Free Me From the Wolves

[32] Natalie Everton

Andrew and I sat down on the bar of the kitchen's outer counter while Cassandra was on the opposite side, pressing her hands against the sink.

"So, obviously, your mom hasn't been around since you were toddlers," Cassandra began, looking at Andrew, but then shifted her eyesight back to her side of the counter.

"Get on with the story," Andrew only growled at her. He spoke in a cold temperament, but I knew he was hurting as much as I was.

"It was for the best interest of—"

"Of who?! Her mate, who she left behind or her children who never got to know her!?" Andrew interrupted once more and then I grabbed his hand. At first I thought he squeezed back in a form of appreciation, but then he threw the gesture away from him.

"Just start at the beginning," I mumbled.

"Well, your dad was here in Tyriette as he was meant to because it was after the house fire and he was the only male Everton heir," she told. The house fire was just another story I needed to ask of her, but I decided it would be saved for a later date. "Well one day, a girl and her family was traveling through the state and ended up stopping here in town and eventually met Albert...well as you know—" She looked at me. "—the imprint happened in that short time frame of them meeting and Albert wanted to follow her to Florida or at least be there when she would be."

"Florida," I repeated as if we were closer to information that I knew about.

"Yeah. She was a sophomore at Texas Tech and was driving to visit University of Florida to visit a friend and possibly transfer. Your dad was maybe twenty one or twenty two at the time and had an associate's degree because that's all the time he had to be away from college before our dad died and he had to come back to be in charge of the pack. But once he met Natalie, he was ready to change his life for her.

They ended up dating for the rest of the semester considering her school was a couple hours' drive from here, but once that year was up, he drove eight hours to Marc's school to tell him he needed to come back to Tyriette to run the pack because he imprinted and was moving to Florida to be with her and continue going to school."

"Okay. Maybe that's rash for normal couples, but mates should've been fine with the abrupt life shift," Andrew rolled his eyes.

"They were fine with the impulsivity of it all, actually," Cassandra frowned. "Natalie was so perfect for Albert and she and I were almost like real sisters because she fit in well with us. Even with knowing the werewolf secret." Cassandra made sure to look at me and Andrew now. "She didn't want to leave you. Not Albert and definitely not you two."

"Then why did she?" I asked. I had a mate. I understood that things moved fast with me and Ryder and it was like second nature to respond to it and adjust, so what was the problem if my mom was so "perfectly fit" into the Everton life?

"Between the time when your dad was here and Marc was graduating college, Albert didn't really know what was happening between him and Merida..." I remembered Merida telling me that she didn't believe in werewolves until my father requested Marc to move back to Tyriette to run the pack. "It's not that he didn't care or didn't acknowledge their imprint, but he was just focused on doing what he had to in order to be with Natalie and maintain the operation of the pack. But by the end of that summer when he was done packing to leave and Marc was officially back in Tyriette with his Merida as his fiancé, Albert went to the Donahues since they'd always been family friends and part of the Tyriette Tribe along with many Everton generations. He wanted to inform them of the new alpha of the Obsidian pack.

That's when he was warned that Marc would eventually have conflictions and skepticism. Albert thought they meant in terms of his new authority, but he learned that the warning was issued in regards to his imprint on Merida. See, mating and imprinting is much more natural and unwavering in bloodline werewolves. Bitten werewolves who are honored enough to imprint still have the slightest portions of doubt built in from years of unsure humanity. This being said, the Donahues were really warning him that Marc would eventually doubt his bond that left so much of his life's commitments in shams in reference to his lifelong courtship with Carol Bloomingdale." I remembered Merida telling me about her drama thinking that Marc was better suited with someone else. I also remembered Ryder telling me that his father wanted to push him and Stella together so they could still be in contact. It was a circle of uncertain feelings on Marc's part and I could see how we ended up where we were now.