Ah, the inevitable phone call from Mom. I knew it was coming, and I knew I would probably regret putting it off for so long. I should have at least used that time to come up with a decent lie; but instead, I'm completely clueless as to what I'm going to say. Anything but the truth, preferably.

In this moment, I have two options, and about two seconds to decide which I'm going to go with. I could hang up on my mother; something that seemed like it would solve the problem for the moment, but would make things that much more complicated in the long run. My mother is a force to be reckoned with; I wouldn't be surprised if I hung up and she came all the way down here just to snatch me up and beat some sense into me.

Something tells me she would be the only human that would make it past all these werewolves, if she's pissed off enough.

Then my other option is to just put on my big girl panties and face the music. Which also means coming up with an explanation as to why my little sister saw a stranger carry me away and put me in his car.

I was leaning more towards the first option. But I didn't get to make the decision because Mom launched right in.

"Trina told me you decided to move in with some boy you started dating? Are you insane! You don't move in with someone you've known for a couple months, especially when you're due to start college soon! Need I remind you the semester begins in two weeks?"

I sat there for a second in complete silence, shocked at what I had just heard. That is certainly not what I expected Trina to tell her. But hey, it is the perfect scapegoat, so I'm going to go with it, no matter how utterly lost I am.

"No, I know. And, no, I'm not insane. Yes, I did decide to move in with him, but before you explode, let me explain," I say in a rush, not leaving her any time to interrupt. "I know you think this is really stupid, but you know me Mom. If I didn't think this was a good idea, I wouldn't have done it. I love him and he loves me, and things are going great."

I pause to take a breath, and give my mother a chance to speak. All I hear from the other end is silence, so I continue, not knowing if her silence is a good sign or not.

"And I know you might be thinking that I'm doing something really stupid, but I'm not-"

"Are you sure about this?" she interrupts me. "Are you sure that you love someone enough to move in with them?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure," I reply with confidence and without any hesitation.

I hear her sigh from the other end. "How old is he?"

"Twenty one." I prepare myself to answer all her questions, because I know this is about to turn into some kind of interview. But hey, if it works in my favor, then I'm all for it.

"Does he have a criminal record?"

"Um, no..."

"Has your Dad met him?"

"Yep, got his stamp of approval."

"Does he have a stable job, and does he make good money?"

"Mom, I'm sitting in a mansion right now." Speaking of sitting in a mansion, there is some food sitting in the kitchen that I could really use right about now. Throwing off the covers, I step out of bed as Mom asks her next question.

"What's his job?"

"Mafia leader," I let slip before I can even think twice. I mean, what was I supposed to say? He's the Alpha of a werewolf pack, Mom. No, I have to play this safe, and as well as I'm doing, telling her that will assure me a spot in her car, being forcibly dragged away from this house and into a mental facility.

And you can't blame me that that's the first thing that came to mind. The memory is still fresh.

"Excuse me?"

"HAHA, just kidding. T-that's our inside joke. He runs a family owned business," I quickly correct myself, hoping that my dumb screw up will be overlooked. I let out a breath of relief when I hear her mutter something about her 'trying to understand the mindset of my generation.' "Now, would you like to know his blood type too?"

"And this isn't because you're pregnant or anything, right?" she continues, disregarding my sarcasm.

"Right," I verify.

Again, there's a pause on the line, and I prepare myself to jump into an argument.

"Then I guess I can learn to live with it," she sighs, almost as if it pains her to say it.

"Look, I know you're my mom and all but I'm nineteen, I'm legally an adult which means you can't be making my decisions for me!" I almost yell.

"I understand."

"And whether you like it or not, I'm staying down here with Cayton."

"Ok."

"We're in love, and I know you probably expect this relationship to crumble, but I'm positive it won't—and I'm going to stop talking now because you're being completely reasonable," I finish, the last part of my statement coming out in a tone of disbelief.

I hear her softly laugh. "You say that like I'm the most unreasonable parent in the world."

"Well..." I can just picture her giving me one of her infamous looks on the other end.

"Now that you got all that off your chest, let me just say something," she starts, her voice completely serious. "The only reason I'm allowing this is because you seem pretty sure of yourself. I personally think you're jumping into this too fast, but that's just me. And no offence to you or Cayton, but I'm going to be honest and say that yes- I do half expect this relationship to fall through. If it doesn't, then good for you two, but both of you are still young and relationships these days last about as long as a TV commercial."

