“Nevertheless, I need to go help out at the lodge, and Sawyer needs to go to the gym. Humor us. Spend some time with Joyce.”
She nodded. “Like I said, I don’t mind spending time with Joyce. I do mind you thinking you’re going to follow me to work next week.”
Were they ever going to see reason?
“We can revisit the topic later,” Sawyer said as someone knocked on the door.
Amanda seethed. They’d made this plan without consulting her at all, obviously. And then they’d given her about thirty seconds notice.
Joyce came in with a huge smile and headed straight toward Amanda. “Amanda, so nice to have a chance to finally sit down with you.”
Amanda rounded the table and put her most pleasant I’ll-kill-my-mates-later face on to greet Sawyer’s mom. “Yes. Thanks for coming over.” She pointed toward the living room. “Let’s sit.”
“Do you want anything, Mom?” Sawyer asked. “Coffee?”
Joyce waved him away. “No thanks. I’m good.”
Sawyer leaned over Amanda and kissed the top of her head as she lowered herself into one of the black leather chairs. Logan did the same behind him, and then they both left.
“They blindsided you, didn’t they?” Joyce asked, eyeing the door skeptically.
“Yes. I’m getting used to it.”
“Don’t let them bully you.” She smiled warmly from her spot on the couch. “They sometimes forget they need to treat a human mate differently from a shifter. You’ll start to pick up on a lot of the nuances of our world, but you’ll never have the same level of ability to read a situation as them, unfortunately. And you’ll never be able to block your thoughts as well as them.”
Amanda sighed. “Great.”
“Don’t worry. Keep putting them in their place, and eventually they’ll come around. Even female shifters go through a learning curve when they mate, and I can’t begin to imagine how that is multiplied by mating two men. I only have one man to deal with. That’s enough for me.” She shuddered intentionally.
Amanda chuckled. She was going to love Joyce. And it wasn’t Joyce’s fault her son failed to mention her arrival until the last second. No need to punish her.
“So tell me about your job. Sawyer said you start Monday. Something about researching the effects of racial separation at the junior college.”
“Yep. That sums it up in a nutshell. I’m looking forward to it. I know they’re both worried about retaliation, though. Do you think it’s warranted?”
Joyce nodded. “To a certain extent. You’ll be surprised by how many people in this area are still intent on keeping the races from mixing. The majority simply frown upon it and keep it to themselves, but there’s always a vocal few who protest and piss and moan all the time. You’ll find that on both sides.”
“It’s so complicated. And it’s too bad I can’t detect who’s a shifter and who’s not. That gives me the heebie jeebies every time I leave the house.”
“Yeah, that is a nuisance, especially since any shifter has a leg up on you now that they can scent you are mated, but they don’t necessarily let you know that. Or often, if you’re in public, they can’t.”
“It’s going to take some getting used to.”
“Anyway,” Joyce continued, “I wanted you to know I’m involved in this issue myself. I don’t know how much Sawyer told you, but when I met my mate, Gene, almost thirty years ago, I was forced to leave the reservation by the elders of our tribe who were intent on keeping the line pure. My mate is white.
“It didn’t matter to anyone that we don’t choose our mates. Fate chooses them, and I could no more have left him than cut my own arm off. I was still banished without permission to even inform my parents, who were left to raise my twins after my disappearance. It was the only way I could save their lives.”
Amanda gasped. “God. That’s awful.”
“Horrific. Yes. When the last of the old generation of elders died, I finally returned with my mate. Our three children are half siblings to Melinda and Miles.”
“Right. I’m trying to get everyone straight, but there are so many of you.”
Joyce chuckled. “I understand. Don’t worry. Eventually it will all come together. Anyway, times have not changed entirely in three decades. There are still many folks who would like to see segregation remain alive and well.
“And to make things more complicated, there are plenty of shifters who don’t like to see us mate with non-shifters. And then you have to add the shifters who don’t want to see groups of three mating together.”