When the hug was over, Shadow seemed to be calm, well more so than he had been when we had first met. After saying goodbye to Markus, we started to walk back to my car which was parked outside my parent's house. To be honest I wouldn't have been surprised if Dad would have vandalised it but when we got there, it was completely untouched.
I checked the car for signs of any explosives, hey you can never be too careful and after giving the all clear, I unlocked the doors. Shadow looked at me with an expression that seemed to ask if it was ok to get in, I smiled and tried to place an expression to answer with a yes. He climbed in the back seat and Doug followed to keep him company.
After getting in the driver's seat myself, I turned the ignition and pulled off onto the road, after putting my seatbelt on of course.
On the journey back to the flat, we decided to try and get to know each other a bit better. After all, if we were going to be living together we should at least know the bare basics. Or wolf basics if you wanted to be serious about it.
"So how long have you been together?" Shadow asked me.
For a second, I had to think. It seemed like a lot longer ago than it had been but it had literally only been eight weeks since we met.
"About two months. I met Doug on the full moon"
"Bit quick to have me then" Shadow laughed. I was glad he had my sense of humour if nothing else.
"Taylor didn't actually know we could have you to be honest" Doug said calmly.
For a minute, I wondered if Shadow would be hurt or offended by Doug's statement but he kept a genuine smile on his face. Much to my relief.
"Are a lot of Moonborns are born by accident?" I asked Doug. It wasn't obvious to me if a lot of couples had children this way so I thought it was fair to ask him, to both give me the knowledge and to be absolutely sure that Shadow knew that he wasn't a mistake.
"It usually doesn't happen until they've been together a few years but I guess in our case it happened sooner rather than later. A lot of couples aren't told about it and then when it does happen, they deal with it as best they can" Doug said after a moment.
"So if you hadn't known, Markus would have explained it?" Shadow asked.
"Yeah" Doug replied.
Before we could do anything else, we had arrived at the flat. When I parked, I suddenly realised that Shadow would have nowhere to stay. The flat only had two bedrooms and I wasn't sure Zoe and Arc would want to share.
"You getting out?" Doug asked me with a laugh.
Snapping out a trance I hadn't known I had entered, I noticed he had opened the door for me. When I shut the door and clicked the lock, I turned to see Shadow standing in the front garden. Well, lawn.
"You ok?" I asked him.
After a moment, he turned to me. His expression seemed to be a mixture of many different things. Too many for me to decipher.
"I think so, it's still so new to me" his voice wasn't anxious, more like when you recover from the best experience of your life.
"You're not angry about what I said are you?" I asked. I knew I had asked before but as a parent, what
"You're worried about me being offended by the fact you didn't know you could have me?" Shadow said after a moment.
I nodded carefully after a moment.
"There's no need. I have life thanks to the two of you, and I love you, no matter how it happened"
The relief of his words swept through me like a tsunami. He gave me a brief hug then ruffled my hair.
"Don't get all soft on me Dad" he joked.
After a second, I realised what he meant and smiled.
"Wouldn't dream of it" I laughed and together, we walked to the front door of the flat. Doug had already let himself in and was talking to Arc who had watching TV. The shapeshifter turned to face us after a second and smiled.
"Hey Tay, who's your friend?" Arc asked.
Me and Doug exchanged a nervous look. Eventually I felt it would be best if we told him the truth.
"Arc, this is Shadow, he's my, or should I our son" I said, When I had directed Doug to be included, I waved my arm in his direction.
I didn't know how long Arc was speechless for, but in the end he laughed. But when he saw no change in expression in either of our faces, his expression soured.
"You're not joking?" He asked at no one in particular.
When he didn't get an answer, he got off the sofa and stepped away slowly toward Zoe's bedroom door.
"But how?" was all he managed to say.
"Shadow is a Moonborn" Doug explained.
The term didn't seem to be familiar to Arc.
"He was born using the magic of the moon" I added.
Arc stopped moving. He was shaking slightly.
"You used magic to make a son?" he asked slowly.
"To be honest, it was an accident" I said with a blush.
"What, did you drop your athame in the wrong cauldron?" Arc asked. His voice was shaking and his arms were trembling slightly like when you see a partly set jelly being tested.
