It was about an hour before noon when the doorbell rang. The cranky retired night worker groaned at the consistent ringing. What sort of overly enthusiastic bastard was here to ruin her day? She was living in a poor district, for heaven’s sake! Nobody living here had any money to buy insurance. They only had enough for spare cancer sticks on payday!Yanking open the door grouchily, Ms Gwayne growled menacingly. Just as she was about to give the pesky salesperson a piece of her mind, the words got lodged in her throat. That familiar sapphire blue eyes and coppery hair hadn’t changed since she left this shithole. For a moment, Ms Gwayne thought she was dreaming.“Good morning, Ms Gwayne! Or should I say afternoon? Have you had lunch? I made too many, so I decided to bring some over. It’s my day off, and I was getting tired of cleaning.&rdq

It was a strange feeling having Ambrose babysitting them in the side house. The boys were used to doing their homework independently with some discussion, but the Fenrir’s presence made it difficult for them to engage in any conversation. The albino teenager constantly stared at them and breathed down their necks if anyone stopped moving their pencils.Oliver was close to tears as he struggled to spell his answer. There were no helping words for him to refer to, and while he knew his alphabet using the song, he did not know which letters came first. Only Ludwig knew, and Oliver wondered if he could ask the smarter brother for help without getting shredded by Ambrose.“What’s wrong?” the annoyed teen asked. “Why are you not doing your assignment?”Holding back tears, Oliver sniffed

As whimsically as he decided to come, Ambrose finished his promised egg tarts and disappeared into thin air. He kissed her copper strands and promised that they would be seeing each other again rather soon over the weekends at the family meeting.“Don’t forget to bring some treats. I’m sure the other packs would appreciate your gifts!”As Ambrose dematerialised, Emily stood dumbly in the kitchen. The fridge door was still wide open, so she closed it, feeling as if she had aged ten years from the brief encounter with the mysterious Fenrir. Exhausted, even if it wasn't even time for dinner, Emily dragged herself to the living room to check on the boys’ homework.From upstairs, four pairs of curious eyes studied Emily. Their tutor had been staring at the same page for the last five minutes

Richard was nervous. He had reasons to be. Favian shared his pack brother’s feelings as well. Ms Gwayne was more than a roommate. According to the more detailed private investigation, the older lady took Emily in when she was homeless for months and treated her like a daughter. Ms Gwayne was Emily’s foster mother in some ways, and making a good impression on the future mother-in-law was a higher hurdle than winning the approval from all the packs at the family meeting this weekend.“Are the preparations ready?” Richard whispered, fiddling with his seatbelt.Favian sighed. The excitement from the pups through the bond did not help Richard ease up. If anything, the CEO checked his hair for the fourteenth time since they left the company. He texted Emily to let her know they would be back soon, and she replied that her foster mother was get

“Stinky one-eyed bastard!”“Old furless mutt!”“Bring it on, you fangless faggot!”Of all the things Emily mentally prepared for, the slew of vulgarities and flying furniture was not one of them.The front yard that was brilliantly decorated was reduced to a mountain of trash with shifters growling at each other. The expensive handmade tapestry was torn, the special ordered outdoor carpet was ruined with mud, the steel chairs were bent at different angles, and Ambrose was organising a gambling den for the makeshift fight ring full of rowdy shifters.Emily wasn’t even fazed by the sight of wolf ears, swishy tails or exposed fangs during the day. They reminded her of the boys when she f