Two
Hudson tried to loosen his hold on the steering wheel, but all he wanted to do was yank it off the steering column and throw it into the forest as they sped down the road.
His mom sat in the passenger’s seat next to him. Her face was carefully blank, her eyes wide and unseeing. He’d tear the steering wheel from the column just to get a reaction out of her. Hell, he’d dance around on top of an elephant while wearing a sequined Speedo if it would get a reaction.
“Mom, you can talk to me,” he said for the fiftieth time. “I understand. I’ll listen.”
But she wouldn’t say anything. After Clay, her husband and Hudson’s stepdad, had died three months ago, she’d been okay at first. She’d even gone out with some of the other shifters in Clay’s pack to gamble at the Indian casino in nearby Dolburn. Although she hadn’t seemed happy when Hudson called her, she’d at least talked to him.
What he didn’t know, and what the pack alpha had waited too damn long to tell him, was that his mom had been burning through her savings. By the time anyone had figured it out, she was penniless.
And by then, without the thrill of gambling to distract her, she was clinically depressed.
Why hadn’t she reached out to Hudson? He’d asked Gregory, the alpha, a few times. Gregory could only say, “It’s the mate bond. When one mate dies, it’s hard on the survivor. They usually get over it.” And he’d left it at that.
Thanks for nothing, Gregory.
That wasn’t enough fucking information for Hudson to go on. It was pathetic, was what it was. It was an excuse. If his mom was that devoted to Clay, and Clay that devoted to his mom, then she’d have to know that Clay would never want her to fall apart like this.
A sniffling noise from the passenger’s seat, and Hudson looked over quick, thinking maybe she was crying.
But no, she just had a runny nose or something. Her face was as blank and impassive as ever. He wished she’d cry. He wished she’d do something, anything. Her heartbreak was too big for his car and maybe, he thought, it was too big for the state of Montana.
His hand hovered over the radio dial. He could put on some Black Sabbath or AC/DC. Drown his sorrows in another man’s screaming, kill the silence stretching between him and his mom. She’d always hated his music, so hell, maybe this could get a reaction from her.
He dropped his hand back to the steering wheel, leaving the radio off. It would only make him sadder when she didn’t say anything, and he already knew she wouldn’t.
The folks at Heritage Pines in Belnedge had said they’d do what they could, so that’s where he was taking her now. How he’d pay for this place, he had no idea. Already he’d given most of his savings toward repaying her gambling debts. The remainder of his savings had paid the deposit on her first two weeks at Heritage Pines.
And shit fuck shit. He didn’t have a job anymore. His private security firm had let him go, saying he’d missed too many days.
He’d missed those days taking care of his mom. What had Clay’s favorite phrase been? “Up Shit Creek without a paddle.”
Seemed apt.
It was just another thirty minutes to Heritage Pines. Two hours away from the pack in Anderson, it would be a little bit of a drive for Hudson to come down and visit her. Although if he could afford an apartment nearby in Belnedge, it would be even better. Not like he had a job to go back to in the Evergreen territory, anyway.
The last half hour passed without another sound from his mom, not even a sniffle. Hudson pulled into the nearly empty parking lot in front of Heritage Pines. The place was a squat brick building with white trim around the windows and doors. The grounds were neatly cared for, with bright green grass and a few trees, some shrubs lining paved walkways. It looked peaceful, just like it had in the photos on the website.
He cut the engine. “I hope you like it here, Mom,” he said. “I hope you’ll get to feel better.”
He’d do anything for her, just like Clay would have. She was still pretty, too, with deep brown eyes, and silver streaks in her dark hair. She’d had Hudson young. When his dad had skipped out, she’d met Clay, who they hadn’t known was a shifter, at first. That revelation had come later, but by then Hudson’s mom was already head over heels in love with the guy. And so Hudson, a human kid, had been raised in a wolf pack.
He went around to the passenger’s side, where he unbuckled his mom’s seatbelt and helped her out of the car. She moved slowly and carefully, like her bones were made of glass. With excruciatingly slow footsteps, they walked to the front doors and inside the building.
All the paperwork had been filled out, all the checks written, all the arrangements made.
“Mom, I’ll be back to visit you soon,” Hudson promised.
She didn’t look at him. She wasn’t looking at anything, it seemed. Her head was angled down, so maybe she was looking at her feet, encased in their sensible tennis shoes.
A woman came up and shook Hudson’s hand. “I’m Dr. Powers,” she said, smiling brightly. “We’ll take good care of her. She’s in good hands.”
Hudson tried to smile back at the doctor, but he was sure it came out as more of a grimace. “Thanks.”
He watched as Dr. Powers led his mom through the double doors and down a hall.
So this was it. Two months of babysitting his mom, and now he was on his own. He walked back out to his car and sat in the driver’s seat, contemplating his options. He had a place with the Evergreen Pack for as long as he wanted it. Gregory had said the little house would always be Hudson’s home, no matter what. But Hudson needed a job. He needed work—something to do. The busier he kept himself, the less time he’d have to think. And work would bring money—money he’d use to ensure his mom got all the care she needed at Heritage Pines.
He dialed Gregory.
“Hudson, what’s up?” Gregory said.
“Just dropped her off.”
“Good. She do okay?”
Hudson held in a sigh of exasperation. “Still not talking. Not even goodbye.”
“Everyone reacts differently. She’ll come around. And Dr. Powers, she knows shifters and the mate bond. She’ll be sympathetic to your mom’s plight.”
“If you say so,” Hudson grumbled. Dr. Powers was the reason they’d brought his mom all the way down here to Belnedge. “In the meantime, I need some work. You got any ideas?”
Gregory made a hmm sound. “I’ll look around. Private security?”
“It’s preferable, but I’ll take anything at this point.”
“Should be something, someone who needs protection. There’s usually a posting or two in the shifter forum, so I can check that.”
“Thanks.” Hudson didn’t have anything left to say. His mom was in good hands, he had to trust in that.