"It wasn't black magic, it happened when me and Doug were in perfect balance with each other, Markus used a spell on the moon to give us both something to love" Doug explained.
Arc stopped shaking. I knew he had always assumed people created magical sons and daughters out of dark forbidden arts but now he thought about it, he knew Doug and I weren't dark practitioners.
"So, he's not the product of evil magic then?" Arc asked slowly.
"No" I replied firmly.
His face flushed and he sighed.
"Guys, I'm sorry. You must think I'm a total douche" he said after a moment.
"No way" Doug answered.
"At least not for that reason" I joked.
Arc saw the humour and laughed. He walked over to Shadow and shook his hand.
"Nice to meet ya mate" he said.
"Likewise" Shadow replied.
Before anyone could move, there was a knock at the door. I went over and opened it carefully. On the doorstep was my mother, Helen and Gran. They each had a small bag with them and looked shaken but determined.
"Hey Taylor, can we come in?" Helen asked.
"Sure, what's the problem?"
"It's Dad, he's kicked us out"
-
Ten minutes later, we were in various positions in the living room. Mum had taken the chair, Gran had taken the single chair and Helen was stood by the kitchen counter, her hand shaking. Arc had made everyone a cup of tea and the new visitors had taken them gratefully. Me and Doug were stood by the sofa and Shadow was sat on the three piece suite, next to Arc.
Eventually, Helen spoke.
"So how long have you been one?" she asked me.
"I only changed last night for the first time" I answered.
"How was it?" Gran asked.
I looked at her and she smiled.
"Incredible Gran, apart from a few surprises it was the best thing to happen in a very long time"
Mum's ears pricked up.
"Surprises?" she asked.
"He didn't know about our customs" Doug explained.
She turned to face him with a look of intense curiousity.
"Customs? Like what?"
"How we deal with certain members who disobey the pack order, your son didn't of course but he saw what happened to those who do"
Mum relaxed at this. As much as she could.
"Why didn't you tell us you were dating a werewolf?" Helen asked. The last word in the sentence came out strained. Like when you are trying to squeeze the last bit of toothpaste from a tube.
"We only started dating two months ago" I replied.
"Seems a bit quick for him to change you" she asked after a moment.
"It wasn't planned" Doug said with slight hesitation.
Helen put her mug down quickly and glared at him.
"What did you do to my brother?" she shouted.
Doug wanted to answer but he couldn't. He was so surprised at her reaction and guilty for breaking up their home just as I was. A second later, he ran through the room and into the bedroom, slamming the door after him.
I turned to Shadow and signalled to the bedroom door. He got my silent message and went into the bedroom after him. After I had done this, my attention turned to Helen.
"Helen, he had no choice. It was a life or death situation"
"What did he do?" she growled.
"It wasn't him. His ex-boyfriend went insane and tried to kill him. Then he tried to kill me. The only way I could have survived was if he changed me"
Helen processed the information and sighed.
"Did I do it again?" she asked.
"Yeah" I said softly.
"I'm sorry Tay, I didn't mean to jump to conclusions like that"
"It's not me you have to apologise to, but thanks" I said calmly.
Almost as if it were planned, Doug and Shadow came out of the bedroom. Doug had cried a little but he was mostly alright. Helen walked over to him and gave him a hug. Doug bristled at first but then he accepted the embrace.
"Tay explained everything, I'm sorry Doug" she said softly.
Tears fell from his eyes and she rubbed his back carefully to sooth him. Once he was finished, Helen wiped his face with a tissue she had up her sleeve and smiled.
"Thank you" Doug said softly.
"Don't mention it" Helen replied.
After a second, Mum looked at Shadow. He returned her look and smiled carefully. Returning the smile, she faced Gran who in turn looked at me.
"I see you have Markus to thank for that young man there" she said in that knowing way old women always seem to have.
"What has Markus got to do with him?" Mum asked her.
Gran looked at me and Doug. She seemed to ask if it was ok if I told her the truth. I made the same look at Doug and he did to me. As if it were automatic, we turned to Gran and nodded. She cleared her throat and began.
