12

"Because she stayed polite."

"Exactly."

Evelyn sighed quietly.

"How many women have found themselves in that position?"

"Too many."

Jake looked into his coffee.

"I couldn't just watch."

"So you stepped in."

"I pretended to be her boyfriend."

His mother smiled.

"I did wonder where your dramatic streak came from."

"It worked."

"I'm sure it did."

Jake found himself smiling too.

"Then what?"

"For a second she thought I was making things worse."

Evelyn laughed softly.

"Reasonable."

"But the moment she realised what I was doing..."

His voice faded.

"What happened?" Evelyn asked gently.

Jake hesitated.

"I don't know."

She waited.

"There was this feeling."

"What sort of feeling?"

"I've never experienced it before."

He searched for the right words.

"It was like..."

His brow furrowed.

"...like every instinct I possess suddenly focused on one person."

His mother didn't interrupt.

"I couldn't stop watching her."

Jake rubbed a hand across his jaw.

"Not because I wanted anything from her."

"No?"

"No."

"I just..."

He frowned again.

"I needed to know she was safe."

The silence stretched between them.

"When I put my arm around her," he continued quietly, "my wolf went completely still."

Evelyn's expression changed almost imperceptibly. Jake missed it.

"It wasn't excitement," he said.

"It was certainty." his mother nodded.

He looked up.

"I've never felt anything like it."

His mother was studying him with unusual intensity.

"What did she smell like?"

Jake frowned.

"That's an odd question."

"Answer it."

He hesitated.

"Honey."

"And?"

"Vanilla."

"There was something else."

"What?"

"I don't know."

"You recognised it?"

"Yes."

"From where?"

"I've never met her before."

"But you recognised it."

Jake slowly nodded.

"I just... did."

Evelyn leaned back in her chair.

"What colour were her eyes?"

"Blue."

He smiled without meaning to.

"With little green flecks."

"And you noticed that in a crowded pub?"

Jake realised what he'd admitted. His mother didn't miss his smile.

"You know what this sounds like."

"I know what it sounds like."

"And?"

"I don't believe it."

"Why?"

"Because werewolves finding human mates are stories."

"They're history."

"They're exceptionally rare."

"They are."

"They practically don't happen anymore."

"No."

Evelyn folded her hands together.

"They simply haven't happened to anyone you know."

Jake looked unconvinced.

"I met one woman for fifteen minutes."

"You met one woman."

"And now I can't stop thinking about her."

His mother smiled sadly.

"I wondered if I'd live to see this conversation."

Jake stared.

"You seriously think..."

"I think your wolf has recognised something before your mind has."

Jake laughed once. Disbelieving.

"This is ridiculous."

"Is it?"

"I don't even know her surname."

"No."

"I'll probably never see her again."

That sentence landed heavier than he expected. His wolf stirred immediately and the reaction was so fierce it stole his breath. His coffee mug creaked slightly beneath his tightening grip. Evelyn noticed.

"So your wolf disagrees."

Jake looked away.

"He doesn't like that idea."

"No."

Neither of them spoke for several seconds.

Finally Evelyn asked, "Did you tell her what you are?"

Jake looked horrified.

"Of course not."

"Good."

"I barely told her my name."

"What did she tell you?"

"Her first name."

"Anything else?"

"She works in the city."

"Did she mention family?"

"No."

"Friends?"

"One."

Jake smiled faintly.

"She said she'd probably tell her friend about tonight."

"You remember every word."

"I suppose I do."

Evelyn stood and walked towards the window where moonlight silvered the lawn beyond.

"When your father met me," she said quietly, "he described something very similar."

Jake looked up sharply.

"He never told me that."

"He wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because he thought you'd think he'd gone soft."

Jake laughed.

"Probably."

She smiled at the memory.

"He told me the world became strangely quiet."

Jake's smile faded.

"He said all the background noise disappeared until there was only me."

That sounded dangerously familiar.

"He also said," Evelyn continued, "that for the first time in his life, protecting someone stopped feeling like a duty."

She turned back towards him.

"It felt like breathing."

Jake sat perfectly still. Because that was exactly how it had felt. He hadn't chosen to protect Amelia, he simply... had. The instinct had been as automatic as drawing breath.

"I don't understand," he admitted.

"I know."

"What if I'm imagining it?"

"You aren't."

"What if it's something else?"

"It could be."

She smiled gently.

"But your father asked me the very same questions."

Jake rubbed both hands over his face.

"This is impossible."

"It is inconvenient."

"I don't know where she lives."

"You know where you met her."

"I'm hardly going to wait in that pub every Friday night."

His mother raised one eyebrow.

"You've already considered it."

Jake opened his mouth, then closed it again. Apparently he had. Evelyn laughed softly.

"I thought so."

Jake groaned.

"This is unbelievable."

"It usually is."

She reached across the island and squeezed his hand.

"You don't have to decide anything tonight."

"I'm not even sure there is anything to decide."

"There isn't."

"So what do I do?"

"For now?" She smiled. "You get some sleep."

"And if I dream about her?"

"You probably will."

Jake stood but paused at the kitchen door.

"Mum?"

"Yes?"

"If this really is..."

He couldn't quite bring himself to say the word.

"Then she'll find her way back into your life."

Jake nodded slowly.

"I hope you're wrong."

Evelyn waited until he had disappeared upstairs before allowing the smile to leave her face. She looked towards the dark garden beyond the window, her thoughts suddenly far from peaceful. Human mates were rare. Wonderfully rare. But nothing about Jake's description sat comfortably with the instincts she had learned to trust over decades.

He had spoken of certainty, recognition and peace. Yet he had also described something else. The fear in the young woman's eyes before she realised he meant her no harm. Evelyn had lived long enough to know that fate could bring two souls together.

But it did not always guarantee the journey between them would be easy.