Page 45 of A Little Red
The lunch with Paxton and Liam had gone so well. She thought that Grandma had liked them. And Paxton had loosened up and been goofy and funny which brought out Liam’s affectionate side, and that was adorable. She thought that Paxton had rolled his eyes rather hard at the way she and Liam had held hands on the ride back, but she had gotten the impression that he genuinely liked her and had been happy for Liam. Apparently, his feelings didn’t transfer to their mother or the rest of the pack.
She kicked her feet against the gray rock and tried not to shiver. At least the yelling had stopped in the house. But maybe that wasn’t a good sign.
Paxton
Paxton looked at his brother’s face and knew that things were about to go very, very wrong. Liam had stopped looking angry several minutes ago. Now he just looked tired. Tired in a way that aged him and made him look like Dad. He knew their mother saw it too, but where Aisling thought it meant that she was winning, Paxton thought that it meant they were all about to lose.
“She cannot be here,” said Aisling, and they all felt the iron Command of the Alpha resonate in her voice. Aisling rarely used that alpha gift that forced a pack member to comply, but today she was apparently not in a mood to be generous. Paxton had been praying that she wouldn’t because he knew what that would mean to Liam. To Liam, consent was everything. If someone had to be forced into compliance then an alpha wasn’t leading, they were ruling. Paxton had a saying jotted down in his notebook of Dad-isms about that and he wasted precious seconds trying to remember what the exact saying was. But his mind wouldn’t supply it and it felt like busy work for his brain because he couldn’t face the fact that his family was crumbling in front of him.
Paxton could see Scarlet through the window of the great room where the entire pack was gathered. The pack had been mostly silent, leaving the arguing to Aisling and Liam. Outside, Scarlet flipped one of her braids over her shoulder where it hung like a golden rope and Paxton could see the Little Red Riding Hood that Liam had fallen in love with.
“You will do the right thing,” continued Aisling, her voice crackled at the edges and the entire pack winced at the way it sawed across the nerves. “You will send her home.”
Liam’s shoulders sagged and Paxton tensed. Liam was never going to take this. Would he challenge their mother? Paxton felt like he wanted to throw up. How was he supposed to choose?
“Mom,” said Liam, wearily, looking defeated.
“You will do the right thing,” she snarled.
Liam looked at Paxton and Paxton could see that the decision had been made and there was nothing he could do to change it.
“I will do the right thing,” Liam repeated. “I will take her home.”
Perhaps Aisling didn’t notice that slight shift in Liam’s words, but Paxton felt the vibration in the air. Liam was obeying the Command, but he’d done something. Something that he shouldn’t have been able to do.
Liam walked out of the room and Paxton caught the faint jingle of his keyring as Liam picked up the keys to Paxton’s truck. Paxton closed his eyes, wishing he didn’t know what the sound meant. Liam was keeping the Command and breaking it all at the same time.
“There,” said Aisling, her voice returning to normal, as the front door shut. “That will solve that.”
Aunt Bryn sighed audibly, and gave Aisling the kind of side-eye that was only allowed because of her age. The rest of the pack members were staring at their feet or anywhere but at their leader.
“You do understand that he’s not coming back, right?” asked Aunt Bryn, at last.
“What?” Aisling looked at Bryn in confusion. “No. He will follow the Command. He said he’d do the right thing.”
“Heisdoing the right thing,” said Paxton. “She’s his mate. You don’t leave your mate.”
“That’s ridiculous, Paxton,” said Aisling. “She’s human. Wolves can’t mate with humans anymore.”
“She fought warlocks for him,” said Devin.
“She cured him,” said Uncle Marcus.
“She was going to quit her job and move to the woods for him,” said Aunt Bryn.
“She got in the cage with him,” said Paxton.
“She’s his mate,” said Conner, with a sigh that was echoed around the room. “That’s how he can break the Command. He’s not coming back.”
“No,” said Aisling, firmly, overriding their comments.
“So much for our safeguard against warlocks,” muttered Derek, as he left the room.
“No,” said Aisling. This time she sounded uncertain, but the pack was already leaving the room. “No, I used the Command. He will obey.”
Paxton looked at his mother and wondered what his father would say, or what Liam would say. Finally, it occurred to him to wonder what he should say. He wanted to explain to his mother all the ways in which she’d fucked up. They ways that she had been a shitty parent. The ways that she had hurt him and the countless ways that she’d hurt Liam and taken him for granted. He wanted to point out how her fear of change had caused more change. How her desperate clinging to the past made the present even more untenable. How trying to force Liam to stay was the very thing that made him leave.
“He will come back,” said Aisling, but it was to an empty room. “He’ll come back,” she said, this time to Paxton. Outside, Liam was holding out his hand to Scarlet and she was smiling up at him. She took his hand and they walked down the drive together.
