Page 14 of This Mate Thing

I hum and nod.

"What else?"

I shrug.

"Boris."The tone makes me cringe.

"I don't know."

She narrows her eyes."Did they run out of there?Did you say something stupid?Did you make the kid cry?"

"No!"

"What's wrong then?You didn't show your junk, did you?I told you not to.There was a kid there!Jesus Christ.You can't act like with normal hook-ups."

I heave a sigh."Ira's mother is dead."

"Oh.Damn, that's not good."

No, it wasn't.

"Now everything you do will be compared to her, and since she's dead, Simon will turn her into some sort of saint in his mind.You don't stand a chance.Sorry."

I growl at her, which makes her laugh.Harlot.Then she scrunches her nose."Seriously, though.It's not great."

"It was weird."

Her gaze sweeps over my face."Weird how?"

"Ira ran over to their house to get some papers, which reminds me, you're buying cookies.It's for a good cause."

Before she can reply, three cars park around us, and several more of my pack mates tumble out of them.The air buzzes with energy, as it always does when the pack gathers to run.Eyes are gleaming in the dark, and several people are rolling their shoulders and cracking their knuckles.

"Continue before people start shifting."Zahrah's wolf is closer to the surface now, her eyes having shifted color, and I feel mine do the same.It's hard not to get swept along.

"While he was over at their house, I asked Simon where Ira's mother is.He said she'd passed away, breast cancer they found while she was pregnant with Ira.She refused treatment until he was born, but by then it was too late."

"Fuck."Zahrah rubs her chest and takes another sip of coffee.

"Yeah, but the weird part is, Simon isn't Ira's dad."

"What?"Her voice is a little too loud, and several people turn to look at us.

I lower my voice, but I know it's useless.Wolf hearing."He said he believed she'd hooked up with someone at a bar, and he doesn't know who Ira's biological father is because she never told him."

"Were they in an open relationship?"

"Huh.Maybe?I figured she cheated on him, but he didn't sound upset.Or he was grief-stricken, but I'm pretty sure it was about her death, not about her being with someone else."

She purses her lips and shrugs."Open relationship or maybe they're poly."

"No!"

She cackles."You don't know that.You think because he's your one and only, you have to be his, but maybe you'll have to share him.Maybe he's a swinger."

"Fuck you, Zahrah."

"No, I'm being serious.Are there any pink flamingos in his garden?Do they have a pineapple on the doorstep?"