Carter kept up a cheerful face for Jax as he finished with his therapy and strapped his leg braces on. As always, Jax chattered non-stop on their way home before disappearing to his room to work on his latest Lego kit. Carter felt relieved that he'd been able to hide my mood from his son, but his mother was another story.

She was making dinner in Carter's kitchen as he came in and gave her a peck on the cheek.

"Everything okay today with therapy?" she asked.

"Yep. Dr. Tyler says he's one of his hardest workers." Carter thought he kept his voice light enough, normal enough, but Mom set her spoon down and turned to face him.

"But…?"

"But what?" He couldn't look at her, even though he knew that was one of his tells.

"But something is wrong."

"Not with Jax," Carter promised. "It's really nothing."

She gave him an exasperated glare. "Carter. I birthed you. I raised you. I've been here nearly every day for the past five years. I can tell when something is wrong and when you're lying to me. So you can save us all the frustration and just come out with it." She turned the burner on the stove down and sat down across from him. "Or we can sit here until you give up. I have all day. All week, if need be."

Carter rubbed his hands across his face. "Isn't there something in the mother's handbook about giving your kids space? Especially as adults?"

"I only studied it for the test," she said. "Didn't remember a thing afterward."

She sat back, her hands patiently folded over her stomach. She was right. He'd end up telling her sooner or later, and sooner would probably be less frustrating.

"Okay, when I tell you this, you can't get all wound up. And you can't tell anyone." Carter made a slash through the air with his hand. "No one."

She huffed. "You act like I can't keep my mouth shut."

Well, she couldn't. His mom always fussed about other busybody women her age, but she was the worst of them. If he told her ahead of time not to share something, she was generally pretty good about it, though. "I found my true mate." Her eyes widened in excitement and Carter cut her off before she could say anything. "It's not new. It actually happened a long time ago. But I talked to him about it for the first time today."

His mom's expression changed from excitement to concern. "What do you mean?"

My thoughts were all a jumble. "Let me start at the beginning."

It was easier explaining it to his mom. Perhaps a part of it was because Carter had expected Brandon to have experienced the same connection he had, so he'd jumped in ass first.

"You're certain he's your mate?" she asked, finally.

"You know me, Mom. I don't believe in that stuff. Or I didn't. It would have to be something pretty big to change my mind."

"That's so strange then, that he hasn't sensed the same thing. What are you going to do?"

That was the question, wasn't it? Carter briefly considered letting it go, but that was an impossibility. Brandon's pine tree scent was burned into his memory. He would never be able to mate with someone else. So his options were to remain celibate or convince Brandon. And after two years of celibacy? It sucked.

"I don't know. I really freaked him out."

"You should talk to Alice," she said.

"Alpha Williams? I don't know if I'm comfortable with that."

"Oh, come on, sweetie. You don't think she hasn't heard even stranger stories than that? She's been alpha since she was barely twenty. You can't surprise her."

"It's not even that. Though, yeah, that's part of it," he said. "I don't know how I feel about revealing that information about Brandon without his permission. That feels… wrong."

His mom stood and sighed, brushing her hands on her apron before returning to the stove and resuming cooking. "Well, it's not like you need to figure it out tonight. Why don't you go rest before dinner? It'll be about twenty minutes still."

Carter stood and wrapped her shoulders in a hug. "Thanks for listening, Mom."

"Oh pish. I didn't do anything."

"You say that all the time, but somehow a lot of nothing adds up to a lot of something with you."

Her cheeks flushed pleasantly. "Go on with you," she encouraged, flapping a hand at me. "I'll call you when dinner is ready."

His mom had bought the house just next to them when Carter had been two years old, soon after Carter's father had died. It had been good for all of them, especially after the accident. Carter wasn't sure how he would have managed everything without her. And talking to her, even though he came to no conclusions, had helped. She was right. Whatever was going to happen between him and Brandon, it didn't have to happen now. Carter had waited eight years already. He could wait longer.