“Hey,” I say softly when I come through the door. Michelle doesn’t waste any time and throws her arms around my neck, kissing me when I walk in the door.
“Did you go to the grocery store and forget to buy groceries?” She says, playfully pecking kisses along my jaw.
“Change of plans?”
“Hmm?”
“How’d you like to come up to the Tremblay estate for a few days?” I say, wrapping my arms around her. “Meet my parents and my brothers? Xander wants to talk to me but I think it might be nice?”
“I’d love to,” Michelle says, and I pray to the gods of wolves and men that this goes well.
Chapter Eleven: Aaron
“I’m nervous,” Michelle says, as I pull up into the circular driveway in front of the mansion where I grew up.
“Hey.” I park and pull the emergency break and turn to face my mate. “Hey, Michelle, where’s that tough as nails associate who put Reynolds in his place?”
“But this is different!” She laughs, which I suppose is a good sign, and nuzzles my shoulder. “This is your parents! What if they hate me.”
They won’t. Of that, at least, I am confident. Ever since my father retired as alpha of the pack, he’s taken a sort of neutral stance about things. Even if it gets ugly between me and Xander or between us and the clan, I know my parents will be kind to Michelle. That’s a blessing anyway. It’s something.
So it’s nice to be able to say with confidence,”They won’t hate you. I guarantee it.”
Michelle is just the kind of woman my mother likes. I’ve always thought they’d get along well. It was always another reason for a little bit of heartache as I mooned over Michelle the last couple of years.
Xander will have talked to them though. They’ll know Michelle is human. I hate the idea that everyone knows what’s going on except her.
“Aaron!” That’s my mother, bounding out of the house to meet us. She’s more spry than my father, who walks with a cane. He follows slowly behind her from the front door where the butler waits.
Mom is dressed casually and it strikes me how seldom I visit outside full moon nights. I haven’t seen her when she wasn’t dressed for dinner in I don’t know how long. It makes me feel like a bad son and I vow to myself to make more time for my parents. Though if all goes well by some miracle, I’m sure we’ll be visiting with the baby quite often.
Mom greets me as enthusiastically as if she hadn’t just seen me days ago. But I suppose this is different, me coming with a woman.
“It’s lovely to see you,” my mother gushes, kissing me on each cheek. “You look so well. You need to come over more often. My terrible sons, they never come to see me…”
I roll my eyes at her dramatics, but Michelle already seems charmed. At least this time I’ve arrived first. My brothers can’t accuse me of somehow being ‘late’ even when I’m not late. Though I do feel a bit of paranoia about it. They might be meeting together ahead of time, deciding how best to stage the inevitable intervention.
“And you,” my mother says, taking Michelle’s hands in hers. “Look at you, what a beauty!”
It’s so strange how my parents are quite aware that me being with Michelle breaks all the laws of the shifter code as brought down through the generations. Yet they’re kind enough to never betray that to Michelle even passive aggressively. It makes me grateful for them.
“Are you alright, son?” That’s my father. He stands about an inch shorter than me but he still looms large in my mind. He speaks quietly. “I suppose this was quite a surprise, wasn’t it?”
I trill my lips, shaking my head. “That’s understating it.”
“Yes.” He nods, and squeezes my shoulder and gives me the kind smile I grew up with back when he was still the alpha. “Listen. No matter what happens, your mother and I love you dearly. We will always stand by you. How things go with your brothers and the clan however…”
“I know, dad,” I say, managing to crack a smile. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know,” my father says slowly, frowning. “There’s… Well, nevermind.” He smiles tightly, trying to cover, waving a hand. But I’m caught off guard. He looked like he was about to tell me something but changed his mind. That’s going to keep me guessing for ages.
My mother’s got an arm around Michelle now, as we head inside. The sight of it warms me. They truly never let me down. The butler brings our bags in. We’d stopped by Michelle’s place to get some of her things, including her laptop. She was concerned about falling behind with work. She went on and on about her future maternity leave and how she had to stay on top of things as long as possible, so I suggested we bring the computers with us and get work done when we had some down time.
