Chapter Eight: Mother's House

“Hello?”

“Ah, fuck,” Dustin grumbled when he recognized his brother’s voice.

“You didn’t lock the front door?” Shar asked, staring at him.

Dustin grunted, “I locked it. All my brothers have a key.”

“Shit,” Sharissa cursed and closed her eyes when she heard footsteps in the hall. “The bathroom door,” she whispered.

“Damn it,” Dustin grumbled as he moved to block her breasts from anyone who came to the door.

“There you are….” Dylan stopped at the bathroom door—his eyes open wide. “What the hell?”

“Can you give us about thirteen more minutes?” Dustin asked.

Dustin watched his brother, who was staring at his mate’s naked shoulders and legs. His cougar growled, and his body twitched.

“Stop looking at Shar like that; you’re irritating my cougar.”

“Sorry,” Dylan said, turning away. “So, the knotting is real, huh?”

“Yeah,” Dustin grumbled, not wanting to talk about this while he was knotted inside Shar.

“Does it hurt?” Dylan asked.

“Hell, man,” Dustin growled.

He knows his brother is just curious—since Dustin is the first to find his Fated mate in a long time. But still, this was not the time!

“Not really,” Sharissa answered.

Dustin groaned. ’Really? She answered him?’

“Huh,” Dylan said, looking as though he had no intention of leaving.

“Dylan, I swear to the Goddesses, if you don’t get the fuck out of here, my cougar will rip your head off and shove it up your ass, then eat your guts for dinner!”

Sharissa stared at him with wide eyes.

Dylan laughed, knowing his brother would do nothing of the sort—but moved away from the bathroom, anyway.

“And close the door!” Dustin shouted.

Averting his eyes, Dylan reached in and pulled the door shut.

Dustin could hear his brother laughing as he walked down the hall toward the living room. Then he heard talking and knew he’d dialed their brothers to tell them what he’d just walked in on.

“How much longer?” Sharissa whispered.

Dustin looked at his watch. “Eight minutes.”

Shar sighed as she laid her head on his shoulder.

~🐱~

Sharissa looked at the enormous house as they pulled into the driveway. After the embarrassing moment in the bathroom earlier, Dylan hasn’t looked at her. He is more than likely afraid Dustin will follow through with his threat.

“Your mom lives here—alone?” she asked, staring wide-eyed at the house.

Both men nodded.

“This is our family home. Has been in the family for hundreds of years,” Dylan informed her.

“Wow,” she whispered as Dustin helped her from the car.

“Does Mom know I’m bringing a human into the house?” Dustin asked, looking at his brother.

Dylan shook his head. “We figured you would want to be the one to tell her, or rather, show her,” he said, motioning toward their wrists.

“Ah, fuck,” Dustin cursed as he pulled Shar to a halt.

“What’s wrong?” Shar asked, looking at him. Something wasn’t right. “Does your mother hate humans?”

Dustin bit his lower lip. “A bunch of humans hunted our family for years.”

“Oh, no,” Shar gasped. “How horrible.”

“She hates that we work for them,” Dylan said.

Shar shook her head. “But I’m family, aren’t I?”

Dustin pulled her against his chest and kissed her forehead. “Yes, Mafilia, you’re family.”

“That’s right, little sister, you’re family. But Mom, well….”

“Dustin! Dylan! You’re late!”

Shar turned to the house at the same time the brothers looked up at the porch. She sucked in a breath when she saw the woman. She was beautiful. Long black hair—without a single grey. Smooth skin and the brightest silver eyes. She was breathtaking. And not at all how Shar had envisioned their mother to look. She had pictured an older woman with silver hair in a bun.

Oh, God, she had forgotten that shifters live a long time and stay young for hundreds of years or something like that. If Dustin is ninety-six, how old does that make their mother? And Dustin is the second oldest.

“Hey, Mom, sorry we’re late,” Dylan called out to their mother.

The woman’s eyes settled on Shar, and they turned the darkest silver as she snarled. She, honest to God, snarled at Shar.

“What the hell is a human doing at my house?!” their mother demanded.