I want to say something, but I know not to interject when she's on a roll. I'm willing to bet that part of her views on relationships is influenced by how crummy her and Dad's relationship was, and even though I love both of them, I know what Cayton and I have is much stronger than whatever they had.

Plus, you know, soul mates.

I start to feel a little giddy about the direction this conversation is heading. While I grab a bowl from the kitchen cabinets to make myself some cereal, I realize I'm not the only one here. I almost drop everything in my hands from surprise.

"But just remember, that when this doesn't work-"

"If this doesn't work," I correct her, giving Bethany a playful glare since she was the one who startled me. She smiles.

"Right, if this doesn't work, just know that you're welcome home anytime."

A weight is suddenly lifted off my shoulders, knowing that she isn't going to force me home. For once, things are working in my favor. And I couldn't be happier that she's ok with it! I mean, I know she's expecting it to fail, but at least she's giving me a chance to prove that it won't, and better yet, she didn't blow up and disown me like I had expected.

I feel so much better without that to worry about. I know I've been pushing the issue to the back of my mind for some time now, but it's always been there, nagging at me. Geez, I could have saved myself a lot of trouble if I would have done this sooner...

"You're the best!" I almost squeal, before shoving a spoonful of cereal in my mouth. Bethany mouths 'who is it?" from across me, and I mouth back 'my mom'. She nods, before turning her attention back to her phone.

"But don't think this means you're getting out of going to school," she says in her motherly tone.

"Trust me, I know. I'm going to talk to Cayton about it later," I reply through a mouthful of Captain Crunch.

"Even though I can't see you, it doesn't mean you shouldn't talk with your mouth full!"

I swallow. "Sorry."

"Mhmm," she mutters.

"So, anything else you would like to question?"

"No, but I do have one condition."

"Alright, shoot."

"I want you to come up here this weekend. Come get your stuff and whatnot, and give me a proper goodbye."

"I think that can be arranged." Something tells me that this isnt over, despite how breezy my mom is being over it. I have a sneaking suspicion that she's going to try and convince me to stay. I have nothing to worry about though, no matter what she could say would convince me to leave Cayton.

"Good. I'll talk to you later, love you."

"Love you too mom!" I hang up, and before I know it I'm back on my feet doing some sort of weird happy jumping-dance thing.

"Can I ask why you're so happy?" Bethany asks in amusement.

"Everything went better than expected," I say, doing the arm wave as part of my dance. Bethany laughs at me. "I just have to convince Cayton... to let me leave for the weekend..."

With that said, I stop dancing and slump back into my seat. There is no way Cayton is going to let me leave for the entire weekend with everything going on with Joshua. And he can't come with me because his Alpha duties are a 24/7 thing. Hm, I probably should have thought of that before agreeing to come up.

"I'm sure he won't mind," she says. I give her a flat look, to which she bites her lip. "That much..."

"We'll just see," I say.

Somewhere around 7 o'clock is when Cayton and Carter finally get home. The first thing I do is jump into Cayton's arm, a big grin on my face. First step, of course, is to butter him up. Moreover, I'm still happy about today's events.

"I missed you!" I say as he wraps his arms around me, stumbling a step back from my sudden attack.

"Um, I missed you too," he says. I press my lips to his quickly, before planting my feet back on the ground and pulling away from his lips, smiling vibrantly. I can tell from his expression he's a little confused by my actions, but isn't going to question me. "I'm guessing you had a good day?"

"Mhmm," I mumble. "Wow, you just keep getting better looking, don't you? And your eyes are just so pretty," I add, trying to lay it on thick. Maybe it's overkill, but oh well.

His eyebrows crease at my random comment, but again he doesn't question it.

"Anyways, my mom called today..." I start.

"And?" I could hear the anticipation dripping in his voice. Smiling, I sit back down on the couch, putting myself next to Bethany, who made herself comfortable leaning against Carter. She's trying not to smile, since I have already informed her of my plan.

"Well, everything went well. Amazingly, actually. Trina had told her that I just decided to move in with you after dating you for a while instead of, you know, you kidnapping me."

