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It became immediately obvious when the mothers arrived at the house.

“Hello again, darling!” Renee called out as she came through the door.

“Renee, you have not asked permission to enter this woman’s house.”

This woman?

I turned to see a lady with Peter’s brown eyes standing behind Renee, though on her, they were hard and piercing. She was dressed in a drab blue shirt and some paint splattered jeans, and stood waiting for Aidan’s mother to acknowledge her. Renee blinked and took a step backwards out of the door.

“Flick, this is Lois, Peter’s mum. It’s customary to ask for permission when entering a stranger’s house,” Renee said with a shrug.

“Oh, right. Well, come on in, both of you.”

“So I’ve got the menus for you to look over, but I need to ring Sylvie quick sticks,” Renee said, bustling over to the kitchen table and pulling out pieces of paper. “They’re used to catering at the last minute, as one never knows when a bond will be formed, but the more notice, the better.”

“OK.” I quickly scanned the lists, and it looked delicious.

“Hello, Mother.”

I looked up to see Aidan and Peter had appeared, both of them looking stiff and uncomfortable.

“You weren’t at the door to receive us, and you haven’t offered anyone a beverage yet,” was Lois’ reply.

He blinked, then looked down at his hands before saying, “Can I get anyone a drink?”

“Tea for me. You know how I take it,” Lois said.

“Anyone else?”

We all shook our heads, probably too scared to ask for anything in the suddenly tense atmosphere.

“Nana Renee!” Kade said as he came barrelling into the living room. “You gotta see what I built! I used the sets you gave me and my Moons of Endor set and made this whole diorama of the big battle scene!”

“Did you?” Renee said in that crazily enthusiastic way most grandparents seemed to master instantly. “Well, you’ll have to show me. I’ve just got to finish one little job with Mum, and then you can tell me all about it.”

And he would too. I was feeling sorry for the woman already.

“You let your child approach a matriarch in this disrespectful way?”

Lois’ words cracked across the room, and my back straightened so fast my head spun, but not for long. I fixed the strange woman in my sights.

“I’m sorry?” That was mumspeak for anything but, and she heard me loud and clear. Her frown deepened.

“Renee is an elder in our community now. You must afford her the respect due to her, and any male child of yours should be trained to do the same.”

“Kade, darling,” Renee said, “can you show Aidan what you want to show me? I’ll be down in a second.”

Her voice was all sweetness and light, but I was a mother too. I knew how to read between the lines. I turned and waited until my mate had hustled my son down the hallway, shutting the bedroom door behind them.

“I’m sorry, but who the fuck are you to be telling me how to raise my child?

” I said, biting each word off. I’d had plenty of people like her in my life, telling me this and that when he was a baby, but that wasn’t gonna fly now.

I took a step towards the woman and saw her hackles rise.

“My little boy saw the lady he decided is his grandmother and wanted to show her the toys she gave him, out of appreciation and excitement. How the hell is that disrespectful?”

“You’re one of those outsider girls, coming in here and disregarding the way things are done.” Her jaw set like granite. “Mating my son without even sharing two words with him. Not coming to me and asking for the requisite permissions. Made me a laughing stock of the town.”

“Hello.” All our heads whipped around at once to see several older women accompanied by Ophelia in the doorway.

“Apologies, Flick. Usually, we would ask permission on a day like this, but we saw it was open.”

It wasn’t, but Ophelia’s friendly smile made that seem OK. Daphne, Peter’s paternal grandmother, stood to one side of her, while the woman who said she was Lois’ mother was on the other.

“That’s fine,” I said, swallowing down the burning venom in my mouth. “Lois and I were just discussing Kade.”

“Finally a grandmother, darling?” Lois’ mother said, going to her daughter and putting an arm around her. “I’m Nelly, by the way.”

She held a hand out to me, and I took it.

“Why don’t we all take a seat?” Ophelia said.

“Get the alpha some tea!” Lois snapped when Peter arrived with her drink.

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll stand on ceremony here,” Ophelia said. “And I’m perfectly capable of getting my own. Sit down, Peter.”

We all did, hands becoming fists that sat uncomfortably on the table tops.

“With all due respect, Ophelia, I involved Lois in today’s celebration as I knew nothing had been done when Flick first came to town.

She was in no state for a mating party but…

” Renee’s head whipped around, her eyes flashing green as she stared at Lois.