Shar jumped at the tone in the woman’s voice and moved behind Dustin. She’s not afraid of the woman, but this is her mate’s mother.

“Mom,” Dustin said.

“Don’t you dare bring her into my house, do you hear me?!” their mother said, then turned and stormed back into the house.

“Maybe we should have told her first,” Dylan said, looking from the door to Shar.

“You think?” Dustin grumbled as he turned to Shar. “Don’t be afraid—we’ll protect you.”

Shar shook her head. “I’m not afraid of her. It’s the fact that she’s your mother,” she whispered.

Dustin and Dylan chuckled.

Dylan nodded, “that’s good. She thinks you fear her and won’t dare come inside. Let’s show her….”

“Are you sure about this?” Shar asked, looking between the two men.

“Come on,” Dustin said, pulling her toward the house.

Daryl met them at the door and smiled at Shar. “Hello, Seliana.”

Shar smiled up at the tall, handsome man, who was her new brother. God, all her brothers, are so freaking hot.

“Hello, Beliono.”

Daryl looked at his brothers. “Mother is angry. Maybe we should have told her before we brought Shar here.”

“You think?” Dustin and Dylan said at the same time.

“She said that the human is afraid of her,” Daryl said with a smile. “But you don’t look scared.”

Shar shook her head. “No, I’m not afraid of her. Just don’t want to fight with my mate’s mother.”

“You took a human as a mate!?”

The four turned to find Mrs. Kraftman standing twenty feet from them.

“Ah, Mom,” Dustin said as they entered the house.

“Get her out of my house!”

“Mom…,” Daryl said, but the woman interrupted him.

“You, out of everyone, should have known better, Daryl Kraftman.”

Daryl sighed, “Mom, hear them out….”

“I don’t want to know how my son met the slut. I want her out of my….”

“Mrs. Kraftman. My name is Sharissa Flemmings, and it is so nice to meet you. I can’t wait to get to know the woman who brought my mate into the world,” Shar said, holding her hand out to the shifter woman.

Shar had practiced that speech for days, and it surprised her that she said it without a mishap.

“Not good,” Dylan murmured behind her.

Mrs. Kraftman’s face turned purple as anger simmered inside her—ready to explode.

‘What had I done wrong?’ Shar wondered. She knows the speech was lame, but it was from the heart.

“You interrupted her,” Dustin whispered into her ear.

“Oh,” Shar whispered. “My sincere apologies, Mrs. Kraftman. Please, for your son’s sake, I would like us to get along….”

“Now, you listen here, girlie!” Mrs. Kraftman said, getting into Shar’s face.

Shar didn’t step back as the woman had figured she would. She stood still and looked into the woman’s eyes. She held her ground and used her extra strength to anchor herself to the spot in case the woman tried to make her move.

Which she did. Mrs. Kraftman took hold of Shar’s arms and tried to uproot her from the house.

“I want you out of….” The woman huffed when she couldn’t move Shar. “My,” she tried again, but Shar did not budge. “House.” And again, Shar did not move.

Dustin grinned at his mate, proud of how she stood her ground. He watched his mother stare at Shar, who was watching her with alert eyes, ready for anything the other woman may try.

“Mom,” Dustin groaned. “If you’ll just listen….”

“What is going on?!” his mother demanded. “Who the hell is she?”

“As I said. My name is Sharissa Flemmings.” Shar smiled as she held her hand up to his mother. “Your son’s mate.”

Dustin saw the look on his mother’s face when she finally looked at Shar’s hand and saw the markings for the first time.

“May the Goddesses bless us all,” his mother breathed as she looked into Shar’s eyes. “A human... Oh, for fuck’s sake, fate has a nasty sense of humor,” she said, then pulled Sharissa into a hug.

The three brothers smiled at each other.

“The stories are true then, about human mates?” their mother asked, looking at her sons.

Dustin nodded, “yes, ma’am.”

“Let me see yours,” his mother said as she pulled back from Sharissa and motioned for him to come forward.

Dustin smiled as he stepped forward and held his hand out to his mother. She took it in her hands and examined it.

“The other one,” she said, pointing to his other wrist.

