“Am I the only one who thinks this is completely insane? She’s—”
“John.” Mom’s voice was a warning to drop it.
“No. She’s my daughter. She’s still practically—”
“She’s eighteen—”
“Exactly. Still a child. People change so much between eighteen and twenty-five. She doesn’t know who she is yet or who she even wants to be. She—”
“Stop it. Like it or not, Teresa’s legally an adult. If she hadn’t been bitten, she would’ve been starting her transition as leader of the coven.” Mom blew out a breath.
God. This was mortifying. Did they have to do this now? On my birthday? In front of everyone?
“I know you’re worried, but I’m not,” Mom said. At least that was something. “This is her life now, and we need to at least try to be understanding and supportive.”
I swallowed the last bite as I looked between them.
“She’s only eighteen.” Dad muttered as he got up to flip the burgers.
I caught Mom’s attention as I swallowed. “Thank you,” I mouthed.
“Give him time,” she said softly. “He didn’t think his baby girl would be moving on so fast.”
“Me neither,” I said under my breath.
Dastien poked me in just the right ticklish spot, and I barely suppressed a squeal.
“What? It’s true,” I whispered to him.
Dad cleared his throat. “Who wants more burgers?” His voice was a little gruff, but he at least he didn’t try to argue anymore. Thank God.
All the werewolves held their plates up.
Dad shook his head. “I gotta say, it’s impressive how much you kids eat.”
Donovan chuckled softly. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties, but I was pretty sure he was older than a few of us put together. As one of the Seven—the council governing all the packs—he was extremely powerful. From what I understood, he had to have been around for a long time to gain the power for that position. It felt rude to ask his actual age, but I was curious.
Once we were done with the burger portion of the meal, we cleaned up and moved inside. Mom went into her room with Axel and came back with two giant sheet cakes.
“Whoa. That’s a lot of cake,” I said.
Mom laughed. “Well, I wasn’t sure how much to get.” She looked at Donovan. “Too much? Not enough?”
“I’m sure it’ll be just grand, Gabriela.”
Mom blushed at Donovan’s accent. I had to admit, it was pretty hot. I lived for the times he said ‘ehm’—the Irish version of ‘uh.’
The doorbell rang. I paused what I was doing. Pretty much everyone who knew where I lived was already here. “I’ll get it.” I cut through the house to find my cousins Claudia and Raphael on the porch.
I never saw them unless something was wrong. “Hi. What’s going on?”
“We just wanted to stop by and wish you a happy birthday.” Raphael wore his usual khaki shorts and flip-flops. His black hair was cut short, and he rubbed his hand back and forth over the top of it as he spoke.
That was a surprise. I didn’t think they knew when my birthday was. “Thanks.” I swung the door wide and waved them in. “You got here just in time for cake.”
Claudia gave me a hug. Her hair was pulled back in two braids, like always. She wore a flower-print sundress. “Felicidades.”
“Is that Claudia?” Mom asked from the kitchen.