Chapter Twelve
Galen was so angry he had to pause at his parents’ front gate before going inside. He knew she’d been hazed a bit, but the level of detail had made him sick. How dare they treat her that way?
He understood she wanted to stand on her own. Respected that about her. She was right that they’d gain respect for her when she handled things without going to him. But there was way more than the usual silliness. This was a serious offense against his mate and a breach of jamboree protocol. He was angry at them, and at himself, for not knowing.
It still felt like home when he entered the cluttered entry. Pictures of all eight de La Vega children and their parents filled the wall space. More pictures, more and more with added husbands, wives and children, sat in frames on shelves and tabletops. A discarded pair of rollerblades rested under a bench near the door.
His mother stood in the kitchen, her glasses perched on her nose, watching his niece April scoop cookie dough onto a baking sheet.
Galen smiled, kissing April’s cheek before hugging his mother.
“What a lovely surprise. What brings you here tonight and where’s your wife?” She looked around him, toward the doorway he’d come through.
“What am I? Leftovers?”
She shrugged. “I like your wife, what can I say. But you’re always my boy.”
“She and Jack are on their way over to his Alphas’ house for dinner. It’s a big deal.” He smiled, knowing between the two of them, they could probably manage to keep Renee out of trouble. Or, well at the very least, alive. Jack’s entry into their life hadn’t been expected, but Galen was thankful for it nonetheless.
“Nanna’s got the cookies now, sweetie.” His mother shooed his niece out and slid the baking sheet into the oven. “Now, you want to be telling me why you’re here and not there?”
“I found out today that some cats partially shifted and threatened Renee. I also found out my sister called her a gold-digging whore and told her if we had children they’d be weak. I know you and Renee had a rocky start, but this isn’t right.”
She pursed her lips and took a deep breath. “Our rocky start was really about me. You know that, right? She and I are fine now. She set me straight. Your wife is a strong, powerful woman. That she’s as well liked as she is by most of this jamboree is a testament to that. It took a while, longer than most, but she’s settling in. Or I thought she was. Did she tell you which of us threatened her?”
“She won’t tell me. She’d told Jack some stuff. I guess she was nervous about tonight and revealed some things about what she’d experienced here. But when I found out, I demanded she tell me so I could deal with it. Mami, she’s obsessed with standing on her own two feet or some such bullshit. I appreciate that she wants to be strong, but how could she not tell me? Didn’t she trust me to protect her?”
“I suppose you shared with her that you felt her wanting to stand on her own two feet was bullshit?” His mother gave him a close inspection. “Though I don’t see any missing limbs. She’s more patient than I’d be in her place, Galen. As for the rest, of course she trusts you. If she didn’t, she would have run to you the first time it happened rather than working through it on her own. If she’d been in real danger, she knows she can count on you. Imputing anything else from her actions is silly. She’s human, Galen. Fragile. Breakable. Easily injured. But she held her own with fully grown shifters. She proved something to the jamboree and to herself. She’s a powerful woman. She didn’t tell you because she loves you and she knows how much this family means to you. She didn’t tell you because she needed to do this herself. And she did.” His mother shrugged.
“So we’ll just let it slide that one of our cats unsheathed a claw at my mate?” Galen’s anger tore at his gut.
“You’re the one who brought home a human, boy. Did you think that would be a cakewalk? Really? If so, you’re not very smart. As for the unsheathing, what if it was Beth?”
“What if it was? Mami, she went into Renee’s shop and told her she was pregnant. Not to celebrate with her sister-in-law, but to lord it over her. To use a wonderful thing to make my wife feel worthless. This is not acceptable. That’s beyond Renee and whatever her personal stance is. This is my sister, a subordinate in this jamboree, deliberately trying to harm my mate.”
“The punishment for unsheathing a claw at a human is beating. Your sister could lose the baby. You’re willing to do that? Because of something she might have done two years ago?”
