I led Mother to our office, and because my aunt had raised me well, I let her enter the room first. She stopped inside and looked at the double desk.

“Really?” she asked.

“What?”

“Isn’t that a bit much? Couldn’t the two of you have separate desks?” she asked. I indicated the visitor’s chair and walked around the desk to take my place. I looked at the empty place next to me and wished it weren’t empty.

“It’s not too much. I ordered this desk when we built the pack house. I have always known what kind of relationship I wanted to have with my mate. With Amie by my side, that idea just makes even more sense,” I told her. She had taken a seat and looked tense.

“Well, your father and I never needed such a thing. The Alpha’s office was his domain. I didn’t need an office.”

“We do things differently. I value Amie’s advice, and I enjoy having her close.”

“She does seem to have taken to her role as Luna; not even you objected when she sent us in here,” my mother remarked.

“Why would I? I know she did it for my sake, and that brings me to why we are here. We need to talk.” It had been years since my mother and I had sat down and talked with no one else present. It was sad that I couldn’t even remember when it was or what we had said.

“Please enlighten me. Is this where you ask me and Sarah to stay in the pack? I don’t think that would be in Sarah’s best interest,” she asked. She caught me off guard, and I let a chuckle escape.

“That wasn’t what I wanted to talk about. Luckily, you said no. If you had said yes to your own invitation, this would have been awkward,” I told her.

“Why wouldn’t you invite us to stay? We are your family. I have heard you had Amie’s parents stay for an entire month.”

“Well, that brings me to what I wanted to talk about. You say we are family, but you haven’t once asked how Amie is, despite knowing what she went through only days ago. You haven’t even mentioned we are having a pup; you haven’t congratulated us. It’s your first grandpup, and you act like they don’t exist,” I told her. I sounded bitter, and it left a foul taste in my mouth, but I needed to come clean about how I felt.

“It’s a sensitive subject for Sarah,” my mother said. I shook my head in disbelief.

“I’m not asking you to rub it in her face. Both Amie and I understand that she is going through losing her mate and her pack. Can you honestly say that since you got here there hasn’t been a single moment where you could have pulled Amie and me to the side to talk? Just for a minute or two? Heck, you could have said something as you and I walked here, or after we sat down, but you still haven’t. I know I was never your favorite. That’s fine. Well, not really, but I could deal with it. Now you are doing the same to Amie as you did to me when I was a pup. Sarah is getting all your attention, and Amie is being shut out. I’m not saying Sarah doesn’t need your support right now, but Amie does too. I thought you liked her? At the Games, it seemed as if you were happy to have her in the family.” I vented all of my frustration in one go.

“I do like Amie. She is a good wolf, and she is what you need. I’m happy for both of you,” my mother said. It sounded like a prerecorded message.