"Kidnapping?" Bethany chimes in.

"Long story," I say briefly to her, before turning back to Cayton. "Anyways, I don't know if she lied for me or not, but it worked out well."

"You are so welcome," Carter says.

"For what?"

He smiles smugly, tapping the side of his head. "I planned ahead, unlike some people," he shoots Cayton a pointed look, "and told her that Cayton was your boyfriend and we were playing a prank on you."

I don't think I've ever really appreciated Carter until this moment. That explains why she let me be taken so easily, and went to Mark and Fran's without so much as a protest. The little snot loves nothing more than a good prank, especially when it's on her older sister. And coming from the mouth of a hot guy probably helped too.

As thankful as I am, it isn't in mine and Carter's relationship to share please and thank you's and such, so I settle for a high five and a "You rock."

"At least someone was thinking straight that day."

Cayton rolls his eyes at my statement.

"Which brings me to the last part of our conversation," I start. I motion for him to sit down next to me, and when he does, I wrap my arms around him from the side and rest my chin on his shoulder, batting my eyelashes and smiling. "Have I ever told you that you have the most amazing ears?"

"I don't... Yea, I'm not even going to ask," he says, looking at me with a strange look.

"And you're so smart, and funny, and strong..." I continue. At this point, I think he realizes I want something by the way his eyes narrow suspiciously. I continue on anyways. "And I forgot to mention that I totally forgive you for yesterday! I mean, who can stay mad at this face?" I squeeze his cheeks together, laughing. "I certainly can't."

"Alright, this is getting disturbing," he says, pulling my hand off his face. "What do you want?"

"Me? Want something?" I say in disbelief. "Can't I just speak the God honest truth about my amazing, wonderful, perfect, mate?"

"Not like that," he says. "What do you want and how much is it going to cost me?"

"I am offended that you would insinuate such things!" He just gives me a look, and what I get from it is 'seriously-what-do-you-want?'. "Well, you see, the thing is, Mommy-dearest wants me to come up and stay for the weekend, get my stuff and see her before I officially move five hours away. And I know you have pack duties, so I can go by myself-"

"You're not going by yourself," he interrupts.

"But you can't come with me," I point out.

"Then I guess you're staying," he shrugs. I internally groan at the oncoming argument.

"Why can't I just go?" I whine.

"Because, being by yourself is dangerous," he snaps, knocking me off guard for a split second. I haven't forgotten about that, believe me, but I'm still honestly a little ambivalent about whether or not it has anything to do with me. I haven't thought about it much since yesterday, but that's because I'm afraid I might convince myself that he's after me.

The evidence to support it is certainly there, and the fact that everyone else seems to think so only adds to it. However, I don't want to believe it, therefore, I'm going to block the issue out of my mind. I'm not sure this is the wisest thing to do; however, it seems a better idea than torturing myself over it.

It takes me a minute to respond to him, because I know how stressed he is over this thing. He's really worried about me, which I completely understand. If some psycho were after him, I would be locking him in an underground bunker until it was safe to come out. Just as I'm about to respond, Bethany puts her hand on my shoulder.

"I'll go with her," she offers.

Silence.

I don't know what Carter and Cayton think about that, but I know I'm a little shocked. She is usually connected to Carter at the hip every second they're together, and the fact that she's offering to willingly be away from him for two days is a bit shocking to me.

"I don't think so," this time, Carter speaks. Shaking off the surprise, I jump in.

"Why not? This is perfect! We're going to be 5 hours away, and you guys can focus on the issue with Joshua without worrying about us for a few days," I say. It sounds like a good idea to me, and judging by the unsure look on both the guy's faces, they're starting to see my point, but still don't want us going.

"And it would be nice to get out, have a girl's trip," Bethany adds. She looks to Carter and says, "I think it would be really helpful to get away and clear my head."

While I have no idea what that means, Carter must, because he caves in almost instantly. Then all eyes are trained on Cayton, waiting for his ok.

After a few seconds of me pleading with my eyes and pulling off the best puppy-dog look I could, he finally caves. Closing his eyes and rubbing his temple with his finger like he's fighting an oncoming headache, he sighs.

"Fine."

"Oh yea, road trip!"