An excerpt from Tabby Kat’s story, as seen in WEREWOLVES VERSUS: ROMANCE.
I don’t care what species you are, when you come home to find your parents sitting awkwardly on the couch, everything automatically becomes terrifying. When you’re a werewolf, it’s just a slightly more hairy situation.
“Mama? Papa?” I dropped my purse outside the living room door. “Is everything okay?”
“Everything is great, Magnolia dear,” said my mother. “Your father and I just want to talk with you.”
Translation: everything is not great. There’s a problem, most likely with something or other that I had done in the last week or so. Something unladylike. Something that was drawing unnecessary attention to me, and by extension, to my family. I took a deep and hopefully subtle breath and braced myself.
My father gestured to the chair across from the couch. “Sit down.”
I sat. Nobody said I wasn’t a good, obedient daughter. A little strange, yes. A little out of the ordinary? Sure. Then again, I was part of a family of werewolves. You’d think that weird would be expected… but no.
`My parents looked at each other, then my father continued. “We’ve been thinking about your future. Nola, what are your plans?”
“For like, how long in the future are we talking?” I looked at them blankly. “Five years? Ten? Up until death?”
“Five years is a good start, but we were considering a range a little more long-term than that. Any ideas at all?”
I shrugged. “I guess I continue to work at college writing lab, correct freshman grammar, maybe get something published eventually? It’s not a bad job, all things considered, even though…”
My father shook his head. I could see thick, dark hair start to grow anxiously from his face. “Your job isn’t the issue.” That was a surprise, considering all the times he’d told me getting an English degree was a bad idea. “I’m thinking more along the lines of family. You can’t stay in your childhood pack forever.”
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