Page 154 of Wolf Blood

He snuggled up against my side. I stroked his furry ears with my fingers, and he scooted closer even though he was already basically on top of me.

My stomach was a fucking knot while I hit the button to video call my mother.

The person who thought I was a monster, and had told my best friend's ex to kill me.Loudly.Without hesitation.

She answered on the first ring.

Her brown eyes were red-rimmed, her expression was dark, and her lips were pressed together tightly.

She didn't say a word.

"Hi," I said, lifting a hand awkwardly in the camera's view.

She didn't reply.

I'd seen that coming, though.

There was no point in beating around the bush, so I started talking.

"The werewolves have a way to stabilize turned vampires. It doesn't usually work, but sometimes it does," I said. "I'm stable, now. Mostly. The Alpha Pack is strong enough to keep me from devolving completely when I get dark. And they know how to bring me back if they have to. I'll never be able to live like a human again, but my life is good, here. I'm happy."

Surprisingly enough, it was true.

Iwashappy.

Yeah, I was still struggling. If Oren was right, I always would.

But that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy life.

It didn't mean I couldn't go to parties, and dance with my sexy asshole of a mate for hours.

It didn't mean we couldn't stop at gas stations for an atrocious number of candy bars to keep me sane and overload us with sugar.

"Tell me something no one else knows. Including Bloom," Neve stated.

She wanted to know it was really me.

I didn't have many happy childhood memories. Most of them were overshadowed by the times Neve had been cruel to me as a kid.

"On my seventh birthday, you made a cookies and cream cake, but you forgot the cookies, so it was just a cream cake. I told you it was my favorite. We both knew I was lying, but I asked you to make it the next year."

She'd said no, the next year. I hadn't asked again the year after that.

But the memories of us laughing over the cake, instead of her yelling at me or insulting me, were good ones.

In the video call, Neve's eyes softened just a little.

Then grew glassy with unshed tears.

"What happened? All I know is Velour's side of the story, and I know he was lying," Neve said.

"What did he say?"

"Tell me your side first."

"We were hooking up casually. Bloom warned us both it was a bad idea, but we didn't listen. He bit me one night, when he wasn't supposed to. The night Steven died, which I'm sure you know. He lost control and took too much. I was dying, and he panicked. He fed me some of his blood, and snapped my neck. Then left."

Neve's gaze darkened.