“Have you two eaten?” my mother is saying, mostly to Michelle. “Do you like salad? My boys all hate salad and I’ve heard you do too, but I made Cobb which I think is good. It’s full of protein! Hard boiled eggs, bacon… It’s a heart attack on lettuce. But if you want anything else, dear, just tell me. We have a very full kitchen…”
When Michelle actually manages to get a word in, she claims to love Cobb salad. Lunch is a happy event anyway. My parents talk our ears off while asking a million questions. They’re careful though in what they ask, not even hinting at anything unusual about Michelle’s pregnancy. They act as if we’re all regular, ordinary humans and that I’m just a normal guy who’s brought his girlfriend home to meet the folks.
The conversation is lively, even boisterous. Michelle keeps meeting my eyes across the table, genuinely smiling. I feel as if she’s silently thanking me for my parents and I sigh a little, motioning the butler for more wine. This is the easy part. My parents are always the easy part. The hard part is Xander. I’m not sure where his thinking is or what his plans are and I don’t like that uncertainty. I haven’t told Michelle about us, so I have a good leg to stand on in that sense. But I’m half afraid they’re going to somehow figure out a way to blame me for the pregnancy, as if I had a choice in the matter.
My brothers arrive one at a time; Micah, Mason, then Xander. In order of age. It’s as if it was planned. Everyone but Xander looks vaguely apologetic as they take their seats at our casual lunch and are served Cobb salad and wine. Xander is wearing his ‘alpha face’ and he greets Michelle civilly but his lack of overt welcome is cold enough that Michelle slips me a worried glance. I bare my teeth a little in Xander’s direction and he only raises an eyebrow.
Goddamn alphas.
After lunch, I explain to Michelle that I need to go talk to my brothers. Luckily, my mother is being wonderful about keeping her happy and entertained. She says she’s taking Michelle on the grand tour which, knowing my mother, could take nearly all day. My father retreats upstairs after squeezing my shoulder and giving me a hopeful smile.
I follow my brothers to the study where important meetings between us are generally held. It means something that Xander stopped everything to come to the estate for this. He’s the CEO of a major corporation. It hits home how significant this all is. Which doesn’t make me feel any better.
The Tremblay study is huge with old wood walls, oiled to a sheen regularly, and shelves full of antique books. It’s an impressive library. If you know which candlestick to pull, a wall opens and takes you through a secret passage to a hidden room where the real library is. That’s where all the tombs telling the clan history are as well as photos and other memorabilia that we wouldn’t want to see fall into the wrong hands. The study looks like any old fashioned rich man’s library. Mason pours us drinks and I lean near the doorway and take a sip of whiskey, absently spinning the antique globe standing nearby.
I can’t help but notice that the long table where meetings of import with other pack alphas and elders of the clan have met has just been shined up and cleared of the books and papers that usually litter the surface.
Oh.
Of course.
“Xander,” I say quietly, becau
se he hasn’t made a peep yet. He spins on his heel, regarding me with his tumbler of bourbon. “Are there more coming?”
My brothers look at each other in a way that lets me know there are definitely more shifters coming and that they all knew. I don’t know why they didn’t warn me but it feels a little bit like a betrayal.
“Okay,” I say slowly, trying to contain my temper. “You’re bringing the alphas here to throw down the hammer? Is that it?”
“You know this isn’t just about you and the pack, little brother,” Xander says gravely. “This is about the good of the entire clan. There’s a reason we don’t mix with humans.”
“Do you think I’d forget everything I’ve been taught?” I say. “And spare me the ‘little brother’ cracks. For God’s sake, Xander, I’m thirty. I’m not a pup anymore.”
Xander looms over me but I don’t care. He may be the alpha, but I’m no longer his baby brother, not when I have a pup on the way. It strikes me that despite the way it happened, I’ll be a father before any of them.
