Greta didn’t resemble Jai, since he got his colouring from his dad. Instead, I was pinned by two pale blue eyes that seemed to see everything.
“Well, I…”
“Good. I wouldn’t either. What kind of pack is this that we’d use young women to do our dirty work? Makes them look weak, though I’d be willing to bet it was just as much an attempt to see if you’d run.” I swallowed hard and shifted on my feet. “Yet, here you are. So you need to get to the McElroy’s then, Jai?”
“Ah, yeah, Mum. Just…go easy, OK?”
“Why, my darling boy,” Greta said with a slow smile, “what do you think I’m going to do to your prospective mate?”
“Everything she’s been told makes her want to run. Don’t give her an excuse.” I could feel the bite of his voice on my skin, making me shiver involuntarily. He turned to me. “I’ll be back soon. Just jump behind Jaz if she gets out of hand. She’s used to holding the old lady off.”
“Jai Angus Heller…” his mother growled.
“Fine, I’m going.”
“Jasmine, stop lurking in the kitchen. Make some tea and then come into the lounge room. If I’m to prepare the two of you, I may as well do it all at once.”
“So, you’ve decided to explore things with Jai?” Greta asked when the tea things were placed on the table. All pack conversations were held around a kitchen table, it felt. Biscuits, tea, and coffee somehow helped lubricate the process.
I looked up over my cup to see both Greta and Jaz looking at me.
“Um…yeah.”
Greta’s eyebrow shot up. “Not a ringing endorsement.”
“I’m sorry. I feel like there’s been this whole other side to things with the pack I didn’t know. It’s like my eyes have been opened or something. It’s kinda intense. As is he. Then I find out I…smell.”
The women shook their heads.
“Rob couldn’t keep his mouth shut,” Greta said.
“Or Jai couldn’t keep it in his pants.” Jasmine shot me a meaningful look. “Which one was it?”
“Ah…both.” I spooned way too much sugar into the coffee, trying to avoid their eyes, and stirred it in really thoroughly.
“Well, Ma, this is gonna be an easy one for you. The older girls filled me in a long time ago.”
“Jasmine, some decorum. OK, Shannon, let's go back a few steps. How about you tell us what you do know?”
How about no? I thought, but of course, I didn’t say that. I looked from one woman to the other, then shook my head. Basically, I just had to rip the band-aid off.
“Um…my scent changes apparently.”
“Yes.”
“That I’m not his mate until we’ve…until we’ve had sex, but it’s different from what happened after graduation.” I watched Greta’s jaw flex at that. “That he has a…knot. That if we have sex, he’ll need to lock inside me, and that’ll be the mate bond settled. That my body is changing.” Fuck it, there was no pussyfooting around this. “That apparently I’m carrying Niagara Falls between my legs, and that’s an indication I’m receptive to Jai.” My shoulders drooped, and I looked up, facing down the both of them. “That’s it I think.”
There were a lot of reactions I was expecting from Greta, but what I got wasn’t one of them. She emitted a short, dry laugh, almost a bark, Jasmine jumping beside her.
“Oh, those boys.” She shook her head. “The Niagara Falls you mentioned is called your slick. It indicates the beginning of a heat season, when you’ll indeed go through physical changes to be able to accept a man’s knot, but not necessarily Jai’s or Eddie’s. Slick means you are a potential mate for pack members, not them specifically.” She glanced at Jasmine, whose eyes went wide. “Men know who their mates are, but we don’t. Not without getting to know them better, not without trying them out.”
I nearly laughed at Jasmine’s expression. I could see the cogs whirring as she put two and two together. “So that means… Did you…?”
“‘Try anyone other than your father? No, Bill Heller wasn’t about to let anyone lay a finger on me.” Greta’s smile was smug. “But that’s all part of it. The theatre, the chase. Many a boy will make a play for a girl he doesn’t really want, even though he knows she’s someone else’s destined mate, because it gives him an opportunity to showboat before the single women. There’s dominance fights and a whole lot of shenanigans. It's quite an exciting time when you’re young. But it’s important, because if you go through this and give in to temptation before you’re ready… Jai can find another partner if you decide against him before you formalise things. It won’t be the same, but mates have been rejected before, people have moved on. But once you cross that line…”
She regarded me with a steady gaze, unblinking, never ending.
“You can walk away from my son at any point, Shannon, but he can’t walk away from you. There’ll be no one else for him. He won’t be able to love another, nor consummate a sexual relationship.”
“He won’t be able to get it up, is what she means,” Jaz said with a grin. “What? ‘Consummate a sexual relationship.’ Who fucking says that, Mum?”
“Language. You’ll speak like a lady while you’re in my house.”
“Won’t be in your house for much longer,” she replied with a wink. “Then I’ll be able to go hog wild, leave the beds unmade, the dishes in the sink—”
“So you’ll turn your back on your family and live the life of a slattern? Remind me again why I suffered through—”
“Sixteen hours of labour. I know, Mum, trust me. And gods willing, I won’t have to endure that long when my kids come into the world.”
Greta’s eyes softened when she looked at her daughter, and she patted her arm.
“I hope so too, love. You’ll be an amazing mother. Beautiful little girls with your eyes and Eddie’s hair…” I was caught off guard when Greta turned back to me, transfixed by the serene look on Jaz’s face. She’d always been this scrappy tomboy. To see her getting misty eyed about kids was a welcome shock. Greta was right, she would be an amazing mum.
“So, Shannon. Did you want to have children?”
Shit, back to me again.
“Ahh…” I said, stalling for time. “Look, I’ll be honest with you. I never really thought about it. No one I’ve been with really made me feel that having kids was a good idea.”
Jasmine looked smug for some reason, like this was some sort of show of loyalty for her brother.
“Well, that complicates things a little. Jai has obviously mentioned that your body is changing in response to his pheromones? Those changes make human birth control…unpredictable. Condoms are not a great solution either, due to obvious physiological differences. I don’t tell you this to try and influence your decision, but you need to be aware that choosing to have penetrative sex may result in the birth of children. We are not a prolific people, so it may not be an issue for years, or ever in the case of poor Beth, but it is something to consider.”