8. Sequin

8

SEQUIN

I push through the doggie door flap as quietly as possible. But the moment I’m inside, I notice two unfortunate things: one is the light. It’s on, which means someone else is up. The second thing I notice is the folding chair set up next to the sink. My omega mom is sitting on it, her leg bouncing up and down with impatience.

“Good morning,” she says, unsurprised to see me.

Oh my God . What am I supposed to do? I’m never the one who gets in trouble. Mom is too busy scolding Link to notice when I mess up.

“If you had bothered to tell Silver or Link about your plans to sneak out, they would’ve told you that I put alarm sensors on that doggie door years ago. Where did you have to be for the last eight hours?”

I stare back at her silently. She knows I can’t answer her in my raccoon form. She sighs and tosses me an old nightgown that was folded on her lap. “Sorry. I thought it was one of Dagger’s girls who got out.”

What will my brothers say if they come into the kitchen and see me wearing a nightgown? Mom glares at me, so I burrow into the nightgown anyway and begin to shift. I’d rather get teased by Link than make her mad. She turns away to give me privacy, which is good. Shifting into clothes is more of an art than a science. I miss the head hole entirely, and end up exposing my ass in the process. But eventually, I’m as decent as one can be while sitting on the kitchen floor in a frilly nightgown.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper.

She folds her arms across her chest. “Sorry for what, exactly? I don’t know what you did yet.”

“Sorry for sneaking out.”

She raises her eyebrows. “And?”

“And… meeting up with a guy,” I say.

She considers that for a moment. “Meeting up with a guy to do what?”

I lower my gaze to my lap. “You know.”

“You mean sex.”

Sometimes I hate how blunt Mom is, but today it’s kind of nice that she said it out loud so I don’t have to.

“Yeah.”

She uncrosses her arms and rests her elbows on her knees. “You don’t gotta sneak out to do that, okay? You’re eighteen years old. Go out the front door with your clothes on, and tell me where you’re going.”

“I couldn’t. Link doesn’t like this guy. He would freak out of he knew I was seeing him.”

“What guy? Do I know him?” she asks.

I look up at her, hoping she’ll be able to say his name just like she said the word sex. Then I wouldn’t have to admit out loud that I’m with Slade. It’s not that I’m ashamed of him, but I don’t know what she’ll think of me when she finds outs who I chose for a mate.

She waits for me to answer, as patient as ever. I know she’ll love me, no matter what. But I couldn’t bear it if she was disappointed in me, even for a moment.

“Slade,” I finally say.

She tries to mask her surprise, but Mom’s never been a good liar. “Okay. Thank you for telling me.”

“He’s a good guy, Mom.”

She presses her lips together like she doesn’t believe me.

“He really is. He was gentle. He made me feel… good.” That isn’t the right word, but I don’t know how else to describe the way Slade made me feel. Whole? Euphoric? Like I was enough?

“Do you want to know what I think?” she asks.

I nod, even though I’m a little scared to find out.

“I think most people are good. Even people who make mistakes.”

“Slade isn’t making mistakes,” I say.

She gives me a warm smile. “Okay. I believe you. If you tell me Slade is a good guy, then he’s a good guy. And I’m happy that he made you feel good, Sequin. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

Guilt churns in my gut. Mom has told us plenty of times that she wants to be the first one to know when we put our paws on someone. I should say something.

“I’m serious about him,” I admit.

She holds out her arms to me. I get up off the floor and sit in her lap, even though I’m eighteen years old, and technically a man now. She gives me a tight hug, and I close my eyes, savoring the sensation of being held by my mom. Men aren’t supposed to need this, but it makes me feel safe after the emotional roller coaster of the last twenty-four hours. I don’t regret choosing Slade as my mate, but I know I probably chose him too soon, and I know what people will think of me when they find out. Everything is changing so fast, and I’m not sure I’m ready.

“You’re allowed to be serious about whoever you want,” Mom says.

“I know. But Link?—”

She pulls away from me and looks me straight in the eye. “Link is going away to college next week, along with everybody else.”

“Then you won’t tell them?” I ask.

“Heavens, no. Between you and me, I think it will be good for you to get a little space from Link and Silver. You don’t need their protection as much as they think you do.”

I can’t help but smile at that. “Yeah.”

“Well, I better get started on breakfast. But no more sneaking around, okay? And once your brothers are gone, I don’t mind if Slade spends the night. We’re all adults here. I just don’t want to get any more alarm notifications about that doggie door in the middle of the night.”

I nod. “Okay.”

“I bet your brothers aren’t up yet. You could probably get back in bed, and they won’t notice you’ve been gone.” She winks at me conspiratorially.

A part of me wants to tell her everything. Mentioning that I’m serious with Slade is different than saying I put my paws on him. But I like the idea of retreating off to my bedroom and waking up with my brothers one last time. Once they’re gone, I’ll have plenty of opportunities to sit down with Mom and explain what happened.

I shrink down to my raccoon form and shake off the pink nightgown. Everything will be okay. Putting my paws on Slade last night was a little impulsive, but Mom seemed open to the idea of me dating him, and now that he’s agreed to be with me, we can take things slower.

I scamper off to my bedroom and get back in the hammock before any of my brothers wake up.