“You speak that way to my grandchild one more time, and you’ll answer to me. ”

“And me,” I said with a frown. Who the fuck was this bitch?

“And me.”

Lois had obviously expected us to rail against her, but when Peter’s deep voice joined us, she jumped like she had been stung.

“You’re raising your voice to me?”

“I don’t believe anyone raised anyone’s voice,” Daphne said with a low growl. “You had a go at a child, in his mother’s home?”

“Now, we all need to calm down,” Nelly said. “I’m sure no one meant any harm.”

“This is what you’ve tied yourself to? You’re so desperate to have someone…

deal with your malformation, that you’d take on some battered thing someone else had thrown away?

” Lois said with a sneer. “Who’s to know if she could even shift?

You might end up with some kind of halfling like that bloody Nerida girl?—”

“That’s enough,” I said. I stared the woman down, feeling the throbbing pressure to look away, but I didn’t give into it until she’d done so first. “Renee, thank you for taking on all of this. I didn’t even know a celebration was the thing to do after taking a mate, so you stepping in and organising this is a great help.

Your choices are amazing, and you don’t need my approval.

You know better than me how this all works.

Just make whatever preparations you think necessary, if that’s OK? ”

“More than fine, Flick,” she replied, taking my hand.

“Just see Kade first. He’ll be jumping out of his skin wanting to explain everything he’s built, and poor Aidan will be holding down the fort.”

“Of course. I’d love to.”

“Ladies, I don’t know you well or even what a matriarch is really, but from what I can tell, you’re the elders and pillars of the community. And what a place it is. I love Sanctuary. It could have no better name, and as this is all a result of your hard work, I really respect that.”

Ophelia, Daphne, and Nelly all nodded to me.

“But, Lois, you can bugger off back to whatever hole you’ve crawled out of.

I don’t think you wanted to be here in the first place, but probably felt guilted into it.

Don’t be. I love my mates with my whole heart,” I said, reaching across the table and taking Peter’s hand, “but Peter, like me, holds a lot of scars. I’m willing to bet a lot of them came from you.

I’ve heard snippets about your tragic background, which I get, really I do, but no context or social ritual is gonna make it OK for you to have a crack at my child and my mate within a ten minute period.

I rescind my invitation to come into my house.

” That drew some gasps from the surrounding women.

“Until such a time that you’ve worked whatever bug is up your arse out and you’re prepared to treat them with the love and respect they deserve.

Now, I need to spend a little time with Peter, alone.

I need to check in with him, away from an audience.

If the rest of you want to stay and have a cuppa, or hang out with Aidan and Kade, or just kick back and watch Clone Wars , please help yourself, but you’re going to need to excuse me. ”

I didn’t wait for their reaction. I just stood up, grabbed Peter’s hand, and dragged him after me, not feeling OK until the door was closed and it was just him and me.

“Are you alright?” he asked, a looming figure in the gloom of the unlit bedroom.

“Are you?”

He answered me the way he often did—with actions rather than words. Peter scooped me up and threw me on the bed, following me down. My hands went to his face as he stopped, just looked at me, and then kissed me deep.

“You have no idea how hot that just made me,” he growled as he placed kisses down my neck.

“Kade’s in his room, and the ladies are outside,” I said, swatting him as the kisses grew lower.

He looked up with a grin that softened as he became more serious.

“Really though…” He pressed a long kiss to my lips.

“I know, babe,” I said, wrapping my arm around his neck and then holding him to me.

We spent a while just like that, resting against each other, until finally, we knew we had to go out and face the music.

When we did, Kade was in the living room, having set his toys up on the coffee table, with a captive audience of matriarchs all sitting around him.

He talked about the stories behind his build with great animation, and the ladies all nodded along, asking questions when relevant.

We slipped into the kitchen to find Aidan watching it all with wide eyes.

“They’ve been like that since we came out,” he whispered, ostensibly making yet more tea. The water was boiled, the tea bags in the teapot, but he just stared instead of making it.

I busied myself, moving around him and getting it all ready before picking up the tray.

“So?”

“So, that’s the matriarchs. That’s the bloody alpha of the whole of Sanctuary. She scared the ever loving shit out of me growing up.”

“Well, right now she’s expanding her knowledge of the Star Wars universe,” I replied. “Does she like lemon or milk?”

