Chapter 3

 

Hannah slammed the door of the truck shut and stared apprehensively at the farmhouse. Her pulse thudding heavily, she started up the steps of the porch. The door flung open and her mom charged out on to the porch and threw her arms around her.

“Oh, Hannah.” She kissed her repeatedly on the cheek as she squeezed her tightly and Hannah’s eyes started to water when her mom burst into tears.

“We were so worried. Come in, right now.”

She followed her mom in and was immediately surrounded by her father and the twins. Reuben, barking shrilly, was dancing at her feet and her mother scooped him up and scolded him lightly as her dad hugged her tightly.

“Hi, baby girl.”

“Hi, dad.” She smiled at him and he kissed her forehead before stepping back and letting Luther and Tyrone at her. She hugged them tightly, kissing first Tyrone’s cheek and then Luther’s before smiling at them.

“You two look great.”

Luther rolled his eyes. “You saw us four days ago.”

“I know. It feels longer.” She kissed them again and they both groaned and pushed away from her.

“She’s got a point.” Tyrone said. “The last time she saw us we were covered in ash and blood from the vampire ass we kicked.”

He held up his hand and Luther fist bumped it before turning back to Hannah. “Hey, has that cold stone fox been asking about me?”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her as Tyrone punched him in the back. “She’s a wolf, you idiot.”

“I know!” Luther scowled at him before punching him in the arm. “You think I don’t know what my future wife is?”

“Please! One little kiss don’t mean she’s gonna lie on her back and spread her – “

“Tyrone!” Jim said sharply.

Tyrone shut his mouth with a snap and gave Natalie a guilty look. “Sorry, ma’am.”

“That’s alright, dear.” Natalie patted his arm. “But let’s remember that a gentleman never speaks poorly of a woman. Right?”

“Right, ma’am.” Tyrone replied.

Natalie curled her arm around Hannah’s shoulders and led her into the kitchen. “Come sit down, honey. We’ll have a cup of tea. Your father is determined to give you a lecture for staying away so long and you know that normally I’d remind him that you’re a grown woman and free to live your own life, but not this time I’m afraid. You really do owe us an apology.”

“I’m sorry.” Hannah said sincerely. “I shouldn’t have been avoiding you, it’s just that – “

She took a deep breath and smiled at her dad. “Go ahead, lecture. I’m ready.”

Her dad shook his head and squeezed her hand as he sat down next to her. “I’m just glad you’re okay, Hannah Banana.”

“Softie.” Natalie muttered under her breath before smiling cheerfully at the four of them. “Who wants pie with the tea?”

Luther and Tyrone jumped up and hurried into the pantry to grab the pie as Natalie put the kettle on and took down five plates.

“Is Heather okay?” Hannah asked suddenly.

“She’s fine. She was actually out here earlier this morning for a visit. We’ve been staying at the farmhouse with the boys and I asked her to stay too but she wanted to go back home.” Natalie replied.

“Are you okay, Hannah?” Her father gave her a sympathetic look and squeezed her hand again. “Barb told us about Richard and about Chen losing his hand. How is he?”

“I’m not really sure. He woke up yesterday and I visited with him for a bit but he was still a little groggy. We didn’t really talk about his hand.”

Her throat burning and tears threatening again, she accepted the steaming mug of tea her mother held out to her. She sipped cautiously at it as Luther and Tyrone dug into their pieces of apple pie.

“Poor Chen.” Natalie sighed. “I wanted to go and visit him but Mannie won’t let us into the facility right now.”

“They’re still doing clean up.” Hannah replied. “Trust me, you don’t want to see the place.”

“So many lives lost.” Natalie sighed again. “How is Will? I’m surprised he didn’t come with you.”

Hannah winced. “Listen, mom, dad, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s um, it’s kind of complicated but when I was fighting Samuel, he stabbed me. Will was there and he – “

She paused, feeling her cheeks heating up and her hands trembling. How exactly did one tell their parents that their daughter was a Lycan now?

