Things don't happen to me anymore. I'm not left alone enough to get into trouble...so it was time to find some of my own.

Somewhere along the way, I picked up a guard 24/7. I understand that Nathaniel is being reasonable, but I can't stand being up his ass all the time. And it's not even him—one day, I'm going to be held hostage by this child within me.

I never signed up for this. I'm too young for this.

So, I'm knuckling under a burden I wouldn't have had to bear, if I had kept my legs closed. And we've had our fight about getting rid of my girl, so no, this isn't a cry to be free. I am allowed to have moments of existential dread. I am allowed human frailty. And I despise that I cannot have that without people making a shit ton of judgments they know nothing about.

I had enough of that with my aunt and uncle.

Speaking of which, I'm out to kill some time before shopping with Amancia for a graduation gown that will look halfway decent over my mounding stomach.

I have Grant with me, today. He and I have never clicked, but then he's a barely 16-year-old shifted were with a mate he can't legally touch yet (so he's grumpy as hell, and avoiding the kid like the plague). She's still in middle school—one of the younger ones who now lives in the pack house. I'm his nearly 18 year old Luna. We're not a matching set.

I know he's paying attention to his surroundings, but he gives off the appearance of not noticing a damn thing but his phone.

I decided to take a walk I knew well. It was time to face my demons. Well, not all of them, as I was only aiming for my aunt today. Nate is likely to have my hide for this, but some conversations can't be had with Mr Bossypants around, no matter how well he fills them.

We passed the pharmacy when an arm reached around me just below my boobs and yanked me back a good two feet.

Thankfully it disengaged almost at once. "What the hell, Grant?"

Grant isn't much taller than me, as he's not hit some of his growth spurts. It's also possible that he's got the Beta gene, and won't be that big a wolf, although I've never seen a male Omega. That wouldn't by any means make him weaker than a human and that is mostly what we faced out in the city.

But it meant that I was exposed to a fairly muscular lift from out of nowhere. The guy is too young for me, and now everything was this damned young male all of a sudden. I hate that Maverick made me aware of this drive.

I wished that I was still ignorant. Physical contact was killing me. I have no idea what Grant was thinking because I wasn't about to ask. Again, my burden, no one else's.

He pointed over my shoulder. "That."

It was a rattlesnake. I had almost stepped on it in the middle of town, where I was more concerned with watching traffic than my feet. "Well, that's odd...should be good at 4 feet away."

"You're going to walk 6 ft around that if you want me to keep this incident to myself." Well, Nathaniel wasn't the only overprotective male in the pack. I was still his Luna, after all.

I shook my head and continued on.

Around the 3rd snake, I almost gave up. "What the hell is up with all the snakes?"

At this point, Grant had put away his phone and had my arm tucked against his side. His obsidian eyes were darker than ever as his wolf took an interest in the reptilian menace. "Where exactly are we going?"

I huffed in frustration. I didn't want him to know beforehand as he was bound to use the pack link, but three snakes was an indication of something else. "I called my old neighbors and they told me my aunt is home today, and I want to corner her in peace."

"If I see one more damn snake, I'm calling your mate. You may have to give up on this trip. As it is, I'm going to report these things."

I shook my head. Why the hell does everyone think I'm going to be unreasonable? Is it that much of a tradition for a Luna to be apeshit bonkers?! I'm not tangling with snakes. But I wasn't going to protest anything—then I really would sound crazy.

The rest of the walk was uneventful, even up to the door, I almost felt like I was coming home, as surreal as that feeling is toward these people.

I still had my old key, but didn't dare try it, as my aunt would decide to shoot an intruder. The first gentle knock got nothing, so I pounded on that damn sucker.

I mean, come on, the car is right there. You're not fooling me.

She jerked the door open, "What the hell do you..."

Cue the pause, as she took a good look at me.

Then she slammed the door shut—or tried to. Grant may have been behind me, but you're not shutting a door faster than a werewolf can move. His foot was jammed in place. "Woman, you damn well know I can rip the door off its hinges. If you want this to be civil and friendly and most of all, private, you will let us in."

My aunt started grumbling under her breath, but the door opened. Grant stepped in first but shifted aside so I could walk ahead. I decided the kitchen table would be best for this conversation, instead of the formal living room.

I was family, as much as I hated these people. I'm not going to act like a stranger in my former home. So, sitting, I gestured for her to join me. Grant took it upon himself to lean up against the framing for the big bay windows and cross his arms. His scowl aged his face a hair, thinning out the last vestiges of babyface. It's in moments like these—where I notice everything about a guy—that I hate males the most.

Despite the paranoia of my upbringing, I used to be immune to a pretty face. While it was still easy to resist as I have a mate, damn it, I desperately want to go back to not remembering faces in a crowd. It's embarrassing.

I shook my head. I'm here for the old woman across from me. "So, auntie, care to tell me why you were raising me as your kid?"

She glared at me for a solid minute before collapsing in on herself. The fuck she thought I'd do, back down? She's not strong enough to win anymore. "Your mother swore you had lost your memory, and after all these years, we didn't think you would ever remember."

"I don't. I had a test run, and your husband is my blood relation—an uncle, but you're not related to me at all. What do you know about me?"

"I don't trust a thing your mom said to my husband. It never struck me as a kind of motive she had. " She shrugged. "She just told me 'Have the girl meet me in the desert when everything is done.' I don't even know what she meant."

"When did you plan on telling me?"

