My Girl

EJ is Eight Years Old

EJ Conners sat at his kitchen table. When I sighed two of my siblings, Cassie and Alexander, shot me a look. They knew what I wanted to be doing instead of sitting here. I wanted to go see Elise Kyle, my mate. She made everything inside me feel complete. My wolf, Brutus, was annoyed. He desperately wanted to see Elise again and mom said I could today. She got both of us phones so we could talk and Facetime with each other.

Yet here we were waiting all because Grandma Cassandra’s heat had ended. She wanted us all to be here to tell her if she was going to have another pup. Which was ridiculous considering all the faces and comments she made about our Fairy side. She was certainly quick to use it to her advantage if it suited her, but she’d never admit that. Plus, her motivations told me she was never unhappy when we said she wasn’t pregnant.

She and Grandpa Nathan had been trying to get pregnant for a while now. I linked Alexander, “This is a waste of time, and we all know it. She won’t let you or mom heal her so she’s not pregnant.” Alexander shrugged, but I knew it bothered him, which pissed me off. I didn’t like that she hurt my brother's feelings every time she refused to let him help her. She was at least nice to him when she turned him down. She was outright rude when my mom offered to heal her.

Grandma Cassandra was a hard one for me. On the one hand, actually there was no one hand. I didn’t like her. She was rude to my mother and stomped on my brother’s feelings. Grandma Cassandra thought no one was around when she made snide little comments to my mother, but she was wrong. She seemed to be forgetting a lot lately that me and my siblings had better hearing than even she did.

Not to mention that we practice fading into the background. Mom always tries to tell her, but she doesn’t really listen. The things she said hurt my mom’s feelings. She was always hurting my mom's feelings. I studied my siblings knowing the truth was Grandma Cassandra hurt all of us. We hid that from our mom, but I was beginning to think that was a mistake.

We’d made promises when we na?ve young pups about keeping things secret. Grandma Cassandra days were absolutely awful and we got out of them as quickly as we could. She’d always go off with our full blood wolf cousins and leave us alone. When our younger siblings came along, we watched them ourselves. All because of a promise to keep Grandma Cassandra days secret. She manipulated us and we didn’t know better.

Cassie seemed especially upset by something that had happened recently. My other cousins weren’t waiting around today, except for Daisy. That wasn’t out of the ordinary because she typically stuck with us. Me and my siblings were here because out of all the cousins we who could see a pregnancy glow.

My mom came into the kitchen. She smiled at us, “All of you don’t have to stay and wait. Go play.” I jumped in, “Cassie, Alexander, and I will stay.” I told my siblings, “You guys go play.” My other siblings jumped up from the table. I asked my mom, “How are you feeling?” She smiled, “Little Tim and Brody are kicking up a storm this morning.” My mom was due in a few weeks with my brothers.

So far my siblings were: Alexander, Cassie, Max, Wesley, Preston, William, Julian, Theodore (who we called Theo), Maverick, Parker, Cole, and Calvin. Mom and Dad had just picked out the new set of twin boys' names.

Cassie was anxiously waiting for our little sister we knew was coming one day. There could be more down the line, but we knew at least one was coming for sure. Our sister would have the strongest Sight our people had ever seen. Alexander and I wanted more boys to protect our sisters and our mom.

I glanced at my brother knowing we had questions after our last visit in Faerie. Fairies were not used to supernaturals with our advanced hearing being around. They had said horrible things about what happened to our mother there when she was a child. I didn’t understand because I knew Fairies couldn't lie, but it didn’t sound like anything that could be true. I looked at my mom and barely stopped the tears from filling my eyes. She was the nicest person I knew. Why would they hurt her?

My grandparents walked in. My grandmother clapped seeming hopeful, but her motivations told me other things. It was like she wanted to rub something in our faces. She asked, “So?” I rolled my eyes. My mom said, “I’m sorry Cassandra, you aren’t glowing. I could…” Grandma Cassandra put her hands up interrupting, “No, we’ve talked about this.”

Grandpa Nathan kissed my grandma and whispered, “There’s always next time. I’ve got to catch up with the boys.” He left. My mom tried again, “Cassandra I wish you’d…” Grandma Cassandra huffed, “I’ve told you that I don’t want you to use magic on me and I would appreciate if you respected that boundary since you talk about those all the time. What’s meant to be will be.”