“We know that,” Mason says, quietly, ever the peacemaker. He steps closer, coming between Xander and I. Only now do I notice the way my teeth are bared. I’ve been growling under my breath.
If Xander and I ever did get into it for real, it would not be pretty.
“We know you’re not a kid anymore,” Mason says. “But I think Xander was right to call the alphas and elders in. This is entirely new territory, Aaron. You must realize that. We’re sorry we didn’t warn you. Aren’t we, Xander?”
“I do apologize for that,” Xander allows. Mason’s always been a little bit like Xander’s lieutenant. He keeps Xander from going too far sometimes. “I’m sorry we didn’t give you a heads up. Things have happened fast. You know that better than anyone.”
Xander and I nodat each other. At peace, if only for now. I drain my drink just to take the edge off. I’m going to need to be a little relaxed if the alphas and elders are coming.
Technically, our father is an alpha and should be attending too. But Mason tells me that father considers himself too close to all this. He knows he would take my side out of love rather than choose loyalty over the clan. I find the thought of that heart warming.
The alphas all arrive at once; the Didions from Seattle, the Shermans from Olympia, the Astins from Spokane, the Vallens from Takoma…
Each one brings an elder with them. Just greeting them all and breaking the ice before the formality of a meeting takes a good hour. I wonder how Michelle is doing. I’m grateful my mother is keeping her occupied.
“We all know why we’re here,” my brother says, once everyone is seated at the table. As the alpha of the most formidable pack in the clan, he leads the meeting. Even my involvement won’t break with that tradition. “You all know my youngest brother, Aaron Tremblay. I want to remind everyone here, that my brother has always been a loyal and true member of his pack and of his clan. He has followed the letter of the shifter law since boyhood. Never straying. Yet now, he finds himself in an impossible situation. We have always been told that shifters could not impregnate humans. Yet now it has happened. I ask the clan to consider the unprecedented nature of this turn of events. I ask them not to blame my brother no matter what decision is made in regards to this situation. For my brother is blameless-”
“He’s mixed with humans!” That’s Jack Didion, who rises from his chair, looking pissy as usual. “If he hadn’t been cavorting with humans in the first place, he wouldn’t have this problem.”
“I was not in a romantic relationship with Michelle when this happened,” I say, feeling the need to speak up for myself. Xander shoots me a look but doesn’t stop me. “It was one night of passion. No dating or anything of the sort. We’d both agreed to that. And I haven’t told her anything of my true self.”
“You were still...cavorting,” Jack says, narrowing his eyes. A sharp jolt of anger courses through me and I curl my lip. He curls his back.
“Yes,” the Sherman alpha pipes up. “It wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t have gone sleeping with humans. He should’ve known better.”
There’s a rumble of agreement between Sherman, Didion, and the other alphas, and I grit my teeth.
“Calm yourselves, sons,” the Didion elder says. At least he’s more reasonable than his pack-mate.
Micah snorts in derision from his seat and I look over in surprise. He’s barely spoken today and he never says much at these meetings generally. He’s more than happy to let the ‘grown-ups’ make the decisions, as he puts it.
“You guys are full of it,” he says, motioning to Jack Didion and the other alphas.
“Micah!” Xander hisses.
“No, Xan, come on,” Micah says. He even stands up as if formally addressing everyone. “Anybody who’s never slept with a human, raise your hand?”
One elder from the Astin pack raises his hand and Micah cracks up laughing.
“Exactly my point,” Micah says. “This could’ve happened to any one of us. Aaron did nothing wrong. Except maybe for having so much manhood he managed to knock up a human with his pup. But I can’t blame him for that either.” He tosses me a wink and I cover my mouth, stifling a laugh.
The Sherman elder clears his throat, silencing the room. “I can agree to the contention that Aaron Tremblay has broken no laws of the clan. But what’s really at stake is what we are to do with a human woman carrying a pup. Humans and shifters are not to mix.”
“I believe she’s my mate,” I say quietly.