“Stop with the devil’s advocate stuff!” He slammed a hand down on the counter.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I know you did not just come into my kitchen and raise your voice to your mother. Renee may be patient because you’re so pretty and all, but I’ve got eight kids and a pretty mate, I know your game.”
He hung his head. “I’m sorry. It makes me angry. She’s the best thing I’ve ever known. This is bullshit. My family should love her. How can they not? Instead, she comes here with an open heart and she gets shit on. How can I ever feel right in bringing her here ever again?”
“Of course it makes you angry. You wouldn’t care if you didn’t love her. You wouldn’t be scared if you didn’t understand possessing the most wonderful thing in the world also means you can lose it. Each time one of you took the first step I worried. When you went out into the world. When you began to bring dates home.” She gave him that infuriating shrug of hers. “Your family does love her. So Beth’s a fool. So Carlos is a fool. Six out of eight is good odds. This isn’t solely about us being shifters. All families deal with this stuff. Who doesn’t like who, who is dating what person. Imagine what it will be like when Papi gets old enough Max will take over. Oh the fighting! But it’s our way. Renee knows this. She knows she’s loved and while I know she wishes she and Beth got along, it’s never going to happen. I’ve already counseled her on this topic. Your sister is stubborn and myopic. She loves you, but she can’t see that if she gave Renee a chance, things would go much better.”
“Did you know Beth is the one who unsheathed a claw?”
“Your father found out. Not from Renee, but from someone else who’d witnessed it. Your father disciplined her. That’s all you need to know. It’s done and as far as I know she never did it again.”
“And no one saw fit to tell me?”
“To be honest, I figured Renee would have by now. It was eighteen months ago. She would have been well within her rights to do so. As far as Papi telling you, why should he? He runs the jamboree. He took care of a problem. There’s no need to make this worse than it was. She took her punishment in flesh.”
“I have to go. This doesn’t sit well with me. I can’t bring her around if it’s unsafe. My cat...”
“Your cat knows she is safe here. If you stop bringing her around the only person who loses is Renee. Everyone will think she ran to you. She’ll lose all the ground she’s won. She worked hard for that ground. Harder than I ever imagined she would. But she did and I’m telling you right now, you go to her and tell her you’re sorry and buy her something. Don’t mess this up.”
He groaned.
“I’m right about this and you know it. Go on. Papi will be back soon with pizza and several grandchildren. If they see you, you’ll never escape.” She grinned.
“So I just walk away from this? My woman has been threatened and disrespected for four years and that’s just fine and dandy?”
“Your woman came here the first time and said four words. Her eyes were so wide I thought she might have passed out from shock. The last time she was here, she was positively covered in children and your siblings who adore her. All this other stuff is meaningless. This is our world, Galen. She knows it and you know it. She stands where she is, not for any other reason than because she made it happen. So no, it’s not fine and dandy she was threatened and disrespected. But that’s not how it is today except for two exceptions and a few old-school cats from the jamboree who’ll be dead in a few years anyway, so who cares? I watch out for her. So do many of your siblings and their mates. She is one of us, even if she has no fur. She has power and, as I told her on the phone yesterday, if she singed a few cats who got out of line with her magic, she’ll be even more fine.”
“You talk to her on the phone? What ever happened between you two?”
“Of course I talk to her on the phone. Several times a week. As for what happened, none of your business, boy. Now go on before I maim you for being impertinent.”
“You’re bloodthirsty.” He smiled, for real this time. He would take care of the Beth situation. Carlos was in Costa Rica, but when he returned, Galen would rip him a new one. He’d never take his eyes from her at a jamboree gathering again. Still, his mother was right about most of the situation. Renee had stood on her own and proven herself a powerful mate. He would have to remember to compliment her on it. Only later when she wouldn’t assume he was patronizing her.