Cassie’s hurt slammed into me so hard I jerked my head. Even my mom noticed. We’d always been careful about that. Daisy slammed her hands onto the table which had my eyes widened. Daisy was pretty laid back. My mom and Grandma Cassandra turned to her in surprise.

Daisy stood, “I’m so sick of this. Grandma Cassandra, you keep saying that line about meant to be around pups that are only alive because of magic. Should I not be here? What about my siblings? What about EJ, Alexander, Cassie? Even Preston, William, and Julian could’ve been lost to us without magic. Do you ever think before you speak? I’m grateful to Aunt Haley because I’m here. I’m grateful for all of my siblings and cousins. Why can’t you be?” Daisy ran out of the room without looking back.

I linked my oldest cousin Saied, “Can you make sure Dana talks to Daisy? Grandma Cassandra hurt her feelings.” Saied sighed, “Again?” I replied, “Sadly, yes.” She asked, “What happened?” I told her, “Grandma Cassandra essentially said she doesn’t want my mom to heal her because what’s meant to be will be.” Saied scoffed, “Of course she did. Alright. I’m on it.”

Grandma Cassandra touched her hand to her chest exclaiming, “I didn’t mean it that way. She has to know that.” Cassie muttered, “Yes, you did.” My mom was the only one who couldn’t hear her. I was surprised Cassie even said anything. Mom questioned, “What was that, sweetie?” Grandma Cassandra frowned at her, “Just the usual bite your pups have with me. I thought we were past this. They have to understand they can’t act this way towards their elders. It’s rude.”

Mom glared at her, “You do not tell my children how to deal with their feelings. It’s my job to help them through those, but you can’t change someone’s feelings. You can help them understand and work through the emotion behind them.” She was angry but it didn’t show.

She turned to us, “Cassie, what hurt your feelings?” Cassie stood up yelling, “She did! She always does! She doesn’t like me because I look like you.” My mom stepped back as if she’d been slapped. Alexander and I jumped up from the table. I growled, “What?!” Cassie looked down.

My mom’s eyes were blazing as she looked at Grandma Cassandra and crossed her arms. “What the fuck is she talking about?” Grandma Cassandra looked surprised, “I don’t know. Please, watch you language around the pups, Haley. There is no need for such crass.” I rolled my eyes.

Grandma Cassandra turned to my sister, “Cassie, baby, that’s not true. I love you.” My mom gasped and practically growled. Which meant she knew she was lying. Cassie’s eyes filled with tears, “No, you don’t. I heard you say that it was hard for you to love me because I looked like my mom. That sometimes you looked at me and remembered daddy throwing you out for her.” She wiped at her eyes.

“You remember being embarrassed because Aunt Lexi got mad at you for being mean to mommy. You said I was her mirror image and sometimes you just didn’t know what to do with me. Plus, you’re mean to mom and we all hear you.” That was true.

Cassie snarled, “You forget our hearing is better than yours. You put her down ALL the time when you think no one can hear you! Daddy wouldn’t like it. You don’t like our Fairy side, and you’re mean to Uncle Aiden! You’re just unpleasant and malicious!”

Alexander’s eyes were blazing right along with mine. Brutus was snarling. I asked, “Cass, why didn’t you say anything?” She shrugged, “Mom doesn’t. She only says something when what Grandma Cassandra says hurts others. So, that’s what I did. Grandma Cassandra keeps hurting Daisy’s feelings so I said something. She hurts Austin’s feelings too! She’s mean!” Tears filled my mom's eyes. She ordered Grandma Cassandra, “Outside. NOW!” Grandma Cassandra followed her without a word.

I pulled Cassie into a hug. I looked at her, “Hey now, we don’t hide those things from each other. You and I both know it hurts Alexander’s feelings that Grandma Cassandra won’t let him heal her. We know because he told us. You need to talk to us.”

Cassie shrugged, “It’s just me she doesn’t like. I like that I look like mom, and I don’t care that she doesn’t. Daddy says I’m beautiful.” I nodded, “You and mom are the most beautiful girls in the world. Along with Elise.” Cassie laughed.

We all whipped our heads when our dad walked in. He frowned asking, “Where’s your mom? What’s going on?” He stopped walking and observed us. “Princess, are you ok?” Cassie shrugged. Alexander announced, “Mom’s outside.” Dad growled, “Shit!” He ran for the back door.

