"Ma, please, I cannot deal with this anymore!"

"I am not going to sit here and watch you do this to yourself Lia," my sister whines.

She is on my back again for coming home late, just like every single holiday I come home, which I admit is rare, but still doesn't make it less annoying.

"Stop overreacting girls or I'm going to send yesterday's leftovers to the infirmary," my mother hissed scowling, ever being the peacekeeper.

That however, shuts me up quick because yesterday's special was Lasagna and I'm not giving that up for the world.

Al comes into the kitchen sipping on a cola. Good. That should distract her at least long enough to leave me alone. "God! When did I lose the respect in this house! I'm the eldest for goodness' sake."

"About the time you lost your virginity!!" my brother chimes in cheerfully coming in from behind Al and slapping me at the back of my head. 

"OK. That's it!" I yelled chasing Gus around the kitchen island, but before I can punch him, Mother yells as she loses the last strand of her patience.

"Angus! Get out and help your dad unload the shopping. Aloysius and Anastasia! Dad's here, no fooling around! Go set up the table. Anatolia! Come here and help me with this!" she yells and we scatter away like worker ants.

I dread whats coming, because I can sense that whatever she's planned for me is unpleasant. I hurry over to her as she tells me to cut up the veggies while she washed the plates for dinner.

However after a glimpse of my expertise, she seems to have changed her mind.

"Lia, dry these,"she ordered, pointing towards a sink full of washed dishes. "I'll cut them."

I am getting anxious. She is being silent, like the calm before the storm. I need to take cover before the tick of the time bomb runs out.

She puts down her knife and just looks at me intensely, as I tried desperately to dodge her stare.

"LIA, look at me when I talk to you!" she says in a dangerously low voice without a falter in her stare. I squirm uncomfortably.

"Come, take a seat." She motioned to the counter stool. I fervently prayed that she shouldn't ask me to elaborate on that virginity comment or I would literally combust on the spot into flames of embarrassment. That ship sailed about the time I was 18.

Can you blame me? The initial years of puberty are not kind. It is very rare for wolves my age to wait for their mate. To me it is just a problem to be solved. Never has it ever been like an emotional investment for me.

Dreading all this, I swallow nervously and surrender, much like the sacrificial lamb to my mother's scrutiny.

"What's wrong mother?" I ask softly.

"The time has come that we got something clear young lady. I don't know where you go and what you do, but I know you can take care of yourself and frankly, I trust you more to take care of yourself than Sia and Gus put together,"

"What did they do?" 

By now, I'm convinced, by and large, this has to do something with me. But one can still hope.

"Not what they did, Lia," she huffs out closing her eyes in pain.

"Its just that, Sia will be asking to move in with Al soon. Now I trust him implicitly, being the Gamma's son, he has pretty much grown up in my eyes, I don't worry about them,"

'Honestly, this wolf worries too much' Wes, my wolf mutters. I agree.

"Ma, what has that got to do with anything?"

"Your father." She admits with her eyes full of worry.

'Should've known' I grumble to Wes. She just rolls her eyes.

"He isn't getting any younger and just yesterday he was turning over the house up side down looking for some papers that he had already submitted. And the week before that..."

I tune out the rest of the conversation sensing that it is going in a direction that it has been going all these years.

I'm concerned for your dad, I hope he is okay, or I'm concerned for your dad, I hope everyone treats him okay. Old news.

On the other hand, my wolf is nudging me to pay attention. She always does this. I'm just not very interested in these emotional confessions.

"...its about time I think he steps down," she finished with a determined look on her face. This part is new, I must admit.

I can see part of her wolf in her eyes. 'She must be really intense about this, huh, if Marie, her wolf, is making an appearance.' Wes whispers to me.

Dad is not going to be happy if he hears that mom has come out and said this.

I try to reason with her, "Ma, its not such a big problem. Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes even I have misplaced my books and gone around searching for them for days, literally anyone-"

"It is different if you are the second -in -hand of the Alpha." She declares interrupting my feeble excuses. Now her wolf is clearly in the room. Marie takes anything to do with the pack super seriously.

Although I would hate to admit to what she is saying, it is admittedly more true than naught. Dad is not young, even for werewolves.

But what my mother is asking now is outrageous. Most Leaders will never step down willingly even if they acknowledge that they are invalid. It usually takes a duel to the death to acquire a position during the life of a Leader.