“I am. Where do you think you get it? Your papi is mellow. He’s a poet who practices law. Me? I’ll rip throats out and then read poetry. Now go to her. We’d like to meet Jack too. I’m interested to see what this bond you three share looks like. I can see it on you now. I was concerned about you, about you having to share someone you so clearly adore. Things are good between the three of you?”
“Mami, that story is very long. I’ll tell you when we go to breakfast on Thursday. For now just know I love them both and they both love me. I don’t feel threatened, which I worried I might. It’s early days, I’m sure we’ll have our rough spots, but I think we’ve got a concrete bond and real respect. We can make it through whatever gets thrown at us. Rosemary told me she came by and warded the house.”
“She did. And they went to the office and warded the entire building including the parking garage. They want to be sure anywhere Renee will be, will be safe. This mage sounds dangerous. We’ll be watching.”
His stomach clenched a moment at the memory of what Renee had suffered. How she’d been during the attack.
“What she remembered...”
His mother hugged him. “Is past. You’re here with her now. Get going and tell Renee I send my love.”
Remnants of her anger still clung to Renee as they approached the big building he told her was owned by Cade and Grace. Strong emotion pulsed through her veins, from Galen doing God knew what at the de La Vegas’ house to her own upset. Jack, she’d begun to realize, was hard to shake. His attitude was one of utter calm and total efficiency.
“Here we are. Let’s go through the front so I can introduce you to the guards. I want everyone to know you on sight. It’ll be easier for you to come and go if they know who you are.”
Oh how she wanted to stomp her foot and make him drag her in! But she was a big girl and she knew how important this was to Jack. She’d make him pay for being a dick later. Since she was there anyway, she really did want to meet his friends and she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit, at least in her head, that she was dying to see what Grace was like.
Two ridiculously gargantuan males stood just inside the doors. At first glance, the place appeared to be luxury condos, but once she got inside, she saw it was far more than that.
When the guards saw who it was, they stood at attention.
“Hey, Jack! You finally brought Renee to meet us.” The male speaking was gloriously beautiful. Tall, lithe, his brown eyes missed nothing as he inclined his head. A river of straight, fragrant hair the color of darkest sky slid forward.
“Akio, this is Renee, my mate. One of them.” Jack laughed.
She shook hands and tried not to blush. “It’s nice to meet you, Akio.” She grinned. “By the way, Southie?”
Akio nodded. “You’re good with accents.”
“I volunteer at a community center there. I teach classes on photography. When I’m there for a long time, I pick it up and my Boston thickens.”
“I used to think it would lessen. The longer I lived out this way, it should soften up.” He snorted. “Not so much.”
“Ha! So you say. When I first met you I had no idea what the hell you were saying about a third of the time. You’re way better now,” Jack said.
The other male stepped forward and bumped hips with Akio to move him aside. “I’m Tony. Jack won’t shut up about you so I feel like I know you already. Welcome to the pack.”
Tony was built like a tank. Short, red hair, freckles and an easy smile hid the predator just beneath the surface.
She took the hand he held out. “Nice to meet you.”
“Go on through. Belly was shouting for you about five minutes ago.”
Jack turned to Renee. “Belly is our nickname for Annabelle Warden. She’s the middle kiddo and a holy terror. She’s four so she knows everything and as long as it’s all about her, things are good to go.”
Renee smiled back, squeezing his hand. It was hard to stay mad at him when he was so very sweet. But she managed. There’d be an ass kicking later.
“Ready?” he asked quietly. “They’re going to love you. How could they not?”
“A question for the ages I’m sure. Come on then. Let’s get this show on the road. God.” She froze. “Should we have brought something? Flowers? A dessert?”
He pulled her through some double doors and the whole place opened up. They’d taken half the building’s apartments and gutted them, apparently to make one open three-story living space.
“This is fabulous. Absolutely breathtaking.” The view was of a rambling garden just beyond the windows and then down to the water and the cityscape beyond.
“You must be Renee.”
She turned and holy wow. This had to be Grace and suddenly Renee wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. Petite, elegant and beautiful, she was everything Renee was not. How could she compete?