"You know when I told you about my ex-boyfriend after you were born? The one who had two dads?"
Mum thought back.
"Yeah, Frank wasn't it?"
"He was a Moonborn dear, he had no mother. They were both his parents"
Mum seemed familiar to the term. She looked at Shadow then turned to look at the two of us.
"He's your son?" she asked me finally. I nodded once again. I was going to get a stiff neck if I didn't stop.
"I'm a gran?" she asked herself. For a second, she seemed uncertain but then she smiled.
"Better now than when I'm in my sixties" she laughed.
"Guess you're an aunt then Helen dear" Gran smirked.
Helen looked at us with complete bewilderment. But before she could say anything else, there were three large knocks on the door.
I sighed and went to answer it.
"If it's trick or treaters, you're too early" I said jokingly and opened the door. I had to jump back pretty sharpish because there was a large figure on the other side of the door.
It was Campbell, and he looked pissed.
A second later, he strode into the room, not talking to anyone. I carefully closed the door and turned to see what was wrong. It must have been something horrible because I had never seen the alpha werewolf this angry before.
He stood by the window, letting everyone get an inkling of how he felt. Even without second sight, it was incredible just how powerful his aura was, it gave everyone in the room a feeling of foreboding.
Eventually, Campbell spoke.
"One of our kind was just shot" he said with a faux calm tone.
Doug got to his feet.
"Who?" he asked.
"Andrew" he said after a moment.
Everyone gasped without realising it. Andrew had been one of the new members of the pack so it had been easy for the assassin to take him out. I thanked heaven that he survived. Even though I wasn‟t religious.
"Who did it?" Arc asked Campbell. It was the question that no one wanted to know the answer to, but we needed to hear it.
"A man named Graeme Michaels" he said after a moment.
I suddenly felt sick. Dad had been serious when he said he would kill my new brethren. Campbell walked over to me and held me with a tight but gently grip on the throat.
"Did you know?" he asked. His voice was quiet but a threat was clearly present.
"No" I answered after a moment.
For a second, he looked at me. But then, he relaxed and let go of my throat. Staying silent was the best thing to do I realised. Otherwise, Campbell would have had reason to question me further because my eagerness to prove myself might have looked suspicious in itself.
"Campbell, I’m so sorry" I said after a moment.
He looked at me with somber eyes.
"I know it’s not your fault" he said.
"But it is, if we hadn’t gone round to my parents, he wouldn‟t know"
Campbell blanched.
"You told them?" he asked firmly.
"No, his dad found out himself" Doug said.
For the third time in the space of a few minutes, the alpha werewolf regained his composure. I could tell Campbell didn’t blame me, but it wasn’t exactly an easy situation to deal with.
"He must have smelled your scent"
Campbell mused after a second.
Doug shook his head.
"That’s impossible, I was wearing my deodorant"
Campbell sighed.
"Hunters can smell through it"
Doug looked taken aback but he didn’t go any further. He knew, as we all did, that what was done and was done. As long as Andrew was alive, everything was ok. For now.
He turned to face Shadow and smiled.
"See you’ve been busy" he said with a smirk.
"Someone beat you to that joke" I laughed with a nod at Arc.
Campbell laughed.
"I’d better get back to the hospital, check on Andrew" he said after a moment.
He walked toward the door. But he turned back to us after a moment.
"I know he’s your father Taylor, but if he proves to be dangerous, we may have to take drastic steps"
I respected his honesty and I acknowledged him with a nod. Expecting to see the family take offence to this, I looked at them. Gran looked resolute in her disgust toward her son-in-law, Mum looked as if she hated him with all her might and Helen looked as though if Dad ever spoke to her again, she would punch his lights out.
After a moment, my attention was drawn back to Campbell by his throat being cleared. I noticed it was a habit of his that he only did upon leaving a room. I was ninety nine percent sure it wasn’t anything to do with the fact he was dual-natured.
"Arlena, keep them safe for me" Campbell asked my gran.
Gran nodded and smiled.
"Of course I will" she said.
After this, Campbell went through the front door and closed it behind him. For a moment, we were all silent, lost in our own trains of thought. At that point, Arc got to his feet.
"So, who wants another drink?" he asked.
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