I had to admit, it was interesting to sit on the couch and watch the proceedings. Lois had gone, but her mother, Nelly, remained.

“There are strong elements of the mono myth in this,” Ophelia said as she regarded the display.

“The hero's journey,” Daphne said with a nod. “Now, young Kade, is this Skywalker the hero, or this Solo character?”

“Um…both?” he said with a shrug, then started to chatter about the various strengths and weaknesses of a tie fighter.

“Perhaps it is this Leia who is the hero,” Nelly said, “and these are her pack. I like that idea much better.”

“Leia and Luke are brother and sister,” I said, sipping my tea.

“Hm…that does complicate things,” she replied. “Now this Chewie. Is this his beast form?”

I shook my head and settled back against the couch, nursing my tea. The ladies ended up helping themselves when they wanted it, with polite comments about my tea making. I resisted the urge to snort at that, but they were being very, very polite, which was a stark improvement.

Renee sat on the floor with Kade, a spaceship and a mini figure in her hand. She tried to play along, but was quickly corrected by Kade. Apparently, it was pew pew , not pow pow . He showed her how the planes fought in a dog fight, something that had the matriarchs leaning in to observe.

“And this is how actual wars are fought in the human world?” Ophelia asked. “I had seen videos, but it was difficult to credit.”

“Yeah, in the world wars and such,” I said. “Things have been more peaceful now though.”

“Very skilful,” Daphne said. “Though it must result in a large loss of life.”

“Aaron’s unit has been petitioning for the acquisition of aircraft and the subsequent training.

Perhaps it's something we should look into,” Ophelia said.

She turned to look at me. “Your display…” I swallowed, sure I was about to get an epic spanking.

“Was edifying to see. There is always a concern when we take in outsiders that they will not follow the values of Sanctuary. Children are our greatest asset.”

“May the line remain unbroken,” the ladies all said.

“It is for them that we build everything. But mates are also important. Seeing you step up to protect what’s yours…

Flick, you wouldn’t have done that when you first came.

You wouldn’t have thought you had the right.

I’m proud of the changes you’ve made. You’ll take your place here one day and look down on your own grandchildren.

I know you’ll be an asset to our community. ”

“And I’d like to offer my apologies for my daughter,” Nelly said, her eyes dropping.

“She has been troubled since her mates were killed in an industrial accident, but I didn’t realise how much.

To snap at a child…” She shook her head and looked up at Peter.

“And not just one, I believe. I am so sorry, my son.”

“It’s OK, Nana…” Peter mumbled, shuffling behind me.

“No, it's not,” Daphne said. “We assumed Lois had things in hand, and she didn’t. You had no siblings to protect you… We should have done more.”

I looked up at him, and saw the moment he was going to dismiss all of this and make it sound like nothing.

“You probably should have,” I said before he could. “But there’s nothing to stop you from being involved now.”

Maybe I was being high handed, maybe I was butting in where I shouldn’t, but a selfish part of me wanted Peter to have a family supporting him as Aidan’s obviously did.

“That’s right, we could,” Daphne said, looking down at Kade. “Your son will have a strong beast. You’ll need help with him. We’ll make a point of coming around, and bring the cousins and their children.”

“As will I,” Nelly said.

Oh , I thought, thinking of all the lovely peace and quiet we’d been enjoying. I looked up at Peter, wondering what I’d done, and he just cocked an eyebrow and smiled.

“Thanks Nanas,” he said in reply. “I’d like that.”

They left not long after that, promising to mobilise the families, which sent Renee into a flurry.

“Don’t worry about Mum,” Aidan said as I watched her man the phones, ordering people around left, right, and centre. “She loooves this kind of thing. Getting lots of families together, having a big do, and you gave her an instant grandchild. You’re sweet for at least a couple of years at least.”

“And what about you? What is this celebration? It seems kinda…public.”

For a minute, I remembered him taking my bite inside the car. My mouth burned as I saw the way he bared his neck to me. We hadn’t really had a chance to be together since it’d happened, as Kade came first.

“It’s OK,” he said huskily, his eyes dropping to my lips. “They don’t stay all night. Mum might even be persuaded to take Kade tonight, if he’s up to it.”

“Not yet,” I said, watching him play. “But soon, yeah. I think that’d be worth trying.”