“You must be Grace. Jack has spoken of you often.”
Oh yes, this wasn’t awkward at all. She wanted to roll her eyes or punch Jack, maybe both. Instead she shook hands with a woman Jack had loved for years and pretended this was all totally normal for her.
“That you, Jack?” A man walked through a far doorway, holding a chattering toddler. Two dressed-up little girls rushed past him straight to Jack, who scooped them up with a laugh. So much joy on his face! It rushed through their link. He truly loved these children and these people. Wolves. Whatever.
She envied him this family, but was grateful he had it to draw strength and comfort from.
Grace had moved to Jack, her hand on his forearm as they spoke to the children. She’d been thoroughly dismissed apparently. The way she stood effectively shut Renee out of their little moment. She realized how very little patience for this sort of crap she had left. Couldn’t Grace be a normal ex-girlfriend who’d make pointed and backhanded comments about Renee’s shoes or how cute her face was? No, she had to be an uber werewolf doctor who looked like she could wear opera gloves and pearls and not look as if she were on her way to a Halloween party.
The man who had to be Cade Warden, and holy hotness, that man was something else, put the toddler down and within seconds, the little one headed to Renee on cautious feet.
“I’m Cade Warden. I’m very pleased to meet you. Welcome to National Pack.” He bowed over her hand and kissed it. He straightened and put a hand at the small of her back. “Would you like a tour while Jack remembers his manners?”
Manners, pfft. He was being a dick and she wanted to kick him. Instead she took a chance. “Can I be honest with you?”
The stiffness in Cade’s spine lessened and his formal demeanor wisped away, replaced by a genuine grin, complete with dimple. This one must have been a handful before he met Grace.
“I would be honored if you would be honest with me. We’re family after all and I value truth over fake manners any day.”
“I don’t much want to walk around and pretend like I’m not annoyed my mate is having an intimate moment with another woman and her kids. I know it sounds stupid as I have another man already. And probably insulting since the woman with her hands all over my mate is your wife and all, but I’ve had pretty much the most trying week of my life and I find myself incapable of pretense just at this time.”
Cade’s head tipped back and he laughed. A rich, sexy sound that brought a shiver and finally Jack’s attention. Grace turned and Renee sent a pointed look at her hands and back to her face.
A smile touched the other woman’s mouth as she removed her hands. She spoke to Jack, who handed the girls in his arms back to Grace. When he straightened, he sought Renee out, his face relaxing into a smile made just for her.
“Sweetheart, let’s go on through to the family room and the dining room. Grace tells me there are several wolves who can’t wait to meet you.” She felt his joy through their bond. Happiness at being with her, happiness at sharing that with his family. Her desire to snatch him baldheaded eased a tiny bit.
A tug on her sweater caught her attention. She turned and knelt to get eye to eye with the little boy trying to get her attention. Immediately she saw it in his eyes and on his skin. He was ill.
“Hello, you. I bet you don’t feel well.” Renee brushed the hair back from a clammy forehead.
Jack knelt with her. “Henri, this is Renee. She’s my mate. Renee, this is Henri, the youngest Warden.”
“It’s very nice to meet you, Henri. Your pictures, and more of your sisters too, are hanging on my wall at home. We live near a park, you know. Just right across the street. There are swings. One day when you’re feeling better, you and your sisters should come play. You’re very special to Jack, and that’s important to me. Would you like something to drink?”
“Everything okay?” Grace’s tone was edged in worry and threaded with condescension. God, did everything have to be so complicated?
Jack’s body language changed slightly. Whatthefuckever, this was dumb.
Henri snuggled up close to Renee, so she picked him up when she stood. “I don’t think Henri is feeling well, Grace. I’ve got some tea that will help his tummy. It’s at home, but it shouldn’t take too long for me to run back and grab it. Or you probably have—”
Grace interrupted. “I’m a doctor.” Grace reached and took Henri from Renee, putting him down.