“He - and I want you to know that he did this to save my life – he, well….”

“He bit you. We already know, dear.” Natalie popped a forkful of pie into her mouth and chewed delicately before staring at Luther.

“Luther, dearest, you have apple on your face.”

He swiped at his face and she grinned and wiped away the chunk of apple with her thumb.

“Thank you, Natalie.” Luther said politely.

“You’re welcome, dear. Why don’t you and Tyrone have another piece each but that’s it. Supper will be ready in a few hours. You’re staying for supper, I assume?” She arched her eyebrow at Hannah.

Hannah, her mouth open and her eyes wide, stared at her mother and then at her father. He was washing down the last bite of his pie with a swallow of tea and he winked at his wife. “The pie was delicious, Nat. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, honey.”

“Mom…” Hannah reached out and touched her mother’s hand.

“Yes?”

“I – you understand what this means, right?”

“Of course we do.” She frowned at Hannah.

“It means you’re gonna wolf out and howl at the moon.” Tyrone snickered as Luther grinned at her.

“You should shift right now – let’s see what you look like.”

“No!” Hannah took a deep breath. “I – I don’t have a lot of control over it right now. I’ve only shifted once and I – well, let’s just say it didn’t go well.”

“That’s alright, honey. You’ll get the hang of it.” Her father patted her hand before carrying his plate to the sink. He rinsed it and placed it in the dishwasher before lifting the kettle. “More tea, Nat?”

“Yes, please.” She said cheerfully. She smiled at Tyrone when he took her empty plate and carried it to the counter. “Thank you, Tyrone. You’re such a sweet boy.”

“Not that you aren’t either, Luther.” She went on hastily. “You know I love both my boys.”

“We love you too.” Tyrone said shyly. His face red, he dropped a quick kiss on her cheek before sitting back down beside Luther. He ignored his brother when Luther elbowed him in the ribs and muttered, “pussy” under his breath.

Hannah stared at the four of them before leaning forward. “Mom, you know I’m not the same anymore, right? I’m a Lycan now and I – “

“You’re still our Hannah. And honestly, we’re just grateful you’re alive. We don’t care what you are. Well, obviously we’re thankful you’re not one of those horrid leeches.” Her mother replied with a frown.

“You’re not afraid of me?”

“Why would we be?” Her father gave her a blank look.

“I don’t know, I just…” Hannah trailed off.

“Is that why you’ve been avoiding us? Because you thought we’d be scared of you?” Her mother shook her head. “Oh Hannah. You know us better than that.”

“Although,” she frowned in sudden thought, “I do hope this doesn’t mean you’ll stop eating vegetables. I know Lycans like meat but it’s important to maintain a healthy balance. You have to promise me you’ll keep eating your vegetables, dear.”

When Hannah didn’t reply, she raised her eyebrows at her. “Promise me.”

“I promise.”

“Good.” Natalie smiled in satisfaction and took another drink of tea.

Hannah, feeling a strange mixture of fierce gratitude and shock, stared at her uneaten piece of pie. “How did you know I was a Lycan?”

There was no reply and she glanced up to see her parents giving her an odd look.

“Mom? Dad? How did you know?” She persisted.

Jim frowned at her. “Will told us. Didn’t he tell you?”

“What?” She stared at him in shock and pushed her plate away.” You’ve seen him? When? How?”

“He came by the farmhouse the morning after the attack at the facility. We had just gotten here ourselves and Mannie had just dropped the boys off to us.” Natalie said gently. “He was in his wolf form and terribly upset. It took us forever to convince him to shift to his human form and talk to us.”

“He’s terribly upset?” Hannah snapped. “He just took off after saving my life. He’s been roaming around the woods for the last four days avoiding everyone except my parents, apparently, and I had no idea if he was even okay. He just leaves me to deal with this alone, and he’s terribly upset?”

Her voice was rising and Jim gave Natalie an uneasy look before holding Hannah’s hand. “Honey, I know you don’t want to hear this right now but Will feels awful for what he did.”

