"Your mother is here and she would like to meet Elliot."
Tommy looked up at his father in surprise. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, Dad. Elliot doesn't seem to be in any big hurry to shift back into human form." He gestured to the wolf curled at his feet.
"Will he listen to you?"
"I don't know, Dad. He listened to me when I told him to get off of Nate, but beyond that … " Tommy shrugged. "I just don't know."
"Well, he hasn't hurt anyone so I suppose that's something."
Daniel started to walk into the kitchen when the wolf suddenly lunged to his feet and bared his teeth, growling at him as he stepped in front of Tommy. Daniel quickly backed up until he once again stood in the doorway, shaking his head. The moment Daniel was back in the doorway, the wolf settled back down, sitting at Tommy's feet.
"No, I'm thinking you might be right. Maybe now isn't the time for your mother to meet Elliot."
"How can he be a wolf, Dad?" Tommy looked up at his father, desperately wanting answers. "Shouldn't I have smelled it on him?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Just because Elliot can shift doesn't mean you would automatically scent the wolf in him, especially if it was suppressed."
"Suppressed?"
"Most wolves shift when they hit puberty. If Elliot never shifted before then, his wolf could have been suppressed. It could be due to that illness he had as a child, the drugs they gave him, or even because his wolf knew it wasn't safe to shift."
"So, why now? Why did Elliot shift now?"
"I can't answer that, Thomas. I wish I could."
"I think I can."
Tommy's eyes widened when he saw Nate standing just beyond his father. Joe hovered behind him, looking pissed off as all hell. "Nate? Do you know something?"
Nate squeezed into the doorframe beside Daniel and frowned when he saw the wolf curled up at Tommy's feet. "He is a pretty wolf, isn't he? I don't think I've ever seen a pure white one before."
Tommy stared down at Elliot, the fact that he was a white wolf just now filtering into his confused brain. He reached down and brushed his fingers through the soft hair at the wolf's neck. "Yeah, he is a pretty wolf."
"When Elliot touched me in the living room earlier, I felt him." Nate's face took on a pained look, a muscle quivered in his tense jaw. "There was so much darkness. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before."
"Are you saying Elliot's evil?"
"Oh no, Elliot's spirit is pure. His soul shines brighter than any soul I have ever seen. But there's a horrible darkness that surrounds him." Nate inhaled sharply then smiled weakly. "But the darkness wasn't touching him."
"That's what you meant?" Daniel asked. "You kept saying no touching."
"No, I said it wasn't touching Elliot, the darkness wasn't touching him."
Daniel groaned and dragged his hand down his face. "Hell, Nate, we thought you were telling us not to touch Elliot."
"Now do you believe me?" Tommy snapped. "I've been telling you from the very beginning that Elliot wouldn't hurt anyone."
"He attacked Nate!" Joe snapped right back.
"He didn't attack me, Joe. He was just trying to get out of the pantry that you had him locked up in. He never hurt me."
"Well, it sure as shit looked like he wanted to," Joe grumbled.
"Joe, I love you to death, but you really need to get over this thing with Elliot. He's not going to hurt anyone."
"How can you be so sure, Nate?" Joe asked. "He's in wolf form, a wolf that very obviously doesn't answer to Dad. That gives him lone wolf status in this valley."
Tommy stiffened at his brother's words then quickly continued to stroke his fingers over Elliot's fur when the wolf let out a low snarl. The rumble stopped as soon as he started petting Elliot again.
Joe's words terrified Tommy. A lone wolf in another pack's territory could be hunted down and killed. He looked up at his father only to find the man watching him and Elliot with an intense stare.
"Dad?"
"As long as you can keep him under control, and until we figure out what is going on, I'll hold off on denoting him as a lone wolf, but I expect you to keep him in line, Thomas. If he goes after anyone, I'm holding you responsible."
Tommy nodded, relief flowing through him. For now, Elliot was safe. Assuming Tommy could keep him in line. Elliot didn't seem to want to go after anyone as long as they stayed away. The moment someone stepped closer, Elliot's body tensed and he gave a threatening growl.
"I think we're safe as long as no one comes too close."
"He's protecting you," Nate said as he leaned back in Joe's arms. "You're Elliot's mate, even the wolf knows that. He sees everyone else as a threat to you and he's letting us all know to stay away."
"We haven't even completed the mating yet," Tommy said. "How can he know we're mates?"
"How did you know?" Nate countered.
Tommy felt his face flush as he remembered the moment he knew Elliot was his mate. "Yeah, okay, I get what you're saying."
"If your face is anything to go by," Joe said, "I'd be interested in hearing how you knew Elliot was your mate."
Tommy groaned. "Carl was making remarks about Elliot and it made me want to pound him into the ground."
Joe grinned. "So, basically, you wanted to protect him."
"Yeah."
Joe chuckled as he hugged Nate closer to his chest. "Sounds about right to me."
Tommy opened his mouth to reply to his brother when he felt Elliot stiffen beneath his fingers. He cocked his head to one side, listening. Tommy heard a car stop, the engine going quiet and then a door slammed close. A moment later, there was a knock at the front door.
"That's probably Ben or Reece," Joe said as he nodded toward the living room. "I told you that they were on their way here."
"Daniel, the boys are here."
Tommy recognized his mother's voice and suddenly felt a pang of longing. Maryann Nash had always been able to make her children feel better with a simple look or gesture. Tommy suddenly felt the need for one of her special Mom hugs.
Elliot was his mate, whether in wolf form or human, but this situation was getting stranger by the minute. Tommy didn't know if his family would accept Elliot. He didn't know if his mate would ever turn back to human. And he didn't know if Elliot would leave if he did. He basically didn't know anything at this point beyond the fact that the entire situation was totally fucked up.
"Daniel, did you hear me?"
Tommy looked up when he heard his mother's voice much closer than it was moments ago. Maryann Nash was standing directly behind his father. Tommy sank his fingers into Elliot's fur, ready to pull the wolf back if he made a threatening move towards his mother.
"Thomas, is this him?" Maryann asked as she pointed to the wolf at Tommy's feet. "Is this your mate?"
"Hey, Mom." Tommy couldn't even voice the relief he felt at seeing his mother's smiling face. She always made things better. But Tommy's relief quickly dwindled away when Maryann started to walk past his father, reaching out for Elliot. "Mom, no, stay back."
"Maryann!" Daniel snapped.
"Mom, stop," Joe shouted, "we don't know if Elliot's dangerous or not."
"Don't be ridiculous." Maryann waved her hand in a dismissive gesture as she walked across the room. "He's Tommy's mate. He wouldn't hurt me."
Tommy held his breath as he watched his mother walk over and squat down in front of Elliot. He tightened his hold on Elliot's fur. Tommy just didn't know if he was trying to defend his mother or his mate.
"Hello, Elliot," she said softly. "I'm Maryann Nash, Tommy's mother."
Much to Tommy's shock and surprise, and he guessed everyone else's in the room from the way they all remained eerily silent, Elliot leaned up and sniffed Maryann then licked a long line across her cheek before rolling over onto his back, exposing his belly to Maryann.
Tommy inhaled softly and looked over at his father, incredulously. Rolling over and showing your underbelly was a sign of submission in the wolf world. Did Elliot's wolf understand that or was he showing his submission to Maryann?
Maryann's soft laughter filled the large kitchen, brightening it somehow. The tension that had filled the room for what seemed like forever started to lessen. Tommy could see smiles start to break out over the faces of those around him. His mother always had that effect on people. She made a perfect mate of an alpha wolf.