I grabbed Alexander’s hand. He already had Cassie’s, so I popped us outside. Wesley ran up to us. He linked me, “What happened? Mom challenged Grandma Cassandra to a fight.” I gasped, “Grandma can’t accept a challenge from mom! She’s heavily pregnant!” Wesley growled, “Well she did.”

I looked over and saw Max and Theo snarling at my grandma. They were standing guard in front of our mom. Alexander and I smiled at each other. Cassie caught our eyes too. Blade had materialized with Javi with weapons drawn in striking distance of Grandma Cassandra.

We were all proud of our little brothers for protecting mom. I sent them that in the bond. Brutus growled, “I’ll bite her again.” He’d shifted during one of our Grandma Cassandra days when she mentioned Elise wasn’t my mate.

Grandpa Nathan walked outside, then hurried to Grandma Cassandra looking perplexed and exasperated. Dad was right behind him. I watched as my dad gently grabbed mom and stood protectively in front of her with Theo and Max.

Dad snarled, “This is not happening. She's pregnant, mom!” Grandma Cassandra growled oddly, “She challenged me.” I linked Alexander, “That was a weird growl. It was almost like when mom or Cousin Bexley growl.” He agreed, “It really was.” What was going on with Kena?

Brutus linked, “She’s asleep.” Was she up all night? Now seemed like a strange time to sleep when her human’s life was literally on the line. Blade and Javi would kill her if she took a step near mom, and everyone knew it.

Lexi Daniels flashed by me shouting, “You bitch! I will fucking cut you! Are you insane?” We all smiled because Lexi was family to us. We often called her Aunt Lexi even though we weren’t related. Our cousin, Phil Kruthers, came rushing up to us with his siblings Charity, Jeffery, and Misty on his heels. I was surprised Jeffery was here. He was always in the Hackura realm gearing up for missions. Everyone speculated he would be very talented at them.

Their mom and our cousin, Miley, was right behind them frowning. She looked at us then back at Grandma Cassandra, rolling her eyes. My Uncle Marcus ran outside. He called out to my mom’s guard, “Blade?” Blade looked murderous. He said, “Blade may kill she wolf. Princess, pregnant. Bitchy wolf die.” Javi threw in, “I usually talk him down, but I’m right there with him this time.” Which said a lot.

Miley offered, “That’s not necessary, Blade.” She cut her hand with a knife, then grabbed mom’s hand and cut it too. She grasped their palms together and said, “By my blood, I’m taking my cousin Haley’s place in this fight.” Brutus said, “I feel like that doesn’t help the situation.” It didn’t. This was bad too.

Grandma made a face when several people growled at her. My mom and cousin Miley were beloved in this pack. Moreso than Grandma Cassandra. Honestly, I was certain she was jealous of mom. Uncle Marcus turned to us. He spoke quickly, “Quod autem non ut faciam vobis? Non solum potest tibi ista res mom pro vobis guys (What did she do to you? Your mom would only be this upset about you guys).” We didn’t answer him.

Cassie linked me, “The truth would hurt daddy’s feelings. We can’t do that to him. It’s not what mom wants.” I sighed and answered my Uncle, “Nos postea narrabo vobis. Iustum avunculus Marcus (We will tell you later. Just you Uncle Marcus).” A voice came from behind us, “Rt te (and me).”

Alexander and I popped to our Uncle Bjourn. I hugged him, “You’re back!” Uncle Bjourn laughed, “I am back. A moment too late it seems.” Alexander argued, “Your timing is perfect as always.” They had a special bond. Uncle Bjourn could always get to the root of Alexander’s feelings.

Mom could too, but Uncle Bjourn pushed where mom didn’t. She had a good balance of pushing and letting us make our choices. She was a light this world didn’t deserve, and I was proud to call her mom. Uncle Bjourn came in with a metaphorical sledgehammer tearing down walls himself. He was amazing.

Uncle Bjourn walked over to the fight glaring at Grandma Cassandra the whole way over. He told her, “You will not fight a member of my family. If you insist on doing so, it will be me. I’ll take the challenge from Miley. So I’d advice backing down right now.” Grandma Cassandra sighed, “I, Luna Cassandra Conners, rescind my acceptance of the challenge.”

Alexander linked, “Former Luna.” Caleb, my dad’s Beta, cleared his throat, “It’s not official unless it’s the right title.” Grandma glared at him stubbornly stating, “I used the right title.” Saied cut in, “It’s former Luna, Grandma.” Grandma looked like she’d been slapped instead of corrected.

