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“We can chat more over dinner.” Mom stood and rubbed her hands together. “I made pulled pork in the slow cooker.”
There wasn’t much in life better than Mom’s pulled pork, and I savored the juicy taste as I thought about the full moon. It had been extremely bright the night before, but Ty had said it would be at its fullest tonight. I had been on edge all day, wondering how my wolf would respond, especially after I’d felt such a strong tug last night.
Dad cleared his throat loudly, interrupting my thoughts. “Liza, are you still taking your medication?”
Ty inclined his head toward me, urging me to be honest with my parents. I was embarrassed about having to talk about my hormones and Ty handling my sexual cravings, but my parents deserved to know the truth. After all, they always had my best interests at heart.
I sighed. “Uhm, no. I actually stopped taking them recently.”
Mom choked on her wine, spluttering, coughing, and slapping her chest. Once the spluttering stopped, she stared at me with wide eyes. “Why would you do that, Liza? Didn’t the doctor double your dosage to keep you safe? Prescribe new medication?” My safety was always foremost in her mind, and I loved her all the more for it.
I twisted my mouth to the side, trying to think of a delicate way to say it. “I don’t feel the need for them anymore now that I’m with Ty.”
One of the main reasons for the medication was to calm down any hypersexual cravings I might have developed during puberty. Since I’d been on the medication, I didn’t know if such a thing had occurred or not. Now I had a mate who could handle… it for me. It was an embarrassing dinner topic, but I needed to explain, otherwise my mother wouldn’t sleep until I did.
“Ty handles my, uh, cravings.”
Dad’s face reddened as he shoved a forkful of pulled pork into his mouth and chewed without speaking, but he narrowed his eyes at Ty. I was still his little girl.
I’d felt some cravings brewing deep inside since I was a teenager, but they were like an itch I couldn’t scratch, and nothing so severe as the doctor had predicted. They were too far out of reach, even when I took matters into my own hands. It just wasn’t the same.
Mom cleared her throat, leaned closer to me, and lowered her voice. “So, what you’re saying is that your hormones have leveled off now that you’re with Ty?”
“Exactly.” I took a sip of water because my entire body, but mostly my face, was on fire with shame. This wasn’t a conversation any woman should have to have over pulled pork in her mother’s dining room. “With my desires being met, my hormones are much more balanced.”
“I’ll just finish this in the other room.” Dad stood and carried his plate into the kitchen.
I stifled a laugh as Mom whispered across the table, “Your father isn’t exactly a sexually liberated man. You’ll have to excuse his prudence.”
Ty chuckled. “I don’t think I’d want to discuss any of this with my daughter, either.”
The mention of a daughter stirred something deep within me. I didn’t want to play into the myths about omegas only wanting to procreate, but the thought of having a child with Ty made me happy. He would be an amazing and protective dad. A daddy any little girl would be proud to call her own.
Mom stood and grabbed our plates, following Dad into the kitchen.
Ty rubbed my back. “I will never dictate what you do to your body, but if it seems like you’re going to send the entire male population of Presley Acres into a rut, you’ll need to go back on your meds.”
I nodded. “I can agree to those terms.”
“Good. I’d rather not have to take on the entire male population of our pack to defend you.” Ty laughed as we stepped into the kitchen.
We spent a few more minutes making small talk with my parents before saying our goodbyes. It was already dusk, and Ty didn’t want to be late arriving at the Keller Estate.
It was the first full moon, which meant I would have my first run with the upper-class wolves. This full moon would be different for me, though. I could feel it in every inch of my being. I would finally experience what the other shifters had enjoyed their entire lives—the rush of freedom and of running under the full moon without the drugs hazing my joyousness. The thought of it was liberating.
Cars lined both sides of the estate’s long driveway and spilled out onto the street below. Ty had called all members to this run, not just the upper-class. No segregation. No class differences. Just the pack.
Holding my hand, Ty led me to the clearing where everyone had gathered, waiting for their alpha to speak. I stood next to him as the members of the pack stared up at the royal family of the south.
Dominic Keller stood before his pack, scanning the group of loyal wolves gathered in the clearing under the bright light of the full moon.
He raised his hands, instructing the pack to quiet down. His voice, strong and commanding, filled the air as he began to speak. “Welcome, everyone. Family is everything to us. We have been passed down through generations, from one alpha to the next. We are connected by blood, by the bonds of loyalty and love that we share.”
The pack listened with rapt attention, hanging on to their alpha’s every word.
“Tonight, we celebrate a new chapter in our pack’s history,” Dominic announced, pride emanating from his voice. “My son Tyson has found his mate, Liza. They will take on the responsibilities of leadership and become the future of our pack.”
The announcement was met with an excited murmur. It went without saying that this was a momentous occasion, a changing of the guard that marked passing the torch from one generation to the next.