She kept trying. Perhaps Grace was just one of those people who seemed bitchy at first but it was more that she didn’t have social skills. “Yes, I’ve heard. Jack was telling me about a clinic you’d started here in the area. That’s a heady achievement.”
Cade and Jack had been in conversation about something or other. It was just Grace and Renee and the elephant in the room.
“I’m sure actual medicine would help if there were anything wrong with my children. We don’t do that herbal stuff.” Grace’s look was smug and Renee wasn’t having any of it.
“Really? I know some stuff that might help with that obstruction blocking your colon right now.”
Grace looked puzzled for about half a minute until she got that Renee just told her she had a stick up her ass.
They locked horns, and Renee realized, as she spooled power from the air around where they stood, that she had something just as good as shifting into something with teeth and claws. Her mother-in-law had said pretty much the same thing on the phone to her the day before and of course, she’d been right. Renee was done taking shit and this bitch in front of her was going to learn the first lesson.
Henri head-butted Renee’s leg and smiling, she stooped to pick him up again.
Grace put her hand in between them. “I think he’s just tired and overwhelmed.”
“Overwhelmed by what? Has he had a busy day? I’m not worried he’s contagious or anything. It’s no hardship to hold him.” Renee saw illness around him, but nothing she could see any more serious than a stomachache.
“No. He’s just fine where he’s at.”
Oh no she did not.
“What is your problem?” She asked it in a light enough tone to keep Henri or her idiot of a mate from being alarmed.
“Problem? You’re trying to work some magic on my kid without my permission. That’s my problem.”
“Magic? I picked him up and felt his forehead. I didn’t—”
Grace interrupted again. “We don’t need you and your tea leaves. We were doing just fine before you came along and turned Jack’s life upside down.”
“Tea leaves? What are you talking about? He’s pasty and has a fever. I can tell just by looking at him. I offered you some tea for him. You said no and insulted me, but I let that pass because I have manners even if you don’t. I haven’t done anything to you or anyone else. I don’t even read tea leaves, by the way. I’m not a fortune teller, I run a juice and coffee bar for goodness sake.”
“Yes, I heard. Congratulations, it’s a heady achievement.”
Renee blinked a few times, her inner bitch now fully engaged. “Oh no you did not just say that. Listen here, I don’t know who you think you are, but to me, you’re a nasty, selfish bit...person. You want to come at me, you do it like a big girl, why don’t you? I get that you don’t know me and so you’re not sure how I’ll be for Jack. But you don’t insult my work, my education and my life without even knowing me, you stuck-up, elitist C.O.W. I sincerely hope your bedside manner is better than this haughty little tantrum you’re throwing because you can’t have Jack anymore.”
Henri, who’d been patting a sticky palm against the window a few feet from them, turned and wailed as he projectile vomited. Renee only wished Grace had been closer to receive the full brunt of it. Being right was awesome, but she felt terrible for the sweet little guy.
Both men, who’d been standing by clearly not knowing what to do as they’d watched the increasingly hostile interaction between the women, managed to spring into action. Henri was not her child and his mother clearly didn’t want her to be near him, so Renee moved to gather her things. She needed to be done with this situation and as soon as possible. She’d made a promise to herself on the way over. No more taking shit from anyone. This was the first step.
“Thank you for inviting us to dinner. I’m going to head out now,” Renee said to Cade, who shook his head and reached for her. Reacting without thinking, Renee threw an energy wall around herself, and Cade staggered back. Wow, that was pretty cool and all, but whoa, she’d just assaulted the Supreme Alpha.
The room filled with growling werewolves wondering what the hell had happened. Jack yelled in the background, shoving people off him, giving orders and trying to get to her.
Great.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.” She halted, not sure what else to say.
“No, I’m the one who’s sorry. I shouldn’t have grabbed for you. You did the same any of us would do if someone rushed at us in the midst of an argument.” Cade took a step back, his hands open. “Please don’t leave.”
