***
“What happened to him?” Troy raised a brow with curiosity.
“He…he went out there and slaughtered a lot of hunters,” Gloria whispered.
“Oh my god…” Troy gasped. “But they were innocent.”
“We didn’t know that.” Gloria reached for the glass of water on the coffee table and took a sip. “Until Ryan figured it out some days ago, we all thought you and your father had been killed by hunters.”
“I still can’t get over the knowledge that Reynard had a son,” Troy murmured. “I was told that all his kids died. And he couldn’t father any more kids so…”
“Yeah, Ryan took him by surprise all right.” Gloria chuckled.
“So you werewolves actually accept that? Marriage between men, I mean. We don’t.” Troy said, making Gloria laugh softly.
“Son, you’re a werewolf too. And Luna, our goddess, decides who our soulmates should be. Jeremy and Ryan are not married by the way.” Gloria chuckled. “They are mated. Get your terminologies right.” She laughed when Troy burst into laughter.
“I will learn eventually. But is it possible for a werewolf to give birth to a human?” He gave a slight frown. “‘Cause I’m pretty sure I’m not a werewolf. I would have known, don’t you think?”
“Oh you so are, baby.” Gloria smiled as she stood up. “Go get some sleep. We’ll talk some more tomorrow. Okay?”
“Okay.” Troy nodded as he stood up too.
“Come here,” Gloria said, opening her arms to her son.
Troy didn’t hesitate. He hugged Gloria tightly before taking a step back. “I’m still not okay with the slaughtering of all those people.” He said quietly. “There were some really good people in there. You could have targeted only Reynard. What the pack did wasn’t right.”
“We will talk about it.” Gloria nodded. It was only natural for her son to feel that way, she thought. He still saw himself as part of the Wyatt clan.
“Okay. Can I take this to bed?” Troy pointed at the old family album on the center table.
“Sure.” Gloria smiled.
“Will you please tell me all about my father whenever you can make time?”
“With pleasure.” Gloria grinned. “My room is down the hall. Come to me if you need anything, okay?”
“Will do. Thanks. And good morning.”
“Good morning, Trav.”
Gloria watched her son go with her heart filled with so much joy. She never thought she’d be given such a gift. She felt like the luckiest person alive.
“Thank you, Luna.” She whispered and then began to do a happy dance.
Gloria Stanton was on cloud nine.
***
“You have to tell them, Troy,” Paul said urgently as he took in Troy’s flushed face. “They look like good people. And they clearly love you. I mean have you seen the way they look at you? It’s like you’re this precious jewel that they don’t want to part with.”
“Aw stop exaggerating…” Troy snorted as he wiped the sweat from his brow with shaky fingers.
The two friends were in Gloria’s leaving room, hanging out. Camille had dropped Paul off that morning, on her way to work. Gloria had left them to attend a meeting with strict instructions to eat and relax. After filling their tummies with the delicious breakfast Gloria had prepared for them, the two boys had relaxed on the couch in the living room, with an equally full and contented Jer between them enjoying being stroked, and watched a movie on the forty-eight inch LED TV.
“I’m serious, Troy. Just tell them you need some money for hospital.” Paul implored. “Who knows, maybe they can tell Camille’s mother to do whatever your people used to do to cure you. Making them know why you needed the money from the robbery will also make them know that you’re not just some money-loving crook. Think about it.”
Troy stared at the screen without seeing anything. He felt such restlessness within it was terrifying. He needed help quickly. But although he knew that he needed medical attention, he didn’t think it was appropriate to ask the werewolves for anything…especially money. He knew that Gloria had been truthful with him. He felt it. But he just didn’t see himself asking for favours. He stood up abruptly and began to pace.
“Are you okay?” Paul got to his feet too. “Are you in pain? Talk to me, buddy.”
“I…I just…maybe I should go take another shower.” Troy groaned, looking at the wet patches under his armpits.
“Didn’t you use antiperspirant when you took a shower this morning?” Paul asked with a worried frown.
“What do you think?” Troy muttered as he began to take off his t-shirt. “I’ll be right back.” With that, he hurried to his assigned room and headed for its en-suite bathroom. A cold shower would do.
***
“Where’s Troy?” Jeremy asked Paul as he stepped into his mother’s living room after their meeting. With him were Gloria, Ryan, Joel, and Paige.
“He went to take a shower?” Paul said, looking at the gorgeous young white-haired man who’d entered with the others. He thought the guy was very bold to have dyed his hair pure white like that. At least he was rocking the hell out of the colour.
“Again?” Gloria said with a raised brow. “Wow! That’s a change right there.” She chuckled. “He sure as hell hated taking showers when he was a kid.”
“I remember you always had to offer him something really nice to get him to agree to take a bath.” Jeremy laughed.
“It was almost as if he was allergic to water.” Gloria laughed as she headed for the kitchen with Joel.
“I can imagine the stress you had to go through, mum,” Ryan called out. “Having to contend with two stubborn sons.” He shook his head with mock sadness, drawing a growl from Jeremy.
“Travis was definitely more stubborn than I was.” Jeremy protested amidst laughter from Ryan and Paige. “I mean the guy was…” Jeremy trailed off when Troy entered the living room. “Oh, there he is.” Jeremy grinned. But his brother wasn’t paying him any attention. His shocked eyes were locked on Ryan.