Alpha’s command. Everything in him screamed to follow Isaac. Chase after Colin. Fix this somehow.
He felt the VOICE leave him.
Alec let out a huge sigh. “Anyone else want seaweed? No? Good. Slimy bits of salty grass if you ask me. Right. Kevin, start talking. Tell us all about your mother.”
3
Mammas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Werewolves
Colin really didn’t mean to be a drama queen, he honestly hated causing a fuss. Especially on Trick’s first dinner with the pack. But really, he couldn’t be expected to behave calmly when mothers were sprung on him over clam chowder.
He sat, slumped on his bed. Of course he was looking at the one photo he had of her from before… Before she was famous, when she was still his mother. He didn’t keep the photo out, or keep it with him. It was usually hidden in a corner of his wardrobe. And yeah, he had a wardrobe because the pack house was too old to have closets, one of the many reasons for the remodel.
The photo showed all four of them. It was from too long ago for Colin to remember where they were. His mother stood on one side, looking much like him – same lips and chin, same coloring, although somehow less fragile. Those features looked great on a woman; on a boy they were insipid. He was only about four, almost white-blond and covered in freckles, sitting on his dad’s shoulders. His dad looked pleasant, still serious with no smile, but content in a way Colin couldn’t really believe was real. His dad was big like Kevin, ginger too, his hair that same darker, better red. Kevin was standing between their parents, one hand in each of theirs – mid-swing, in motion, and blurry. Colin was looking away, content on his perch and unaware of the camera. Kevin was looking up at their dad, cheeky, searching for approval. Their dad was looking at their mother, not turned to her, but aware of her and not the camera. Their mother, all big smiles and big hair, was looking directly at the lens – poised, charming, gorgeous, and already leaving them.
A knock came at Colin’s bedroom door.
He sighed, stood to open it, wondering who they’d sent. He hoped it was Judd, as he owed him an explanation. Poor big lug. Judd hadn’t known what he’d committed them to. Kevin should have told him about their mother months ago. Judd didn’t like drama, always said he was too old for that shit whenever Marvin threw a hissy fit.
Colin really hoped it wasn’t the Alpha at his door. Alec wouldn’t understand any of it. He knew this because he’d met Alec’s mother several times. Alec and Bryan’s mom was the type to have eschewed the bite and stayed human. She avidly collected deviled egg platters with flower patterns, bleached her hair with peroxide, and decorated her nails with fake gems. But she never had a bad word to say to her boys. Colin and Kevin’s mother, on the other hand, was the type to first, name her boys Colin and Kevin, and second, abandon them to pursue a career as a country music singer under the ridiculous stage name, Lexi Blanc.
But it wasn’t Judd or Alec at his door, it was Isaac. Of course it was Isaac. Isaac fixed things and Colin was broken.
Isaac, who made Colin feel safe and open and needy in a way that didn’t worry him the way it did with Alec. Probably because Isaac exuded some kind of soporific wolf pheromone. Their Omega didn’t smell like anything. Or, to be more precise, he smelled like pack and comfort, and Tank, who was also pack and comfort. As an Omega, Isaac’s whole function was to grease the social working of the pack machine. Isaac was also some kind of gossip savant at getting shifters to talk.
Colin didn’t want to talk. He wanted to wallow and suppress his feelings until he could walk back out there and face up to the fact that Judd was about to spend more time with Colin’s mother than Colin had in living memory. Not to mention his brother. His big, strong, straight, perfect enforcer brother. Who never seemed to care much about anything.
But this was Isaac, so Colin gestured for the Omega to come in. The man’s face was warm and sympathetic. He took a seat at Colin’s small desk, turned the chair to face the bed, waited for Colin to join him.