"Never. I had hoped you would have escaped before them boys found you, but from the looks of you, I've failed at that, too."

I shook my head at her. She'll never change. "Can't stop fate."

"What about my husband's?" Her voice was hesitant, with less strength than she had used previously.

I thought about it for a moment, how much to tell her. The problem is that I wasn't sure how much Nathaniel was going to allow him to remember. I don't even know how much she knows beyond what she's told me all my life.

I mean, she knew about werewolves in a pretty damn detailed way, but my mate's ability to control thoughts wasn't something they warned me about. And given the level of shit my uncle was surrounded by, my aunt deserved some kind of warning.

"Look, the wolves mostly keep me out of everything, but your husband has been running his mouth around human traffickers, so I don't know if or when he will be back. All I know is you need to keep your head down because this will have consequences beyond the pack's control."

My aunt paled at that. Who knew what part got to her, out of it all? "I don't think I have anything more that will help you. Tell that baby-daddy of yours that I want my husband home."

"Aunt Meave, he's my mate."

"You poor girl." She actually sounded like she pitied me. "Saddled with the next generation's failure. That pack is ready to implode. Try not to let them take you down with them...although I suspect it's too late for that."

I fought against grinding my teeth or defending Nathaniel. I wanted to, badly. But these people, I've no hope that they would ever change, and I have no more energy left to waste on her. I nodded as I stood, "Auntie, I can't think of a single reason for me to return, so I wish you a happy and safe life."

She walked with us to the door. "Rachael...if you pull off a miracle..."

I gave her a sharp nod and then opened the door, leaving her to the worries I had to let go of for my future's sake.

~~~

Amancia was deep in the racks by the time I pulled my head out of my ass and actually paid attention to the fact that I'm supposed to be judging these dresses for myself.

Grant went to the food court to eat a burger and would be back to grumpily cross his arms and damn near growl at the assistants. That boy could use a welder to solder his ass shut before he got another stick lodged up his backside.

I had 4 dresses in front of me...and I hated every one of them. Just despised them. "I can't try these on."

"Why not?" She glanced back at me, to see if I would elaborate.

So I pointed: "Hobo. Super Hobo. Ho. Kidney bean."

"Try on the last one, I swear it will look better on you than it does now."

I rolled my eyes but went into the stall. When I put it on, wow.

I know pregnancy is beautiful, but this dress, once on, proved to be a knee-length mermaid cut gown. Sheesh. That and I hate mustard yellow, although it brings out the red in my hair. "Not no, but hell no, Amancia!"

"What's to not like about flaunting that sexy pregnant body?"

"Uh, the part where I'm graduating from high school," I muttered at that. "Look, if it's got to be skin tight, no ridiculous bottom flare, alright."

"How do you feel about your shoulders?"

"They alright. Is it going to make me wear a strapless bra?" I mean, I owned a few of those convertibles, but that was before the breast growth. Damn, I may have to go bra shopping.

"Yes, and girl you grew, so your old ones won't work."

"Damn it. Let me see." By this time I was out of the dress and half hung out the door reaching for the next monstrosity.

She handed it to me.

I looked it over, critically. "Ok, it looks like an off-the-shoulder kidney bean."

"Put the thing on, Rachael. I think it will work."

I struggled to get in this one, but once there, I had to really take a hard look at it. I was surprised that there was nothing to criticize. Yes, my shoulders were bare, and yes my bra straps were like big neon signs on the Las Vegas strip.

But this thing gave sweater boobs a whole new realm to fetishism. Not only did it show off all the curves and make them look curvier, but the cut was definitely going to show off the full underside. For decoration, there was a scattered lace applique, which is what made this dress a hair upscale. Without it, the thing would be too casual for graduation. Despite the look of a sweater, it was a thin knit, not bad in the heat. "I'm torn, babe."

Yeah, I winced at my mate's default button coming out my mouth.

"Well then, come on out."

"I can't. I went from Olive Oil to Vampirella." I almost whined at that thought.

"Get out here, miss thing."

I sighed as I trudged out...and almost caused Grant to trip over his own two feet before he looked away in embarrassment.

Amancia burst into laughter at both of us. "So, Grant, you think Nathan will like it?"

The younger were shook his head. "No, he'll hate it. He is already decking enough guys over the Luna."

"Grant!" Amancia rolled her eyes. "Come off that b.s."

I ran my hand through my hair—hard to do with a ponytail, but I've grazed my nails across my scalp for years, so not impossible. "Well, shit. I'm not trying to cause that much of a stir. Can't I get something that doesn't make me look like a whale or a sex goddess? You know some happy medium?"

"No." They both say it in unison. Grant had turned back around and was scowling at me, managing to not check me out, so props for him.

I ain't no better, thinking about how soft a buzz cut is against the palm of my hand. It's not a cut that adds to a man's visual attraction, but the feel against skin is like a soft beard. A woman who knows looks aren't the only part of seduction can get herself into so much damn trouble, for nothing.

Amancia continued forward. "Look, the odds of finding a dress that does nothing for you is rather low. This one looks damn fine, and isn't that exposing."

"What about something looser?"

"Babydolls just look like lingerie and innocence," Grant said that much with a sneer.

"That's it! I'm done looking." I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation, as I walked back into the changing room. "The dress will do."

I made a mental note on what type of nightie to get Grant's mate when she was old enough to be tired of him holding back...but that would be some years from now.

And as for the 6x babydoll dress that was stretched over his bedroom door? It wasn't me. Amancia will vouch for me.