Needle in a Haystack

Home, Again

An hour after Mr Drake left her some lunch, Emily's mother showed up to take her home. Anna Pickerling was a force to be reckoned with and a beauty in our own right, the rather short and somewhat heavy set for a wolf shifter. She walked in, signed Emily out and walked out without a word. Emily started packing up as soon as her mother walked in and was zipping her bag as the door slammed behind her mother as she walked out. The entire car ride home was silent. Emily kept waiting for her to break the silence, but she wouldn't even look at her. They pulled into the parking lot of the same crummy apartments they had lived in before the latest boyfriend debacle, and Emily groaned inwardly. She had the good sense not to do it out loud, but sometimes she could swear her mother was psychic.

"Don't even start with me," she growled, her eyes flashing yellow. "This isn't going to be easy for either of us, so please, just don't actively try to make things worse." She paused as she pulled into a parking spot. "I know you were just starting to like that pack, but it just wasn't working out with me and Jake."

It took a moment for Emily to realize her mother was so focused on her breakup that she had wholly forgotten Emily's birthday, and probably didn't care about the accusations at school.

"It's fine Mom, really," Emily said getting out of the car with her massive backpack. She shut the door and waited for her mother to lead the way to their new place.

To Emily's delight and surprise, they were not in the second floor one bedroom apartment that they had shared previously. Her mother led her to a ground floor apartment, newly renovated with two master bedrooms. It wasn't furnished, but they still had their beds and the couch from before that seemed to have been delivered sometime that morning. Someone has mercifully turned on the air conditioning, but it wasn't very cool yet.

'They must have just finished,' Emily thought, setting her backpack down and sitting on the warm couch. She sat with her eyes fixed on the new cheap carpet between her feet, waiting for her mother to speak and tried not to fidget. Instead she heard her mother drop her purse on the counter and her bedroom door slammed. A few moments later Ember could hear their mother sobbing.

Without much hope, Emily ambled over to the fridge and opened the door. The only thing there was a fridge box of baking soda, the kind with the vent in the top that helps to get rid of the previous tenants lingering mishaps. 'At least it was cleaned this time,' Emily thought as the smell of a strong antiseptic burned her nose.

'Thank goddess for small blessings.'

Emily shut the fridge, retrieved her backpack and headed for her bedroom. Her daybed, two boxes and her art bag were all stacked against the wall leaving the center of the room clear. She set her backpack next to the boxes and lay down in the middle of the floor, the carpet glue fumes making her slightly dizzy and fell asleep.

Emily woke up hours later, the afternoon sun filtering through her room blinds. Her mother was gently scratching at her door.

"Emily, sweetie," she called softly, "I made spaghetti."

'Oh, a peace offering,' Ember thought, amused.

'Better than her sulking and drunk,' Emily thought back briefly before bounding up and opening the door.

The apartment smelled amazing. Emily loved her mother's cooking even though she didn't do it often. Her mother was busy pulling what looked like garlic bread out of the oven and there was a giant pot of spaghetti on the stove, sauce pre-mixed just how she liked it. Emily stuttered to a stop on the threshold of the kitchen her sneakers squeaking against the cheap linoleum. There was way too much for just the two of them and she eyed the giant pot of spaghetti suspiciously.

"Are we expecting someone?" asked Emily hesitantly.

Anna didn't look up from cutting the garlic bread. "No, I thought we could eat this the rest of the week until I can get a paycheck."

'Great spaghetti for breakfast lunch and dinner,' Ember grumbled.

'At least we won't go hungry again,' Emily defended.

Anna may not have been the best mother but she was Emily and Ember's mother. She genuinely loved these men and would be heartbroken for weeks. Amber couldn't understand how she could become so attached to someone who was not her fated mate.

Emily had tried to explain it to her once. That it's because her mother had nothing to compare it to. The people that she chose to mate with were the strongest attachments she had.

Not so long ago Emily knew waiting for your fated mate was the norm, but over the centuries since the accords had been signed the global population boomed and the taming of the wild places left the shifters hard pressed to stay away from mundanes. Any packs that stayed in one place had to integrate with human society to some extent or be labeled a cult. Some of the smallest packs worked odd jobs to pay for the few things they couldn't scavenge or hunt, but never stayed in one place long. The mundanes viewed them as vagrants, but Emily thought they were more free than most of the massive global population.

"Um Mom, I'm not sure that's going to be enough," Emily said hesitantly. Anna barked a laugh, but sobered when she realized Emily wasn't joking.

"Don't be silly. of course this will be enough for dinners this week," Anna said, dishing out spaghetti a little more forcefully than necessary. Understanding dawned across Emily's face.

"What did they tell you when they called to have you come pick me up?"

Anna froze. Emily held her breath as her mother slowly turned on her heel, spaghetti ladle held up, still full of noodles.

"Only that I needed to come sign you out," Anna said through clenched teeth. "Why?"

"I... um... can we eat first?"

She brandished the full ladle like a rappier.

"Spill!"

"I... um... I might be expelled and have to go before the council," Emily cringed away from the ladle, eyes squeezed shut waiting for a good saucing. when nothing happened she cracked an eye to see what state her mother was in. Anna hadn't moved.