Cynthia Harlow looked back and forth between her son Hudson and her mate Ben. it didn’t matter to her that her son’s mate was not a wolf. All she cared about was that her son was happy. She was concerned about the reaction from her mate. She didn’t know how he was going to react. This wasn’t something they had talked about. Ben probably automatically assumed that their son’s mate was going to be a wolf, especially since he was in line to be the next Alpha of their pack once Ben stepped down.
Cynthia looked at her mate who still looked shocked by the announcement.
Cynthia laid her hand on her mate’s arm and said, “I think that’s wonderful that you’ve found your mate. What’s her name?”
Hudson was hesitant to say her name. But he knew they would find out sooner or later, and it was best that it came from him and not someone else.
“Amanda. Amanda Stevens.”
Ben sat up straight in his seat when he recognized the name. But his wife spoke before he could.
“Hudson, are you talking about little Mandi Stevens?” Cynthia asked.
Hudson nodded slowly.
“She doesn’t like to be called Little Mandi anymore.”
Cynthia nodded. “I could understand why. How did you find out that she’s your mate?”
Hudson took his time answering the question, looking at his father and trying to get a read on how his father was handling all this.
“I found out the first day of school when I saw her in one of my classes.”
“Does she know anything about what you are?” Ben asked.
Hudson shook his head and then lowered it.
Ben ran both hands through his hair. He was trying to figure out how to best handle this and not say something that could be taken out of context. He knew his mate could feel his anxiety and continued talking with Hudson, getting all the details. This was one of the things he loved about his mate. How easily she was able to read him and calmly handle a situation without flying off the handle.
“Why don’t you start at the beginning.”
Hudson let out a long sigh and started to explain everything that had happened in just the last week.
“When I smelled the Lycan on her, my wolf and I were just about to go crazy. It took everything I had to get out of there without showing my anger. She doesn’t deserve it. I know she doesn’t know what is going on or who to trust. But I don’t want her to be in the middle of this. But it seems that this Lycan has found out who my mate is, and I have no idea who they are.”
Hudson’s chest was starting to move faster as he was trying to calm his wolf down. He leaned over and buried his face in his hands, not knowing what his father was going to say to all this.
“Alright, Hudson, calm down and take a deep breath. I’m glad you came to us to get some advice,” Ben told him.
Hudson looked up at his father, “You are?”
Ben nodded. “Of course, that’s what we are here for. I know sometimes it can be hard to see that since we are the Alphas and we strive to put the pack first. But you will always be my son.”
“What about Amanda being human and my mate?” Hudson asked him.
Ben shook his head. “I’m not going to tell you to reject your mate because she’s human. But I do need to see how she is with you. Is she going to be supportive of you and give you the strength you need to Alpha of this pack? There are a lot of things that go into being the Luna of a pack. It’s not all glitz and glam. You’ve seen how hard your mom has to work. I need to know that she can handle all the stress that comes with the title.”
Hudson smirked. “She put uo with me and all the hell I put her through for four years. She’s definitely a tough girl.”
“Good. now about this Lycan. I’ll get in touch with some of the other packs and see if they have heard anything. I’ll also get some of our warriors to do patrols around the campus. That should hopefully help with the attacks. Now, Hudson, you need to find out how Amanda feels about you and how she’s going to handle hearing about what you really are. Talk with Tabitha and get her thoughts on this.”
Hudson nodded and then got up from his chair.
“Thank you, Mom and Dad. I’m glad I came home to talk to you about all this,” he said as he hugged his mom.
“Hudson, we are always here for you. Just because you are going to be Alpha doesn’t mean you have to handle everything by yourself. An Alpha is only as strong as the people around him. A smart Alpha knows when to ask for help.”
Hudson let out a long breath. “That’s good to know. I’ve got to head back.”
His father nodded.
Hudson walked out of this father’s office. He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and he was relieved that he had the support of his parents about his mate.
Now he needed to figure out how he was going to tell Amanda that she was mated to a shifter wolf and not just any wolf but him.
Amanda got to the restaurant that Kimmy told her to meet her at. After a long shower and taking her time getting ready, she was ready to put what happened this morning behind her and just have a good time with the girls.
Tabitha was waiting outside for her.
“Hey, how did your classes go today?” Amanda asked when she stood next to Tabitha.
“Fine, just still getting used to the schedule.”
“Have you seen Marco at all?”
Tabitha tensed when she heard Amanda say the name of her mate. Her wolf was going crazy since he left this morning. And whenever she tried to reach out to him by mind-link, he wouldn’t answer.
Tabita shook her head. “Nope.”
Amanda sat next to Tabitha as they waited for Kimmy to show up.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you were interested in Marco?”
Tabitha shook her head softly as she looked out into the distance. She let out a breath before answering. “I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t ready to talk about it or openly admit that I had feelings for him.”
Amanda gives her a small smile. “I can completely understand what you mean.”
Tabitha laughed before looking at Amanda, “Yeah, I guess you can. Speaking of which, did Hudson ever text you about why he acted the way he did?”
“Nope,” Amanda said while she shook her head.
“It’s fine. There’s not anything going on between us, right? We’re just supposed to be friends. Nothing more.” Amanda looked down at her hands. She twisted her fingers.
She felt Tabitha’s hand cover hers.
“Amanda, is that what you really want?” Tabitha asked her.
“Hey, girls!”
Both Amanda and Tabitha looked up to see Kimmy making her way toward them.
“Sorry, I’m late. I’m starving. Let’s head in,” Kimmy told them as she made her way to the door of the restaurant.
Amanda looked at Tabitha and smiled.
“Let’s eat.”