Chapter 10

Despite having told Mom that I had more friends than just Alec and Rachel, I was pretty stunned by how fast my calendar had filled up. Aspen with Alec, lunch with Sam and Alison, dinner, sort of, with Ben and the crew.

Being busy with friends was pretty much foreign to my existence. It had seemed to reassure Mom though. Obviously if I had that many friends and she hadn't seen Alec since, I must not be in some kind of nightmare co-dependent relationship.

Not only had Mom not freaked out about my Saturday lunch appointment, she'd actually been excited to hear that I was going to the Funcade with Rachel, Jasmin and Ben. I hadn't talked to her about Aspen yet. I was pretty sure the parental leniency was only going to go so far.

Sam and Alison arrived as I was running through Mom's latest batch of pictures with her.

"Hi, guys, this is my mom. Mom, Alison and Sam."

Alison swept into the house and waved at my mom. "Hi, Mrs. Paige. We've heard a lot about you. How was Europe?"

"Exhausting. They kept me so busy with shoots it was all I could do to drag myself back to my hotel room each night. I didn't see much in the way of sights, but it was good experience."

I swung the door shut behind Sam and cleared my throat. "Do you guys mind waiting for just a minute? Mom and I were just about finished running through the stuff she shot yesterday. She hates it when I bail midway through, says it ruins her artistic vibe."

"Don't be silly, dear. I don't expect your friends to just sit around. We've already been through most of the decent stuff. Don't let me hold you up."

Sam smiled earnestly. "Actually, Mrs. Paige, we'd love to see some of your work. Were you shooting in Zions again?"

"I was. There's a spot just west of Angel's Landing that I've been trying to catch in the right light almost since we arrived."

We all crowded around Mom's laptop.

"What about this one, Adri?"

"I don't know, Mom. I think the birds actually ruin it. If you sell it as a smaller print they look like smudges and even with a larger print they're kind of asymmetrical, not in a good way."

Sam shook his head as we finished and Mom set her laptop down. "That's amazing. I mean it isn't very often you get to sit in on a piece of the creative process like that. You're really good, Mrs. Paige."

Mom blushed slightly. "Thanks. I'm still a long way from being where I need to be but I do appreciate the flattery. Careful, Alison. Sam seems like he could be quite the heart-throb."

Alison chuckled. "Oh, he's good, but not nearly as good as he thinks he is."

"I guess we can't all be Casanovas like Alec."

Sam said it with a smile, but there was an edge to his eyes. I was so busy wondering if he and Alison had been fighting lately that I was halfway to the door before I realized Mom's expression had become just the slightest bit fixed.

"You know Alec well, Sam?"

"Yeah. As well as anyone really knows him I guess. He's kind of a private kind of person."

I never would have believed that things could go bad this quick. Whatever had Sam bent out of shape would have to be addressed later. For now I just needed to get him out of the house before Mom completely freaked out.

As if reading my mind, Alison punched Sam lightly in the shoulder. "Alec's a good guy and you know it. Not many people would take in the Dominics and Jasmins of the world like he has."

Mom's expression didn't unfreeze much, but I figured nothing I could say would really fix things right now.

"Shall we head out, guys?"

There was exactly one fast-food place in Sanctuary, and it was surprisingly empty for a Saturday. I managed not to say anything until we made it to Big Al's.

"What is up with you today, Sam? You do remember that I'm dating Alec, right? After that comment, it's going to be that much harder to convince my mom that Alec's not some kind of monster."

"No pun intended, right?" Alison had the grace to look abashed, but Sam's words weren't the apology I was expecting.

"I'm serious. My mom was already freaked out. She's got this thing against rich guys."

"You're right. I shouldn't have said that. Things are just getting pretty bad with Alec gone. The dominants are all riding us pretty hard. Alison is little more than a slave, fetching and carrying for Isaac and Jess."

Alison put a hand on Sam's arm. "That's not entirely fair. We're shape shifters; that's how things work. Dominants boss the submissives around."

"Right, which is totally in keeping with Alec's squeaky-clean image. If anything it's worse that we're being treated like that here. I thought we'd finally be beyond this crap."

I grabbed a French fry while I stalled for time to think. "I thought things were a lot better since you guys came over from Brandon's pack."

Sam shrugged. "It's all relative. We get the crap kicked out of us no matter where we go; Alec was just more misleading about what we were getting into."

Alison looked for a second like she was going to interject something, but instead looked down and grabbed a fry of her own.

I shook my head. "That doesn't sound right, doesn't sound like what Alec is trying to do."

"Maybe you're right, maybe he isn't trying to do that to us, but that's what's happening. Even Jasmin has been riding us lately, and she has less reason than anyone. I know Jack is kind of a maniac, but none of us has done anything to her."

"I'll talk to the others. No promises, but we've been through a lot together so maybe it will help."

Sam smiled. "Thanks, Adriana. By the way, good luck helping Jasmin catch Ben. He seems like a pretty hard sell."