"Ma, we can never ask Dad to do that and you know that," I plead, hoping that she can somehow see where I'm coming from. My father didn't speak to me for two weeks at once, because he caught me cursing at him, such is the extent of Father's pride.

What's even worse, is that I'm next in line. We all know how that could play out. Therefore, I'm actually planning to transfer the title to Gus when he becomes 18. Since father wouldn't want to retire till at least another year, it works perfectly.

'You what? You idiot?! You are getting an opportunity, and if you don't use it, I will!' Wes sneers. Darn, Primal wolf alert. I'm hating this.

'He is our father, you will show no disrespect.'

'He is being inefficient and soon a danger to himself and the pack.' She argues.

'Remember Wes, everything we are today, we are because of him.' 

'Are we, really?'

Her words pierce me like a shard of shrapnel. I suppress her to the back of my mind, like my life depended on it. Suppressing her would act like hitting a mute button, so I cannot hear her anymore and I prefer it that way.

I am sure going to pay for this later, but she was being insufferably rude. I'm doubled over and my eyes are closed tightly while I try to control her. Mom notices this and rushes over in concern, just as Dad walks in with the groceries.

"I'm okay, Ma, just a little dust in my eye." I mutter, from behind my hands.

She then walks over to Dad to take the bags from his hand.

"Guess, who decided to finally come over." she beamed to Dad with a killer grin. Woah, talk about mercurial. That woman is dangerous.

"Anatolia." Dad nods. I nod back hoping he moves past the afternoon's incident.

"Listen Dad, I'm sorry about-" I begin with lowered eyes.

"Ria, call me for dinner when you're done. I'll be out on the porch." He declared, ignoring me completely and stomping out without a reply. Mum is stumped.

"What did you do?" Ma turns around slowly like a time-bomb about to go off.

"I'm going to give Sia and Al a hand with the rest of the bags." I smile weakly trying to escape this situation.

"Stop right there young lady. Go and talk to your Dad."

"Okay."  Wes isn't talking to me right now and that is making me more nervous.

"The porch is that way." Ma points with a spatula, blocking the backdoor with her body.

I have escaped countless prisons and out of countless computer virus webs, but from my mother is where my skills decide to draw the line? Great! I mentally facepalmed, as I took a deep breath in and slowly turned around to make my way to the front door.

***

Dad is leaning against the window, staring at the stars, while puffing on his cigar.

"That didn't take long. Record time." He mumbled under his intimidating handlebar mustache.

I swallow inaudibly. Clearly my plans for tonight just went up in smoke.

"She is a remarkable woman." I say trying to ease his mood, knowing that Ma is his soft spot. 

"Time flies fast, kid. One day you think you can do anything at all and no one can stop you; the very next day you are reminded, even if you have your head all up in the air, your feet are still fastened to the ground."

I watch breathlessly as he slowly takes a puff and let's out a ring of smoke.

"In fact, man probably couldn't take even that blow to his pride and  wedged a barrier between himself and the humble ground to make himself feel better. But in the end, who wins the constant war between man and the ground, huh?" He smirked thoughtfully.

I'm shocked. I never expected our conversation to go in this tangent. I couldn't even open my mouth.

"Lia. I have to show you something. Come here." I follow him silently to our garage.

He goes to the gun cabinet at the back of the garage. I hope tonight is not gun-polishing night for me. I groan internally. Gus had to do this when he came home drunk at the infamous Christmas Eve of last year.

Cursing my existence, I grab a nearby rag and a hunting rifle in the bottom shelf and began to polish it.

"What are you doing?" my dad questions raising his eyebrows.

"I thought you wanted me to polish the guns."

"Not today kid,"

I blew a breath of relief.

"you can do that tomorrow evening."

"It's alright dad, I can do it now, I have no problem." I chirp cheerfully, hoping to ease his mood. Tomorrow is impossible to even think about.

"And why is that?" He quirks his eyebrow. Turning around he stares into my eyes. For a second I got nervous, wondering if he is reading my mind.

I stare back straight at him, unable to come up with anything plausible under his heavy stare, and I, Anatolia Tremellius  have lied my way out of countless Federal investigations before.

"Ma told me to help Philip with his school project. He has to submit it tomorrow you see,"

Wow, even I'm shocked at my incompetence tonight. Can that be more unbelievable?

Even if he suspected something, he doesn't say anything. Letting out another puff he continued,

"I brought you here to show you this."

***********

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