Christmas with the Grumpy Alpha (Feuding Hearts Christmas)

14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Tanner

“Tanner, your phone’s ringing.”

“Huh?” I turn away from the lake, towards Larry, who’s standing next to the table where we piled all of our belongings before going for our run through the forest.

“Your phone.” Larry picks up the flashing device and hands it over to me. “Someone’s calling you.”

Right now, at this hour?

My first thought is that it’s Lena, and that something’s gone wrong and she needs my help. But then I see my mother’s name blinking in white letters on the screen and my confusion only increases.

“Hello, Mom?” I walk away from the others until I’m out of earshot. “Everything okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine, Tanner,” my mom answers in her familiar prim voice. “I just called to give you some good news. We’ll be arriving at the lodge tomorrow morning.”

What?

“What?” I voice my surprise. “Mom, the wedding is over, and we will be leaving soon. Why are you guys coming now?”

“Why not?” my mom asks. “We want to meet with the newlyweds and welcome the newest member of our pack. And we want to see you, of course.”

“Mom—” my voice falters while I think of how to phrase my next sentence. “Are you sure that’s the only reason you guys are coming? It’s not something else, is it?” I add hastily.

“Of course, there’s no other reason,” my mom reassures me before going momentarily silent. That silence is enough evidence to let me know something is up.

“Mom?” I question doubtfully. “There’s something more, isn’t there? Why don’t you tell me.”

Silence on the other end, before my mother answers reluctantly. “Of course, while we’ll be meeting you, we think it’ll be a splendid opportunity to see you with your new partner as well.”

Oh, Jesus fucking Christ.

“Mom, no,” my voice begins to rise, dragging my temper along with it. “It will just be a waste of time here.”

“Oh, come on, Tanner, don’t be so sensitive!” My mom snaps. “We’re just curious to know what Lena is like with you! Why did she grab your attention, out of all the other women you’ve never shown an interest in? We only want to know!”

“But now is not the right time!” I protest hotly. “We just began dating! It hasn’t even been a full week yet! How do you think she’ll feel if my family shows up ready to conduct an interrogation?”

“Oh, it’ll hardly be an inter—”

“Mom, it doesn’t matter!” I cry out, exasperated. “That’s how she’ll see it! You guys arriving here will be the most awkward thing in the world, I swear!”

“Tanner stop it,” my Mom says sharply. “You’ve been lax enough as it is with this whole mate business, even though you know how important it is for our pack and its image.”

She suddenly goes quiet, and I can feel her clamping her mouth shut over something she was about to say but didn’t want me to hear.

“And now you’ve gone ahead and paired up with your brother’s ex-girlfriend, someone he’s never spoken of positively. How else would you expect us to react? We’re curious, we’re worried! We want to see what has got you so hooked on this, Lena. Someone Derek didn’t think twice about before discarding it.”

There is a dim roar in my ears, of my rushing, frothing, seething blood. Red is tinting the edges of my vision, turning everything blurry.

I can barely think straight in the face of the anger that is burning within me at Mom’s words. My head is going to explode if I don’t let out an earsplitting howl right now.

Someone Derek discarded. Someone Derek’s never spoken of positively.

“I’m sorry,” my Mom adds quickly, perhaps sensing the tsunami of emotion building up on the other end of the receiver. “That was a bit too harsh from my side. I didn’t mean it to come out like that.”

The apology doesn’t take away my rage, but it cools it down just enough to stop it from exploding. I let out a shaky breath, feeling droplets of sweat racing each other down my forehead.

“I’m sorry,” Mom repeats, defusing the tension. “What I meant to say was that both your dad and I are eager to meet this new love of your life. We want to see what she’s like. We want to see how the two of you look together. Is that too much to ask?”

“No,” I respond dully, flexing my fingers against the phone, which I was just about to crush in my werewolf claws. “No, it’s not. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodbye.”

I end the call then, not trusting myself to speak any further, or hear anything more from my mother that might make me lose it completely.

For a few moments, there is silence.

I stand and soak myself in it, feeling the chilly night air blowing through me, drying up the sweat beading my forehead.

From far behind me, the distant chatter and laughter of Larry and the others rise into the air, dispersing before I can make out anything they’re saying.

This means that they haven’t heard my heated conversation either and are blissfully unaware of the troubles I’m trying to avert from my path.

Or at least they’re unaware now, but they won’t be in the morning when those troubles finally appear on the front door.

Guess the vacation is over , I think sourly to myself, and turn around to join the others.

But this time, I’m not sure what will be waiting for me when morning comes.