Dustin gave his mother his other wrist, and she examined both of his wrists.

“Unity,” she whispered.

“It was a shock to us all,” Daryl said, watching his mother examine his brother’s wrists.

Their mother looked up at him and gave him her evil eye. “You all knew about this? And didn’t tell me?”

Daryl shrugged. “It wasn’t ours to tell, Mom. And we thought it would be better to show you….”

“Could have saved us all this bullshit,” she said, looking at Sharissa. “I am sorry, young lady. I do not take kindly to humans.”

Sharissa nodded and said, “it’s okay, Mrs. Kraftman.”

“Call me, Amirah. You’re family now.”

Shar smiled, “yes, ma’am.”

Amirah sighed. “Come on. Dinner is getting cold,” she said as she threw her arm over Shar’s shoulders and led her toward the kitchen. “So, how did you meet my son?”

Shar turned her head and smiled at her mate. “I went to their security company to hire a bodyguard and found a mate.”

Amirah chuckled. “Why do you need a bodyguard? Or should I say, why did you—you’re almost as strong as my boys.”

Shar sighed, debating whether she should tell her anything about her ex.

“Her ex is stalking her,” Daryl said.

Shar looked at Daryl. That’s a pleasant way to put it.

Amirah shook her head, “oh, dear. Who is this ex?”

“Johnny Vega,” Dustin said.

Amirah snorted, “I can’t stand that man.”

Shar nodded, “I wish I’d known then what I know now. But I was young and stupid.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry now that you have my boys to protect you.”

Shar nodded. Amirah Kraftman is a pleasant woman once you get past her hatred of humans.

“Mom, are we good?” Dustin asked, moving to walk beside his mother.

Amirah nodded and stated, “now that I know she’s not after your money and she’s your Fated mate, everything is fine.”

“She refuses to quit her job,” Dylan laughed. “She said she doesn’t care how rich Dustin is. She needs to work, or she’ll go insane.”

Amirah grinned at Shar, “that’s the kind of woman I always hoped for, for my boys.”

“Must have been hard raising five boys on your own,” Shar whispered.

Amirah looked at Dustin, then at Shar. “I see my son has given you our history.”

Shar nodded.

“Did he also tell you that their father ran away with a human?”

Shar’s eyes opened wide as she shook her head.

Amirah sighed, “wasn’t even a woman.”

“I… uh….” Shar didn’t know what to say to that.

“Don’t worry; I got over it a long time ago. But humans still aren’t my favorite species. I even prefer vampires to humans.”

“V-Vampires are real?” Shar asked, her eyes open wide in shock and disbelief.

Amirah looked at her son. “You haven’t told her about vampires?”

Dustin shrugged. “We discussed werewolves—we just haven’t gotten to vampires yet.”

Shar felt faint. She’s known most of her life that shifters are real. And now, she has found out about werewolves and vampires. What else is real? The Loch Ness Monster?

“Just in case you’re wondering, Nessie isn’t real,” Dylan laughed.

Shar stared at him with wide eyes.

“Ah fuck, you were seriously wondering about that, weren’t you?” Dylan asked, trying not to laugh again.

Shar pouted and lamented, “this is a lot to take in—dickweed.”

The room got quiet, then everyone, including their mother, burst into laughter.

“She’s a keeper,” Amirah said as she kissed her second eldest on the cheek and walked into the kitchen.

“Don’t I know it,” Dustin said with a grin as he pulled Shar into his arms.

She smiled up at him. “I guess we’re both lucky.”

“I guess so,” he said with a grin as he kissed her.

“God, not here too,” Dylan said with a roll of his eyes.

Dustin growled as he turned and glared at his brother.

“Don’t make me tell Mom what I saw in the bathroom,” Dylan said, winking at Shar.

Shar’s cheeks turned a bright red, and Dustin went after his brother, who took off into the kitchen where their mother would hopefully protect him.

“Not in my kitchen!” Amirah shouted.

Shar laughed as she watched Amirah chase her boys out of her kitchen with a broom. For the first time since she was little, she felt like she belonged somewhere.

Like she was home.