That throws everyone into a riot of arguments again and Xander shoots me an exasperated look.
The Vallen elder stands and spreads his hands until everyone is quiet. “I think I may have an answer to how this occurred. It may even simplify things. Generations ago, back in...oh, I believe it was the 1890’s, there was a naturalist by the name of Krakauer. He studied wolves and even lycanthropy in Oregon. He used to bring his daughter along on trips into the woods to study the behavior of the wolves. But his daughter was bitten one day by a shifter. Through some inexplicable accident of her genes and the introduction of shifter genes, she was changed. Any other human would have died, unless they were immediately turned. The girl neither died, nor was she turned. She had shifter genes yet she did not shift. She was neither completely human nor completely shifter. It is thought that her descendents would be something in between and I would contend that such a person could be impregnated by a shifter. We would need to be a blood test to be sure. But that is my theory.”
The elder sits down and I find myself smiling. I look at him and he gives me a wink.
This changes everything and it feels me with hope. If Michelle isn’t fully human and is instead part shifter, she can’t fall under the law of not mixing with humans. It’s no wonder I feel so strongly that she’s my mate. She is my mate. I’m not crazy.
“She could just miscarry,” Jack Didion says. He speaks so casually as if the miscarriage of my child wouldn’t be earth shattering.
I growl in his direction and Mason squeezes my arm. “He’s a jackass, Aaron,” Mason whispers in my ear. “Don’t mind him.”
“She may or she may not,” the Sherman elder says. “But this theory, if proven true, would change the situation significantly. If she has a shifter gene, I say she is as good as a shifter and I believe Aaron Tremblay should be free to marry this mate if he so desires, and certainly to raise his pup.”
I don’t change my expression, remaining calm and resolute. The thought that I might be able to freely be with Michelle tugs at my heart, though I refuse that emotion here. The clan is old fashioned about that sort of thing. They don’t want to see that kind of weakness.
“I think we should proceed with a blood test,” the Astin elder says. “As soon as possible.”
“I think we should leave that to the Tremblays,” the Sherman elder says. “Xander has been a responsible alpha in dealing with this situation, and the Tremblays remain the most formidable of packs in the Northwest. We shou
ld trust Xander to handle this among his brothers and keep us apprised; we’ll reconvene when we have more information. All agreed?”
The Didions vote against but they’re outnumbered. It’s not a complete resolution but I’m feeling much better. I’m confident that a blood test would show that Michelle has the shifter gene.
Now I just have to prove it.
Chapter Twelve: Michelle
Aaron’s mom likes to talk and at the moment, I am only grateful. Going to the Tremblay estate is even more intimidating than I imagined it would be. The sheer size of the grounds is one thing. I’ve never been to a place like that, outside my college campus. In my job, I work for plenty of wealthy people. But seeing the scale of wealth face to face is another thing. I wonder about little things. Like who does the landscaping for the Tremblays? There must be an entire staff of people around just to cut the grass and trim the hedges. There are topiaries behind the mansion; two hedges shaped to look like rabbits. I wonder if there’s a seperate guy who just does topiaries or if that’s the regular landscaper too?
So many questions.
The very idea that my boyfriend’s family has a butler nearly made me crack up laughing when he took my coat. Butlers just seems like a fanciful thing that can’t possibly be real, sort of like a unicorn.
After lunch, Aaron’s mother, who insists I call her Elaine, hooks her arm through mine again and starts our grand tour. The only room off limits is the study where Aaron is meeting with his brothers. I catch a glimpse through a window in the parlor of a whole crowd of men in suits out front by the cars. Elaine assures me that because their place is so big and fancy, people are always using it to meet here, and I shouldn’t pay it any mind.
I like Elaine because she does seem genuinely sweet and even when she talks about the grandness of the place she makes it seem as if she’s as surprised as I am. She’s not patronizing at all. Still, I know she’s also full of shit. Something serious is going down and I know it involves Aaron. They just don’t want to tell me what it is. But I hold my tongue for now.
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