“I said, stand down!” Jack ordered in a terse bark. The wolves all around obeyed. “You mind telling me what you said to Renee?” he asked Grace, who’d returned with a far calmer and cleaned-up Henri. Now he wanted to deal with it? With a dozen pissed-off, wary wolves in the room too?
“I was unconscionably rude.” She turned to Renee, who nodded, agreeing. “I apologize. I was totally out of line. He was sick. He apparently ate seven pieces of sausage just a few minutes ago. Why no one thought to stop him I don’t know.” She sent a glare at Cade. “You were right and I didn’t see it because I wanted you to be wrong.”
“For Jack.”
Grace nodded. “You’re so lovely. Full of light and life. Calm and kind. I wanted you to be horrible. Which is stupid because I am happy for Jack and God knows I had difficulties with my sister-in-law at first too. I remember telling myself I’d never treat my anchor’s mate the way Nina had treated me. I was worse. Nina was just a grumpy, pregnant werewolf. I was a jealous, hateful cow.”
“Yeah.”
Grace’s eyes widened with surprise and then she laughed. “You’ll fit in just fine around here.”
That remained to be seen, but she wanted it to be true. “For what it’s worth, I would never do magic on a person without their permission. I don’t even know enough of it to do any harm. I meant peppermint tea. Nothing more. It soothes bellyaches. The warm liquid tends to relax too.”
Jack moved to touch Renee and she allowed it only to keep from making a scene. He had stood there the whole time and done nothing. This after freaking all over Galen about what his cats had done. She needed to handle things on her own, but the way he’d just stood there while Grace had inferred she was low class and stupid had hurt her more than Grace being a bitch.
“Please stay. We have so much food and I really would like to get to know you.” Grace smiled around her to Jack, reminding Renee it was time to lay out all the ground rules so there’d be no further incidents like this.
“Here’s how things are going to work. First, you won’t go around me to Jack. Ever. I realize he’s close with you and up until I met you just now, I thought that was a good thing. It’s good to have family. But you are not his wife. I am. You are not his mate. He is your anchor. I respect his connection to you and Cade. However, there’s a difference in who we each are to him. Remember that.”
Grace said nothing for a few seconds and nodded. “That’s fair. For the record, I’ve never—”
It was Renee’s turn to interrupt. “I don’t care about anything between Jack and someone else before I came into his life. I care about from now forward. We got off on the wrong foot. I’m willing to accept your apology and offer of friendship at face value. But, since you alluded to all the drama in my life—” she sent the appropriate disapproving look to Jack, who responded with the corresponding hangdog look, “—and I do not appreciate you sharing that without my permission, Jack. That’s a habit you need to break, by the way.”
“It’s not like I gossiped about you. It’s my job to protect you and this pack. I had to keep them apprised.” Jack was caught in a difficult place and she knew he hadn’t done it as a complaint. But he needed to remember other people and their wishes too. She’d talk to him about it later, and about what her real issue with that evening had been.
“No, but you shared things it took me years to share with anyone else and you did it without asking me first. I don’t like that at all, Jack, and it’s not the first time. You might notice these things if you hadn’t simply stood there and watched as someone cut me to shreds.” She returned to Grace. “Anyway, since you brought it up, yes, as a matter of fact, I’ve got all the drama I can handle and more in my life right now. I’ve made a zero tolerance rule. By that I mean, I’ve been walked all over for some time and that’s not going to happen again.”
Jack tried to move closer but she stepped away.
“I can respect that.” Grace smiled. At Renee. “How about a drink? I can’t have one, but I bet you could use one.”
Henri put his arms out to Renee. She looked to Grace. “Is that okay with your mom?”
“My back is killing me. I’m pregnant, which is probably why I’m extra touchy. At least that’s my story.” She handed Henri over to Renee and he snuggled into her. “He’s a picky kid. I should have taken that as a sign.”
