Page 10 of Sass Me Again

“Oh, my God! It’s not like I was out robbing a bank or something. I have never brought shame to this family or to your job, and you know that!” Jenn’s words about the control her parents had over her echoed in her mind.

“Emily, calm down. You know we only want the best for you.”

Something inside of her snapped. “You should probably go.”

“I know you’re mad now, but with time, you’ll see.”

She let his statement go. It was the same damn thing she had heard for years.

“I’ll see you Saturday.” He set his coffee cup on the counter and turned to head out the door.

“Actually, you won’t. I’m going out of town this weekend.” She might as well let him know now that she wasn’t going to be around for their Saturday brunch. It was a long-standing tradition.

“You can’t miss brunch. Your mom will be so upset. You know how much planning she puts into this every week.”

Cue the guilt trip. Any time she wanted to do something other than a family event, the guilt trip her parents took her on was swift and sure and unrelenting. She was so over it.

“I promised Jenn months ago that I’d spend some time with her. I’m going.”

“We’ll see,” her dad replied as he left.

Emily didn’t even know what to say. It was a good thing her dad chose that moment to leave, or things between them really would have come to a head. The last ten years flashed through her mind. All the times she had wanted to do something, and she had been denied by her parents. Feelings of resentment and anger stormed through her, making her realize just how right Jenn had been.

Emily had always made excuses. She wanted to be the good daughter they wanted her to be. The obedient daughter. The daughter who listened to and obeyed her parents, even well into adulthood.

She owed her very existence to them and her trust. She’d never thought too much about it. After all, wasn’t it her duty to be there for her parents? So what if they cared about her more than other parents cared about their kids? Right? Her excuses had been as long as her patience with them.

Emily flipped open her laptop as an idea sprang to mind. She never did anything without thinking things through. Spontaneity was a word that would never be used to describe her. Pulling up her calendar, she fired off a quick email to her boss explaining that she needed the week off for something that had come up. Sure, it was short notice, but it wasn’t like she had ever taken her vacations to begin with. They piled up over the years. Hell, she could probably take off sixteen straight weeks without batting an eyelash.

Her projects were ahead of schedule and no one else on her team was supposed to be off. Her boss shouldn’t have a problem with it, but just in case, she clicked the refresh button on her email every few seconds until she saw a reply from a boss.

“Finally! Take two weeks instead of one and enjoy yourself!”

Emily breathed a sigh of relief and started to pack her bags. She had no idea what she would do for an entire two weeks of time off from work, but she would figure something out.

The little voice in the back of her head worried about what fresh Hell she would have to pay for taking off without okaying it with her parents first. She quickly squashed that voice, finally taking control of her life. A huge weight lifted from her chest. The weight was quickly replaced by a sense of giddiness.

“Wow!” she said to herself, feeling lighter than she had in years as the tether that had kept her attached to her parents snapped in two.

Something stirred in the back of her mind, but she had no idea what it was. It was almost as if a dormant part of her yawned from a sudden and unexpected awakening.

“How weird.”

7

Ian tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited in traffic. The interstate had been backed up for the last five miles. Traffic crawled, then stopped, then crawled more before stopping again. Thoughts of seeing Emily filled his mind. His wolf whined at the idea of finally claiming their mate.

He had sent a quick text to Jenn, making sure that Emily hadn’t backed out on the road trip. When Jenn had replied that they were on the road and headed to Crescent Bay, sheer excitement surged through his veins. To him, it felt like it was finally their time. That nothing could stop what was about to come. That after all these years, they would claim their destiny. That all the bullshit they had been through over the years was about to be firmly put behind them, where it belonged, and they could finally move on to the next stage of their lives.

“Just a little bit further,” he said to his wolf. His animal grew more impatient as the seconds ticked by. He’d gotten the approval from Rafe to do what needed to be done to claim his mate while keeping in mind that she was human and wouldn’t play by the standard wolf pack rules when it came to mating.

Ian would have to dig deep and sweep her off her feet. He had two days to seal the deal and make Emily realize that they were meant to be together. Two days to make her see that her parents didn’t necessarily want what was best for her, but what was best for them.

The traffic finally cleared, and he sped toward the exit ramp. Ian rubbed his arm, his skin itching. He tightened his muscles, trying to keep his wolf from bursting forward. He swiped his tongue over his lengthening canines.

“No!” he commanded, knowing that now was not the time for his wolf to take control. Not in the vehicle whilst speeding down the exit ramp of the interstate. Ian pulled into the closest parking space when he reached the outer edge of the property where the Convergence was being held. His wolf was on high alert as magic swirled in the air, nearly choking him. He had forgotten what it felt like when so many shifters gathered for the Convergence. Though his Alpha was not present, there were many extraordinary Alphas nearby. Their power seeped off them, making the tiny hairs on his arms stand at full attention. The effect should have calmed his wolf, but it didn’t. His wolf was being fed by his Berserker. The magic surrounding him felt like a challenge for his beast. It was why he had largely stayed away from these gatherings.

After Ian had found his mate, there was no point in coming to them. Those first few years though, hoping to find his mate had been hell on his Berserker. It was something Rafe had warned him about. The more power and magic that surrounded him, the more it drew his true beast forward.