Lost Puppy

‹ T W E L V E ›

‹ B E A U

"Is this your Dad?" Kolbe asked, picking up a picture of my old man. He was smiling with his arms wrapped around my mother, he dwarfed her smaller frame. The picture was taken at a family barbecue. Rowan and I had to be six and ten at the time. We weren't in the picture, probably off somewhere playing with our cousins. I felt the familiar tightness enter my chest, although the pain had dulled over time it still hurt. "You look just like him."

"Yeah, that's my pops. He passed away six years ago." I said softly. Placing the picture back, the little wolf turned around and immediately wrapped his arms around my waist. I hugged him back as he looked up at me with sadness and understanding in his brown eyes. He didn't have to say anything for me to know exactly what he was trying to convey. I leaned down and he stood on his tiptoes allowing our lips to meet in a soft brief kiss.

A few days after discovering that Kolbe was my mate, my Mama invited us to have lunch with her at her house. Kolbe was immediately excited and was practically bursting with it. Seeing him smile like that did strange wonderful things to my heart. I'd probably give anything to see him light up like that again. Although this was supposed to be a pleasure trip I had every intention of interrogating my mother about how she knew much about werewolves. Or children of the moon as she called them. Now that I had one as a mate, I wanted to know what her connection was to him if there even was one.

"Alright boys, come on," My mama called from the kitchen. Settling back on the heels of his feet, Kolbe followed me in the direction of my mother's voice. As the days passed I noticed that it was getting harder not to be in skin to skin contact with him as much as I physically could. It literally drove me crazy when he was more than three feet away from me. Apparently that as the effect of what Kolbe had described as a mate bond. As a result, I kept Kolbe's hand firmly clasped in my hand as I lead him through my childhood home.

When we got here my Mama was in the middle of making her famous baked ziti. After allowing her to nearly suffocate Kolbe and myself in her hugs, I decided to leave her to her work and show Kolbe around the old two story house. Starting with my old bedroom. Mostly everything in there was still intact and I enjoyed watching Kolbe exploring the room and showing interest in every little detail of my childhood. It both saddened and angered me that he wasn't able to have a normal childhood with a room, and a bed and his own set of toys. I didn't want to think about it anymore otherwise I'd only succeed in pissing myself off over circumstances I couldn't change. 

My mom smiled at us as we entered the kitchen while wiping her hand on a paper towel. 

"Ziti's in the oven, let's go talk in the sunroom while we wait." My Mama didn't wait for us to acknowledge her. The door to the so-called sunroom was in the kitchen and it lead to a patio like room with chairs and a couch as well as a coffee table. My mom sat on one of the chairs facing the sectional. I sat on the couch and Kolbe settled next to me. 

"It's good to see you again Mrs. Carter," Kolbe spoke up respectfully, a happy smile spreading across his face. It really should be illegal to be that adorable. 

"Call me Mama, baby, you're part of the family." My Mama corrected gently. A flush filled Kolbe's cheeks, I could tell her words meant a lot to him. The wolfman nodded, beaming at her. Angelene smiled back revealing the two dimples in her cheeks. 

"Thank you," Kolbe said you could hear the gratefulness in his voice. It was in instances like these that I felt the intense desire to make Kolbe the happiest person in the world. I never wanted to see him upset, it literally caused me physical pain. 

"No need to thank me, honey," My mother laced her fingers together as a somber expression flickered through her eyes. It was a look so sad it made me want to find out what caused it and then literally burn the culprit to ashes. Just as quick as it was there it was gone, though. "I'll grab some drinks." She stood and I immediately followed suit.