

But he seems to be settling in really well? ”

“Yep, I’ve been surprised about all of it. Kade… It’s like this was where he was always supposed to be.”

“Ophelia thinks he’ll turn when he grows to adulthood. It’s unusual for outsiders, but it must have been some perfect genetic storm to have both of you show such strong potential.”

“Potential?” I’d been bemused when everyone seemed to think I would turn into this wolf beast thing.

Except for your ability to communicate with me. And those very nice claws.

"Well, you're taking a mate before your first shift for one. The fact that you can generate the venom to do so for another. Most members of the community from mixed human heritage find that hard or impossible to do.” Her eyes dropped to the bags she’d brought in, pulling out flour, sugar, eggs, and milk.

“Ophelia’s been holding your beast back from the shift, waiting until you’re ready.

She said she’s really struggling.” Her hand came to rest on my arm.

“She’s strong, your animal. Really strong to push an alpha.

It doesn’t have a bearing on people’s standing in the community, but I’m glad Aidan’s got someone capable at his back.

He’ll do anything for those he loves, you know that, don’t you? I just want the same from his mate.”

“Always,” I croaked out. I sounded terrible, but for some reason, my scratchy voice only made her eyes softer. “He deserves everything I have to give. Both of them do.”

“So things are going well with Peter? That’s good.

He was such a sweet boy before… I always thought pairing him up with those friends of his was a mistake.

” She wrinkled her nose at the thought of Darren and Brett.

“I’m glad he has you. If anyone needed a mate, it’s Peter, but the local girls were put off by…

” She winced when she realised where this was going. “Well, you know.”

God, did everyone talk about his bloody dick? It was extraordinary, but surely people saw there was more to the man than the inches between his legs.

“Yeah, I do, but he’s an amazing guy. I didn’t know it at the time, but he was the perfect first mate for me. He was patient, sweet, attentive, loving…” I took a deep breath, feeling a huge pressure in my chest, but it was one I longed to keep. “He’s my rock, and I want to be that for him.”

It was the clearing of his throat that alerted us to the fact that Pete was up. He just stood in the doorway, face still creased from sleep, but it was still there. Bleary eyed or not, he loved me.

And I loved him.

I’d been skittish about using the words, afraid I was jumping in and making yet another dumb mistake, but I knew this wasn’t it. It couldn’t be. And even if it was, I had something else now. Inside me, I could feel the long lean form of my Tirian stretching as she regarded Peter’s beast.

I walked over to him and placed my head on his chest, and his arms went around me automatically.

“I love you,” I said when I tipped my head back to look at him.

“I love you too, with everything I’ve got,” he replied, his voice sending delicious thrills through me.

“Mum, someone’s cooking breakfast,” a querulous little voice came from the bedroom. “Are they making pancakes?”

We broke apart enough to let Kade in when he staggered out, and I was surprised to see him flop against us, wrapping his arms around both our waists.

“I am.”

Kade’s head popped up and around us to peer at Renee.

It was interesting, she either had good instincts, or someone had been talking to her. She hunched down to his level and waved.

“Hi, I’m Renee. I’m Aidan’s mum. I’ll be your grandma, if you want?”

“Grandma? Like Grandma and Grandpa back at h—” He stopped himself. “Back there. They used to see the bruises Dad left on Mum and didn’t do anything about it. They’d give me lollies and try to distract me when I wanted to talk about it. I liked the lollies, but I didn’t like that.”

I didn’t know Renee at all, but right then, I liked her. She straightened up, frowning, the friendly look lost for a second, then replaced by one that was almost fierce.

“That doesn’t happen here.”

“That’s what everyone says. I haven’t seen anyone’s mum with bruises but…” He shook his head. “Aidan has you, but who’s gonna look after Mum?”

“Everyone does here, honey. I know that's hard to accept. You’ve seen stuff and experienced stuff that no kid should, but that’s OK.

We’ll just have to keep proving to you that we’ll look after your mum too.

Now, did you want to help me make pancakes?

Aidan said you really like them, especially with chocolate chips, and he thinks my pancakes are the best chocolate chip pancakes ever. ”

“Even better than Sylvie in the kitchens?” Kade asked suspiciously.

“Only one way to find out,” she said, holding out a hand.

He nodded and pulled free of us, then followed her into the kitchen and washed his hands.