Uncle Marcus said, “I think you need to take the challenge, brother.” Grandma quickly amended, “I, FORMER Luna Cassandra Conners, rescind my acceptance of the challenge.” Uncle Bjourn nodded, “Good. Get out of my sight Cassandra.” Grandpa Nathan tried to drag her away, but she refused to leave. Alexander linked, “She does know he’ll kill her right?” I replied, “I don’t think she does.”

Uncle Bjourn turned to my mom, “Little one, what exactly were you thinking? You’re pregnant.” Mom wiped tears out of her eyes, crossed her arms, and watched Grandma Cassandra. Dad frowned ordering, “Do not link each other right now. What’s going on?”

Mom answered my Uncle, “I was thinking I’ve had efuckingnough of her bullshit. I was thinking don’t have a broken leg and I’m perfectly capable of kicking her ass even though I’m pregnant.” Brutus offered, “She’s right.” I replied, “I don’t care that she can take Grandma. I care that Grandma accepted while mom is pregnant.”

Brutus pointed out, “In doing so, she lost any respect she had left here.” I looked around realizing it was true. Her friends had been annoyed with her but now they looked furious with her. Everyone knew with pregnancy hormones if my mom’s Hackura instincts would fire if she felt a threat to her pups. Mom’s Hackura blood was firmly in the driver’s seat right now. She couldn’t help it. Grandma should’ve linked dad. Mates are linked when things like this happen because pregnant she wolves can get their hackles up too.

No one would ever accept a challenge from a pregnant pack member. Let alone the Luna. Not to brag, but my mom was cherished here. Everyone loved her, even Grandma Cassandra’s friends. I think they had come around recently, but they still had.

Mom ordered, “Cassandra, stay the FUCK away from my children. By that I mean ALL of them.” Everyone stared at her in shock. Grandma Cassandra cried, “They are my grandpups.” I nearly scoffed because she didn’t care about us. Brutus agreed, “Her Grandma days always involved leaving us and our siblings behind to hang out with the others.” I knew that.

We’d convinced mom we didn’t want to go a few years ago. That dumb promise we were manipulated into as pups didn’t mean I’d let my siblings watch each other like we did since we had other activities outside school now.

My mom snarked, “I’m aware they are. It’s why you’re here. I cannot believe you. Hurting me is one thing. Hurting my children? No. Fuck this and fuck you. I won’t have it! Not them. You’ve crossed the damn line!”

Dad looked over at us, his gaze resting on Cassie but she looked away. Dad’s jaw locked. Grandpa Nathan looked over at Cassie too. His eyes told me he was astonished. I felt bad because we loved Grandpa Nathan. He was always on mom’s side. He was in a hard place with Grandma Cassandra being his mate. Brutus boasted, “Our mate is nothing like her.” Thank Aesir, the Hackura god.

I was certain everyone thought we were confused about the tension between our mom and Grandma. The truth was we knew exactly what had happened between them. Last year, Cassie had used her truth seeking power and made Aunt Jessica tell us the truth about the situation. Then Alexander and I took her memories. It all made so much sense afterwards.

They kept secrets that almost hurt me, Alexander, Cassie, mom, dad and our uncles. I agreed with mom on that situation. It was unacceptable after they made her tell all her secrets. We didn’t pry into what those secrets were, but that was unfair of them to do. Then they didn’t apologize. Mom was one of the most sensitive Fairies around. She can’t deal with strikes against those she loves.

I realized we needed a distraction. I interjected, “Mom, you promised I could go see Elise.” My mom turned to me, “Of course you can.” She called, “Youngers.” One of my guards came forward. Mom asked, “Can you go with EJ to Red Run please?” Youngers nodded, “Of course, Princess. Let’s go little Duke.” He glared at Grandma Cassandra.

Grandma sighed, “I just don’t know if that’s a good idea. I’ve told you that we won’t be sure until they are eighteen. It’s bad enough Austin and Arlina think they are mates too. We are setting these pups up for heartbreak.” Austin growled but it paled in comparison to my growl because I had Brutus. Austin didn’t have his wolf yet.

In the back of my mind, I compared Austin’s growl to Grandma’s. They sounded similar. I brushed it off because Kena was sleeping. Brutus warned, “I’ll shift and bite her all over again. I know I said it earlier and I meant it.”