Shifting Boundaries

Chapter 14

Everett

I knew my mother well enough to know that Felix's gender wouldn't be an issue. If anything upset her, it would be that I had known him for two and a half weeks already and hadn't moved in with him or told her about him before now. I was counting on her excitement to drown out her disappointment in me.

I drove through pack lands until I reached her house, which was on the edge of the property. Mom had chosen to move us to the Delta pack when I was a teenager because they had a daycare position available for her and because I dreamed of living in a pack like this one, where I would be encouraged to nurture my brains over my brawn. Even then, I had loved numbers and had known I would go into some STEM-related field.

Mom missed our old pack, though she rarely admitted it. She didn't like how built up things were here, how close together the houses were. That's why I had to drive out to see her, because her house was on the edge of pack lands, tucked away from everyone else.

I knew Mom had a late start on Wednesdays, not going into work until eleven. I also knew that she would be awake now. She claimed she was easing into the retirement lifestyle, slowly cutting her hours back as years passed. I didn't think she would ever quit entirely. She loved working at the pack's daycare too much.

I pulled my car behind hers and got out, completely unsurprised to see my mother standing in the open doorway of her home with a fuzzy pink robe on and a steaming mug in her hands, waiting for me.

I made my way up the driveway, unable to fight back the smile I'd been wearing since my conversation with Felix. She would know something was up, but I couldn't help it.

"Everett," Mom said, looking surprised. "You know I'm happy you're here, but what's the occasion?"

"Jeez, Mom, aren't you going to invite me in before interrogating me?" I teased.

Mom pulled a folded-up newspaper from her robe pocket – one that was sure to have a completed crossword in it – and swiped lightly at my nose like I was a misbehaving child. "I never raised you to be so insolent," she said, laughing. Mom stepped back so I could follow her into the house and poured another mug of coffee for me.

We sat at her kitchen table, where I fidgeted nervously, feeling oddly shy. Mom just watched me patiently, her lips twitching in amusement every now and then. She always had been good at waiting me out.

Finally, I broke. The persistent smile on my face widened and I said, "Mom, I found my mate."

She set her mug down so hard its contents splashed on the table and rushed out of her seat to launch herself at me in a tight hug. "Oh, Everett!"

I patted her back and tried not to laugh too hard. I'd always badly wanted to find my mate, and part of what I had dreamed of was telling my mother. It felt good to see her so happy. I had never understood why she wore a haunted expression so often while I was growing up, not until I learned about mates and what it really meant for her to have lost my father. Once I understood, I lived to make her smile.

Now that I had Felix, even after knowing him for such a short time, I couldn't imagine the pain my mother lived with every day.

I pulled myself back to reality, where my mother was gushing. "Tell me all about her! What pack is she in? How many kids does she want? When can I meet her?"

"Slow down, Mom," I said, laughing at her assumption. And why shouldn't she assume my mate would be a woman? After all, that had been my assumption, too.

"What's her name?" she continued.

I wondered how long my mother could go on asking questions before giving me a chance to answer any of them and decided to cut in. "First off, you should know that my mate is a man." The words were easier to get out than I ever could have imagined. In fact, I kind of enjoyed saying it because the look of surprise on my mother's face was so comical.