Galen strolled in, his normally handsome features hard. “Every time I go away, I come back to an enraged woman, Jack.”
Renee, happy to see him, sent him a tired, but genuine smile. “I’m okay. Really.”
He looked her over closely, smiling at Henri who stared at him with big, wide eyes.
“Indulge me, please. Let’s talk for a moment.” He held out his hand.
“The garden is quiet if you’d like to step outside for a bit.” Cade took Henri, who narrowed his eyes at his father. “She’ll be back, kid.”
“Excuse us a moment,” she called over her shoulder as they went out.
The quiet murmurs of the city, of the waterway, traffic, trains, all combined into a particularly comforting white noise as the cacophony of wolves inside faded. “Nice out here.”
Jack stepped outside too and Renee felt the tension between the two men spike. Galen nodded in his direction and turned his attention to Renee again. “For the last several minutes I’ve been headed here I’ve felt your emotions and there was nothing I could do to help you. Do you have any idea what it felt like to experience your shame from a distance? I don’t like feeling shame come from you. I never want to feel that ever again. What happened and who made you feel that?”
“Shame?” Jack asked.
Renee realized Jack finally got the depth of what happened between her and Grace at Galen’s use of that word.
“Jack, you were a few feet away.” Renee didn’t want to push them into a fight but really it had to be said.
“I know you were arguing but you seemed calm enough. Cade said to let it be, to let you two work it out. He’s gone through this before, I figured he knew what he was talking about. I didn’t feel shame from you and I don’t know why. I’m sorry. What did she say?”
She just wanted to go to sleep. Even jog. Anything but have this conversation again. Or ever. “I really don’t want to go into it right now. There’s a house full of people waiting to meet me and I’ve just had a bitchfight with their female alpha within range of their hearing. I appreciate your apology, Jack, and I’m sorry you’re upset.” She took Galen’s hands, needing him to know she appreciated his concern. “I’m sorry you felt helpless to fix it. It’s okay now. I’ll tell you the whole story tomorrow, I promise. After a lot of coffee.”
“I don’t like this, Renee. I just had a conversation with my mother about this mess and I’m already annoyed by having my wife treated like crap. I’m not really up to sitting down at a table and eating with people who found delight in tormenting you.”
“And no, no, I’m not willing to wait until tomorrow to be told just what the hell happened!” Jack said, clearly annoyed. Like he or his little buddy had the right? Pfft.
“Yeah, well you know what? My warm feelings for you two are at an all-time low just now, so really, you need to back the fuck off.” She looked to Jack. “Both of you.”
“What the fuck did I do?” Galen tried to look innocent. Which was the wrong thing to do.
“Did I not just tell you both to leave it be? Must you both push until you get your way? Even when it involves me and what I want? Fine, if you want to play it, if you want to do this right now, let’s do it. You ran off to your parents to tattle after I begged you not to.”
Galen exhaled sharply. “I had to. Renee, you don’t understand how it felt to know you’d suffered and I hadn’t seen it. I had to protect you. I had to confront my parents.”
“Well, thank God all that was about you. You see, my mistake was in thinking it happened to me and I handled it myself like all the others who marry into your jamboree did. Since all this is about you then, did you get your answers, Galen? Do you feel better now that you’ve just undone four years of my constant fighting to fit in with your family?”
“I didn’t undo anything. My mother got mad at me for going around you. But she said some stuff to set me straight. No one knows but her.” Galen reached for her, sliding his thumb over her bottom lip. “I love you so much, Renee. Knowing you were harmed by my people, when I should have protected you, it made me feel like a loser.”
Jack sighed, reaching out to touch her and she allowed it. “I told you I didn’t mean to gossip. It’s not that way. I just wanted to fill them in on our life. On you so they understood why I’d be with you more often, why I would be using more Pack resources to guard you.” Jack wanted her to understand, she got that part.
