Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (21 page)

Tanis smiled at her. “Mum, may I present to you, Miss Jay Dee.
”

She nodded
then
her
head tilted to the side as she stood in front of us, her dark
,
heart shaped
mouth
twisting
into a slight pout
as she regarded us
.
Her eyes moved over my face many times, her brows pulled together, and her nostrils flared as she inhaled deeply.

I don’t stink
,
do I?

“Ma’am,” I sai
d with a slight nod of the head
, feeling slightly awkward, and offered her my hand.

Her face relaxed some and she smiled
, taking my hand in hers and turned it over
, pushing the sleeve of my hoodie up,
and looked at my wrist
.

Shit! She’s going to bite me!

“It is good to know you,
Miss
Jay Dee
,” she said
, looking up from the inside of my wrist to my face.

Tanis smiled wide. “Me Duckie, may I introduce to you me mum, Sabirella.”

I forced a smile
as I pulled my hand away from hers.

“
You two skipped school today?”
Sabirella
asked, turning her attention to Tanis
, but her eyes kept flickering to me
.

He nodded and shrugged at the same time.

Oh so helpful, Tanis!

“The school called,”
Sabirella
continued. “
I was a bit worried.
Is everything
well
, Son
?”

Tanis nodded. “It is simply brilliant, Mum. Me Duckie
was gutted on the way to school
and needed to take a
well overdue break
,
” he explained, causing me to blush.

W
hat in the hell?
Now his mom has to think I’m some type of
spaz that is trying to seduce her vampire son into…well, whatever it is that chicks seduce vampires for.

Concern washed across her face. “That is not good.
Are you well now
, Dear
?” she asked, motioning us towards the kitchen.

“Yeah,” I mumbled under my breath; my face felt like it was on fire from embarrassment.

I am
so
kicking his ass for this!

“Miss Jay Dee,
I remember when I was your age,” Sabirella continued. “
T
he teenage years
were
always the most awkward.”

I
snorted
.
“How many centuries ago was that?”
I asked the obvious.

Tanis laughed and Sabirella
looked at me curiously, one of her delicate black eyebrows arching, “I see.
Nine, if you must know.
Unlike my sons and daughters, I vividly remember my human memories.
That was your next question.
”

I nodded, it was.

“So you know what we are.
That is
against the rules, and my
darling precious one knows it,” she scolded.

“My
parents are
the alphas of
local pack,” I quickly explained and she smiled
wide
. “
They adopted me when I was little
.” I
nervously
twirled
a
lock of hair around my fingers, trying to figure out why this beautiful, nearly thousand year old vampire
,
was looking at me like that.
“Everyone was warned to play ni
ce in the sandbox, so to speak,” I offered.

“Interesting,”
Sabirella said, sounding overly amused,
and continued to smile,
her
brilliant white teeth and fangs
stood
out against her dark
er
skin.
“
Interesting indeed.
Aldri så gale er godt for noko.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Huh?”

Softly she laughed and turned her attention to Tanis. “
My precious one, I a
m going to lie down
after I call your
father
.
L
et me know if you need anything,
”
she said.

“Thanks, Mum,” Tanis
said and quickly
kissed her on the cheek and she vanished.
“Showof
f,” he mumbled under his breath.

Her
only
response was laughter which floated through the air from the second story.

Tanis turned and looked at me;
my eyes were wide, mouth hanging open.
“Sorry about that,
Duckie,
” he
said with a chuckle.
“
Mum is very amusing
.”

“How did she do that?
Just vanish like that!”
I
demanded, trying to keep my voice down
.

He motioned me towards one of the seats at the eating bar
and
I sat as he
ducked his head into the large stainless steel refrigerator.
“
That is a complicated answer,” he admitted.

“Enlighten me,
Obi-Wan,
” I hissed.

Tanis rolled his eyes.
“
Duckie,
I will let
the Star Wars comparison slide...” he looked up at me and smirked. “Patience. Use the force. Think.”

I fought to keep from giggling; that was one of the sexiest things I’d ever heard.

