A couple of cars I didn’t recognize were in Mom’s driveway, but that wasn’t entirely unusual. One of the meetings for her foundation could be running late. They were held here since she couldn’t bear to go to the headquarters downtown. It reminded her too much of dad.

I let myself in without ringing the bell. “Mom?”

She appeared a second later from the sitting room, completely polished. Clothes, hair, and make-up. Definitely having meetings today then. “You’re here. Good. I’m glad.”

She hugged me quickly. “How have you been?”

“Good. Really good, actually.” While I spoke, she led the way to the living room. “I was actually hoping we could talk about some things since we’re home and not out at—”

I walked into the living room and it was full of people.

Katarina stood near the far wall, looking every bit a bitch as the last time I’d seen her. And on the couches, there was a cluster of men. One of whom I hoped I would never see again.

“Mom, what is going on?”

“Come, sit down.”

I held my voice steady. “I will not sit down until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”

Mom glared at me. “Language, Esme. This is the Solery pack. They’ve come to interview with you. They were gracious enough to come on short notice, and of course, you already know Aaron.”

For the first time in my life, I understood what people meant when they said they saw red. My voice was deadly calm, and every head in the room turned to look at me when I spoke. “How dare you.”

“Excuse me?”

“Not even a week ago I was here with the pack I am courting. It’s unclear to me why you would set this up, knowing I’m in the middle of that process. Wait, scratch that, I’m at the end of the process.”

“What?” My mother gasped. “What do you mean?”

“I mean tonight I’m telling them I’ve chosen.”

My mother’s voice turned to fury. “You can’t do that, Esme. I will not allow it.”

“Good thing it’s not your fucking decision, is it?”

“You can’t bond to a pack of tattoo artists for god’s sake. Do you know where some of them are from? Places I wouldn’t let you go in my wildest dreams. Covered in ink like it means something. ‘World-renowned’ art that will never be in a museum. Tattoos are bad decisions that get blurry with time. They won’t be able to give you the life you want and deserve. The Solery pack will, and you already know one of them.”