“Well, he shouldn’t.” Hannah snapped again. “He saved my life and if he wasn’t being such a stubborn jackass, I’d tell him that myself.”

She made herself take a deep breath. “Why did he come to the farmhouse?”

“He wanted to tell us himself what he had done.” Jim replied. “He didn’t want there to be any misunderstanding about why he bit you.”

“The poor boy. You know, I actually think he expected Jim to just haul off and hit him.” Natalie shook her head. “We, of course, were just grateful that he had saved your life.”

“Has he been back?” Hannah asked.

“No. We haven’t seen him since. Honestly, I assumed that he was going back to the facility to check on you.”

“Well, he didn’t.” Hannah retorted.

“I think he just needs some time.” Natalie said softly. “He’s changed your life forever and I know it was done to save you, but it’s a still a difficult thing to process.”

“He’s still a jackass.”

“Oh, undoubtedly.” Natalie grinned at her. “Did I ever tell you about the time that your father decided he would cut my hair?”

Her father groaned and stood up. “That’s my cue to leave. Boys? Shall we retire to the living room and watch football?”

The three of them left the room as Natalie settled back in her chair. “It was just after we were married, long before you came along, and your father had just started his own accounting practice. It wasn’t doing great and we were tight on money so we started looking for ways to cut expenses. Your father had the brilliant idea that he would cut my hair. I was, as you can imagine, skeptical but I did need a trim so I took a chance.”

“And?”

“Oh my gosh, it was awful! Your father couldn’t cut a straight line to save his life.” Natalie said dramatically. “He just kept cutting and cutting – just to even up the edges - and finally I just ripped the damn scissors out of his hand. I went to the bathroom mirror, took one look at myself, and burst into tears. I looked like a lead singer from a terrible nineties rock band. Do you remember how bad their hair was?”

Hannah couldn’t stop the grin. “Yeah, I remember.”

“I was so mad at your father, I wouldn’t talk to him for a week straight. He felt terrible, of course. Kept begging for my forgiveness and asking what he could do to make it better. He even booked me an appointment at my regular salon to get it fixed, but I refused to go at first. I was just being petty and miserable, but eventually I got over myself and went to the appointment. After all, I had said he could cut my hair.”

Hannah smiled again. “I can’t believe you never told me that story before.”

“Well, I didn’t act very kind in it, did I? I wasn’t keen on telling either you or your sister that I could, from time to time, be a spoiled brat.” Natalie laughed.

“The point is, Will feels just as terrible for what he’s done as your father did for giving me that haircut. It’s going to – “

She stopped. “Oh dear, that wasn’t a very good analogy at all was it? I thought it was but I hardly suppose that being turned into a Lycan and getting a bad haircut is in any way remotely similar.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, Hannah.”

“It’s fine, mom. It was a good story.” Hannah squeezed her hand.

“Will loves you. He won’t be able to stay away for long, even with the guilt he feels. And when he returns to you, you can give him the tongue-lashing he deserves for running away and then tell him that you love him and he has nothing to feel bad about.” Natalie said firmly.

Hannah didn’t reply and Natalie frowned at her. “Does he need to feel bad about it?”

“No. It’s just – I’m afraid, mom. I got angry and upset yesterday and I shifted for the first time and nearly killed Douglas. If Selena hadn’t shot me, I think I might have.”

Natalie twitched a little. “Selena shot you?”

“Yes. Don’t worry. It won’t kill me if it isn’t a silver bullet.”

“Fascinating!” Natalie said brightly.

“But I can’t control it. I don’t want to hurt people but when I shift, I just… Douglas says that some humans who are bitten become dangerous. They never learn to control it.”

“You will.” Natalie said firmly. “You’ve never given up on something you wanted before, and this will be no different. Now, let’s go sit with your father and the boys for a bit and then you can help me start dinner. Alright?”

“Okay. I love you, mom.”

“I love you too, dear.”