Page 21 of Big Bad Wolf: B.B.W
“Honey, I know you have a busy life. We didn’t want to interrupt your life.”There was sadness in my mother’s voice.
Her words hurt my entire soul. My parents felt that they couldn’t reach out to me to let me know that my father had a heart attack. Had I really been that distant?Yes, yes. I have.
“Mommy, that is crazy! I’m coming home. I’m going to take the next flight out, okay?”It wasn’t a question that she needed to answer. No matter what she said, I would be there as soon as I could.
“Elodie, you don’t have to do that. I can keep you updated, sweetie. You just said that you were recently promoted,”my mother rushed out. She had me messed up.
I shook my head vigorously as if she could see me.“It doesn’t matter what I have to do. I want to, Mommy. Don’t worry about my promotion. The company’s owner is my mate.”
I dropped my head. That was not how I wanted to tell her about Orion. Plus, with a slip of the tongue, I called him my mate instead of my boyfriend, which I knew would imply that he had a beast.
I didn’t allow her to respond before I told her that I would be there soon and closed my mind. Everyone’s attention was on me.
“My father is sick. I need to go home.”
Less than twelve hours later, I was on a privately chartered jet with Orion. Since the reveal of our beasts to each other, we’d spent a lot more time in Lumberton. The brunch with the girls was over after I told them that my father was sick. I rushed toOrion’s house where he was with the guys. I barely spoke to them as I rushed up the stairs to the bedroom to pack a bag.
As soon as I told him what happened, he was on his phone to charter the jet. I didn’t expect him to go with me, but he said that wherever I was, he was. Orion’s hand on my leg stopped it from jumping up and down in my seat.
“Love, calm down. I’ve met parents before,” he said with the corner of his lip raised.
We were in a car on our way to my parents’ house. I was nervous because, outside of Dyami, my parents had never met any of the guys I’ve dated. That was to be expected since I was across the country, but yeah. This was the man that I hoped to spend the rest of my life with. I leaned my head on Orion’s shoulder. “I love you,” I mumbled.
He kissed my temple. “I love you too. You know we are in this shit together, right? I showed you my beast. You showed me your beast, so that means we’re beastin’ together forever.”
My neck leaned back to find the sincerity in his eyes. I knew that he had no reason to lie to me. Since we’d known each other, he had not lied to me once. More so, he had never put himself in a position to lie to me. We had a conversation once, and I would never forget what he told me.
It’s easier for a person to be transparent versus honest. With transparency, honesty is an afterthought or not thought of at all. If you are forthcoming about the things that are going on in your life, then a strong foundation of trust is built. Outside of our beast situation, which we both have reconciled, I have and will never put you in a situation where you have to ask me something that I haven’t already told you. Transparency saves time and sets trust.
I loved it when we had our deep conversations in the dead of morning about life and ourselves. He was right, nothing was offlimits. I knew more about him than I knew about anyone in my life.
“You are so amazing.”
His neck leaned forward, and his lips kissed mine. “I have to somehow match your awesomeness. We have to be evenly yoked.”
Moments later, we pulled up to my childhood home. I gazed at the Victorian style home that looked just like I remembered it. My parents took exceptional care of their house.
My mother’s gift from the gods was horticulture. She could successfully grow anything and had an eye to turn drylands into a Garden of Eden. Her business name, Garden of Eden Landscaping, derived from this fact. My mother’s business was more than just lawncare. She honored her gift from the gods by going to college to cultivate it further. By education and skill set, she was a landscaping architect. From the appearance of the front yard, at the tender age of seventy-nine, Mary Summerville had not lost her touch.
“Wow, this is gorgeous,” Orion complimented. “I don’t think that I’ve ever seen anything like this. Whoever does her landscaping, I need them.”
Pride filled my chest. “My mama and her team did it. The gods blessed her with the gift of horticulture.”
From conversations that Orion had with his friend’s and me, he knew that the gods sometimes gave wolves special gifts. Thaddeus had the gift of x-ray vision while Farad’s gift was supersonic hearing. I thought those gifts were cool, but in my opinion, the coolest gift belonged to Thaddeus’s sister, Rumble, or Rummie as they called her. That was a girl who stayed out of the way if I’d ever seen one.
“Oh, that’s nice. She has the gift of horticulture, and you have the gift of telekinesis. Does your father have a gift as well?” Orion asked. When my head snapped in his direction, he chortled.“Yeah, I figured that shit out after I found out that you were a wolf. When that glass and degree flew off the counter and wall, there was no logical explanation. I saw the degree come off the wall, and it lifted then flew to the back of Sherrie’s head.”
I laughed heartily. “Look, I hadn’t used my gift in so long that I forgot I had it until that happened. Both times were accidents and happened because of my emotions.” I giggled. “I’ll let my father tell you his gift.”
He kissed my neck.
“You’re telling me that this dick makes you emotional? I like that shit.” He kissed my neck again. “Let me stop before I fuck you in this car. I can’t let my mother-in-law see me beating her daughter’s pussy up.”
I pushed him off of me before I told him to come on. The driver opened the door for him first. Orion opened the door for me, helped me out, then grabbed the most beautiful bouquet of yellow roses. We walked to the front door together. I smoothed my dress and played in my hair before I knocked.
When the door opened, we were met by the soft look and smile of my mother.
“My baby.”
