Chapter 57: Acceptance - (Storm's Point of View)

My parents are in Dad's office with Quinn when I enter. I am confused by Mom's shocked gasp until I remember my mark, which is glinting in the light streaming through the curtains in the office.

"Mom, please, don't start," I tell her, trying to hold back tears when she avoids my hug and bolts out of the room, her hand covering her mouth in despair. The action devastates me. My mother has never avoided my hug before and it hurts. It hurts even more knowing why she is avoiding my hug.

Why can't she be happy for me? Why does she have to be so against Makai?

"Hey. Don't take it personally, okay? She'll come around," Dad comforts, pulling me in for one of his rare deeply affectionate hugs. He sends out some of the calming alpha pheromones which wrap around me like a warm blanket.

"What if she doesn't?" I sniff pitifully. "Is she going to avoid me every time she sees my mark? I'm not going to hide it, Dad. I'm not."