Page 44 of Scarred Mate (Silverdawn Wolves 2)

“Hola, babe, how are you?”

“I’m okay,” I answered while holding the phone between my ear and shoulder. “Doing laundry.”

"What's wrong?" she asked, and I picked up another sheet to fold. "You only do laundry randomly when something's bothering you."

I wasn’t sure what to tell her. Where would I start?

"Nothing's wrong. I had a late start today, and my laundry was piling up."

Mom sucked her teeth, the sound almost like a chirp, and I could easily imagine her shaking her head. "You're a horrible liar, and I know you. What's wrong? I noticed it the other day as well."

I held my head back and closed my eyes. “Dorian’s back.”

“What?” she exclaimed as expected. “When? Oh, baby, I’m sorry. Have you two spoken?”

We did more than that, I thought before answering. "Yeah, we talked," I replied. "But honestly, I don't want to get into it, Mom."

She hummed. “I understand, babe. I know what Dorian meant to you, but I'm here when you want to talk, okay, and if you don't, how about I come to Wolfcreek for a bit?”

"It's okay," I told her, hoping she wouldn't be offended, but I needed to handle things with Dorian on my own. "I honestly would rather come to see you in Mexico, but I need to take care of a few things. We can come back together."

Now that Isaac was giving me bad vibes, I didn't want Mom here.

"Sure," she said softly, and I sensed I'd insulted her.

"I miss you," I whispered while sitting on the ground by my bed. "I wish you were here, but I need to take care of… things between Dorian and me."

"It's good being a strong woman, Marian, being self-sufficient and independent, but sometimes it takes a toll. Let someone else do the fixing for a change, okay?"

I held my head back against the bed, my eyes tearing up.

“Thanks, Mom,” I said, my voice cracking. “I love you.”

“I love you too, babe. I’ll see you soon.”

Our call ended, and I placed my phone on the ground. Taking several breaths, I fought the tears that were burning my eyes. I'd know the second I told Mom what was going on, I'd start crying. It was like speaking to her forced me to face all my feelings at once.

Taking a deep breath, I got up, thankful for her advice. Then the doorbell rang, cutting into my thoughts.

I wasn't expecting anyone, so I looked out the window in my room that faced the driveway and saw Dorian's car.

He rang the doorbell again, and I squared my shoulders before leaving the room.

Tell him, a voice yelled in my mind.Tell him about Isaac.

As much as I didn’t like the idea because I didn’t want Dorian to go full Hunter on Isaac without accurate information, I needed to make him aware of what happened. If Isaac reverted to being untamed, maybe he could get help before killing someone and, in turn, getting himself killed.