The Wolf King’s Possession

4.

Still.”

“Why shouldn’t I talk to her?” I laughed. “Don’t want me spilling all your dirty secrets to the next Mrs. Alexander Miller?”

“I’d rather marry the Flamingo. Lexi takes advantage of you. I fuckin’ hate that.”

“Only when I let her.” At least I hadn’t picked up her shift on Monday. Then again, if I hadn’t already been working, I might have. When people needed something from me, I often had a hard time saying no.

“Stop letting her. I know how girls like that are. She’d manipulate you out of the shirt off your back if she took a liking to it. Your bra, too.”

I scoffed. “That’d sure give the dirty grandpas at the Hills something to talk about.”

“If I ever hear the drugstore’s got a Viagra shortage, I’ll know why. You know⁠—”

A siren cut Xander off. It blared so loud, I had to move the phone away from my ear as he swore under his breath. “s**t. Gotta go. Fire on Main Street. Let me know how tomorrow goes, and call if you need me, okay?”

“You got it.” I clenched my jaw as an old fear tightened in my chest. It was the same feeling I got every time I heard the sirens of a fire engine tearing through Evergreen’s streets, and it had started the day Xander had joined the department. “Text me when you’re done so I know you’re okay?”

“Only ‘cause you asked so nicely. Love ya.”

“Be safe. Love ya, too,” I said back. A second later, the line went dead.

“If your grandfather was here to see this…” Nana grumbled as we watched the conservative navy-blue Maybach pull up outside her house. A rich person’s car. My mother would never have settled for anything less. “How many sons-in-law do I have to meet before your mother finally gives up?”

“Maybe this is the last one,” I suggested, even though I didn’t believe it myself. “She says it feels right this time.”

“Taking a big dump also feels right. Doesn’t mean you ought to marry it.”

“Nana!” Laughing, I swatted her, but she only shrugged.

“Can’t fault me if it’s true.”

Mom and her new boyfriend aside, I was feeling more positive about tonight than expected. Xander had texted me in the early morning to let me know he’d gotten back to the firehouse safely. Just a tiny kitchen fire. Nothing to worry about. It felt like a good omen.

Unfortunately, Mom’s new boy-toy looked like a bad one. He was tall and thin, like a cartoon villain in a black overcoat. He didn’t even open the door for her after he got out of the car.

Mom looked so blissed out, she didn’t notice. She was dressed like she was attending New York Fashion Week, not dinner at Nana’s in Evergreen. Like me, she was a true autumn, with dark auburn hair and warm-toned skin. The pale-blue gown washed her out, and her fur coat made it look like she was preparing for a Russian winter. It was the diamonds dripping from her ears and neck, though, that drove her real point home: she wasn’t from Evergreen anymore. She was beyond that now. Even her oversized sunglasses exuded wealth.

“She better not show up to the winter market like that tomorrow.” Nana shook her head in disapproval, sending her steel-gray curls bouncing like springs. “I’ll never hear the end of it from the gals at bingo if she does.”

“Play nice, Nana,” I reminded her. Carefully, I rubbed a smudge of flour from her cheek. We’d been cooking all day, just like we used to do when I was a kid. In our dirty aprons, I wondered if Mom’s new boyfriend would mistake us for the help. “You know how Mom gets.”

“I’ll play however I damn well please,” Nana shot back with a smirk. “It’s the boyfriend you should be warning.”

Mom burst through the front door, bringing the crisp scent of cold and a flurry of snow along with her. The weather forecast called for a storm tonight. Earlier, Nana said she suspected Mom was bringing it with her.

“Felicity! My baby!” Mom held her arms open wide and snatched me against her bosom when I moved within range. Immediately, the scent of her perfume filled my lungs. She wore enough Chanel No. 5 to drown a horse. “How are you?”

“I’m good, Mom,” I choked as the diamonds of her necklace cut into my cheek. When she finally released me, I rubbed my face and winced. “How was the trip?”

“Oh, it was gorgeous. Did you know Thomas speaks six languages?” I didn’t, and I wasn’t sure how that related to her drive to Evergreen, either, but I just smiled and nodded. “Thomas, come in here and meet my baby girl. This is Felicity. She’s my pride and joy. Even if she is getting a little tubby these days.”

Mom pinched my stomach and giggled girlishly. I forced a polite smile and gently moved her hand away.

I was used to getting comments about my weight. Especially from her. I’d been a chubby, awkward kid and an even chubbier, more awkward teen. Binge-eating out of boredom in front of the TV while your mom is on her eighth blind date of the week will do that to a girl, I guess.

Even at my heaviest, I’d never hated my body. But I’d hated the comments that everyone felt they needed to make. At Evergreen High, my classmates had wasted no time hitting me with nicknames. Felicity the Fatty. Feli-size-of-a-city. The insults stung, but they’d simmered down significantly after Xander decided we were friends. All the name-calling had dropped off by the time he graduated, around the same time I dropped the weight.

Except when it came to Mom. To her, I’d always be her little plus-size pride and joy.

Behind Mom, Thomas slipped through the door. He looked me up and down, then stuck out his hand mechanically.

“Felicity. It’s a pleasure.” His voice was dry and crisply British.

“Nice to meet you, Thomas.” He had a firm handshake, a little too firm for my liking. Any man who tries to crush you with a handshake is compensating for something. Xander had told me that.