“To answer your question,” he said with a chuckle, “
just as no two people are alike, no two vampires are alike.
Some of us eat,”
he said and
motioned towards himself
before he
started
putting
together some sandwiches. “And others
, like me mum, can materialize and dematerialize into a mist or a wisping of clouds.
It is
rare
but useful, and
absolutely brilliant
on Halloween
and Christmas...she enjoys messing with the others when they are all to pot, howling and passing through walls, pretending to be the Ghost of Christmas Past.
It is bloody brilliant.
”

“
I have no doubts,”
I dryly agreed.

“
Typically, those who can
change their material state
are immune to the totems
which
give us the freedom of day walking.
It is
always give and take
, remember that, Duckie,” he scolded for some reason so I nodded to pacify him. “That is why mum is
in the house and wanders around at night.
This was a drastic change for her, moving to where there is no nightlife.
Before too long
,
I fear
,
she will need to ta
ke a trip to Vegas or
New York
before she gets cranky.”

“I heard that!”
Sabirella
called
out
from upstairs,
and it was
followed by a
chuckle
.

“Interesting,” I
said and
forced a smile to try to hide how disturbing that was.
The knowledge that a person
could
just disappear and reappear at will
was
unnerving.

I tried to distract myself by looking around the spacious kitchen
, but it did very little to help put me at ease
.

The kitchen
was easily thre
e times bigger than my bedroom
,
and donned
professional stainless steel appliances, expensive iridescent glass tile
in various shades of teal, blue
and silver, the maple and dark cherry cabinets
were adorned with beautiful crown molding
, and the large bay of windows by the sink
gave an unrestricted view to the
expansive backyard.

“I didn’t know this house was out here,” I
mumbled under my breath before turning
my attention to the vampire who was watching me curiously.

“
You do not say
?”
Tanis
said, sounding
suspicious
, his brow furrowing in confusion
.
“Toran said that it had been on the market for some time
due exorbitant asking price
.”

That
was
a possibility, but I thought I had known of nearly every house in the area.
When you run around for hours at a time playing hunter and prey with your best friend, you tend to stumble across every out-of-the-way place.

That
wasn’t one of them; I would have remembered it.

“What are you making?” I
asked, admiring
what he was plating.

I was starving.

“Lunch,” he
said as if it were obvious before
setting
a plate in front of me.
“Panini with fresh mozzarella, I made the mozzarella
meself
,” he smugly informed me, “fresh
basil, avocado, olive oil, marinated tomatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.
And on the side is a toasted walnut spinach salad with fresh strawberries
,
and
a
blueberry vinaigrette.
I
was not entirely
sure what
you were in the mood for
so I
went with what I was craving
.”

“
It looks delicious, thank you
,” I
said and smiled when
him he joined me, setting a bottle of water on the eating bar in front of me.
“
Y
ou like to cook?”
I asked.

Okay, that was a super dumb question.

He
chuckled.
“Yes.
When I discovered that I could still eat food and not just blood, I was ecstatic.
Finally
, thanks to me new parents and coven,
I had the financial means to afford all of the foods that I had always wanted to
indulge in
.
Food is
m
e
passion, the thing I splurge on the most.
Me
sister likes clothes, Steffen likes his electronics, Abigail loves her jewelry,
Toran his gardens, Mum enjoys spoiling her favorite,” he said and motioned towards himself and I rolled my eyes—mama’s boy. “But
food is
m
e
passion
.
As ridiculous as it sounds, I would gladly pay a king’s ransom for an amazing meal.”

I laughed. “That’s really sad,” I informed him.

He looked at me and
scoffed.
“I suppose
you are correct
.
However, at
least I know what
I would
spend the
brass
on.
You, however, lack the imagination.
I offered you whatever
you
would
fancy for your birthday
, and
yet
you wanted something for someone else.
That is
just as
ridiculous
as
m
e
food fetish.”

This vampire is so damn delusional.

“Not really,” I countered. “What is
wron
g with wanting stuff for others?
” I asked
, then
shov
ed
a forkful of salad in my mouth.

Damn, this is good.

Tanis slowly chewed his bite of sandwich, trying to find an argument.

After drinking a ha
lf bottle of water, he nodded his surrender.

“
Me Duckie, you make an inarguable
point.
However, it would bring me much happiness to buy y
ou something for your birthday. Yet sadly,
you
will not
permit it.
It saddens me greatly,” he
whispered the latter and pouted his bottom lip out then
pretended to wipe a tear away.