“That’s just part of it, Jack. You blabbed to Galen without my permission and then used guilt to get me here. I got here and your bitch of an anchor insulted me and you stood by and watched. Doing nothing. After you’d gotten up in Galen’s shit for not stopping the hazing I went through.”
“I didn’t hear that part. Honestly. I knew you were arguing, but you seemed to be handling it and I didn’t want to interfere after you’d just told us both how important it was for you to stand on your own.” Jack’s expression was forlorn and even with all her mad, she couldn’t bear to see either of them so sad.
“I concede that larger point about doing things myself. It is important to me. Like, you know, telling people stuff on my own schedule. In the future though, if your anchor is ripping me to shreds, calling me a low-rent, problem-ridden bitch, you could stop making googly eyes at her and, you know, take my side.”
“I did not make googly eyes. And I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry because if I had felt shame I would have intervened. I would have because I love you and also because it’s beyond out of line.”
She sighed out, hard. Part of this mess was hers to own. Most of it was them though, damn it. So sweet and overbearing, her men. Good Lord she was going to spend the next however many decades managing them and having to push back when they stepped over the line.
“If you two were bad in bed or not so pretty to look at, all this He-Man stuff would get old.” She tiptoed up to deliver a quick kiss to Galen’s chin, right where her favorite dent resided. “Lucky for you—” she looked around him to Jack, “—for both of you, you have lots of good qualities.”
Galen wrestled a smile but lost. “You’re supposed to be serious right now, Renee.”
“Galen, dude, we’re here. This is Jack’s family and I want them to like me. More than that, I want them to understand that despite his infuriating tendency to share information he was given in confidence, I love Jack. We love Jack and we’re good for him.” Of course that was sort of hard to prove when there was truth to the accusation that Renee had dragged all sorts of drama into his life.
“I know you’re angry with me. I can take that. But I hurt you and...” Jack reached to touch her and she leaned into the palm against her cheek.
Renee shook her head, tears pricking her lashes despite her best intentions. She had brought this all on them, even though Grace had no right to say it like Renee had done it on purpose.
“Stop. It’s over and I can’t see the point in beating yourself up over it. Oh, I’ll kick your ass for this crap again later.” She paused. “Please can we just go in to dinner? Seriously, I’m done with all this emotional overdose. We can talk later. I’m all right. I handled it and made it clear I wouldn’t tolerate any more of the same.”
“You act like we don’t have a freeway into your emotions. I can feel you right now.” Jack put his palm over her belly. “You hurt.”
She nodded. “Sure. But I’m resilient.”
“I don’t want to leave it.” Galen looked so sad and upset.
“If we don’t leave it I’m going to punch you in the junk for ignoring me earlier and running to tattle. I’m going to resent it and I don’t want to right now. If I don’t leave it I’m going to start obsessing about Jack and Grace and I don’t want to. I can only do so much. I’m human, okay? I’m upside down and sideways. I’m just not the same as the people in there, or in your jamboree. Even if you were human I’d be different. I’m not giving up. I’m not weak. I’m just...exhausted. I understand you’re upset and you want to fix it, but there are things you can’t fix, Galen. Doctors and lawyers looking down on people who own smoothie carts is not new. I’m telling you I have no room to process anything else right now. I can’t.”
“She said that?” Jack’s shock was plain on his face.
“Shocked? Really? That your precious Grace could be a classist, condescending bitch? Come on. It’s over. I believe her apology was genuine and we’ll see how it goes from now on. I’m willing to give her that chance and even though I’m pissed, I don’t blame you for her comments. Jack, I know you want to make things right and I know you feel bad, but I’m asking you to set it aside and let it go for now.”
He sighed. “If she said that, how can we go and eat at their table?”
“You’re both just determined to make me cry and get puffy and to have Jack’s family hate me too. Is that it? Come the fuck on! Leave it alone for now and I’ll share it with you later. If you both keep pushing, I will lose my shit.” She turned and went back inside.