“Maybe a certain Alpha wolf shifter will help you remember,” Saint said with an eyebrow waggle.
“Hmm, maybe.”
“What? You wouldn’t go there if it was offered?”
“No, I’m not saying that.” Marshall sighed. “I’m just….” he waved a hand in the air, unable to find the words for his feelings.
“Yeah, I know,” Saint said, understanding in his tone.
Marshall flashed him a smile. He knew he didn’t have to explain his confusion to his best friend.
“Ring your mom and I’ll phone Murphy and check in on work,” Saint told him.
Marshall pulled his phone from his pocket and searched his contacts for his parent’s number. It only took a few seconds before his mother’s familiar voice was on the line.
“Marshall, honey. How are you?”
“Hi Ma. I’m okay.”
“What’s the Pack like?” Marshall had told his parents where he was going, so the question was not unexpected.
“Yeah, they’re good. Have been welcoming and all.”
“And has their doctor got any idea what might be wrong?”
Marshall barked out a short laugh. “Yeah, about that.”
“What? Marshall Richard Cavendish, you’d better not be telling me anything important in a phone call.”
“Ouch, full named,” Marshall said, glancing at Saint, who’d snorted out a laugh. He flicked his friend the finger before returning his attention to his mother. “There’s a… theory,” he said, reluctant to give his mother the details over the phone.
“A theory? What kind of theory?” Claire Cavendish’s voice was filled with concern.
“Do we have any shifter blood in our family?”
Silence greeted Marshall’s question, and he double-checked the screen to make sure the call hadn’t dropped out.
“Ma?”
“I’m here. Sorry, I was just thinking.” Another moment or two ticked by. “As far as I know, no, we don’t have any shifters in the family.”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming,” Marshall said.
“You’re right,” she agreed. “But I only know about my side of the family. Your Aunt Lisa has researched your dad’s side, so she may know more.”
“Can you ask her?”
“What’s going on, Marshall? Why do you want to know if there is any shifter blood in the family?”
Marshall ran a hand through his hair. How did he explain this to his parents? “It’s complicated, Mom. I’m not really sure how to explain it.”
“Complicated how? Do you have some sort of shifter disease? Is that what the problem is?” Panic tinged her voice, and Marshall didn’t want to stress her out any more than he had to.
“No. No shifter disease. You know we can’t transmit between species,” Marshall reassured her. “It’s just that my symptoms are very similar to what the Alpha here has, so the doctor has sent my blood away for DNA analysis, but it will take a few days. We wondered if there could be any shifters in the family to try and explain the similarities.”
“Hmm, why do I feel there’s more you’re not telling me?”
Marshall never could lie to his mother, but he had become adept at only giving her the bare facts. A handy tool during his time in the military. Even then, his mother had thought that “classified” didn’t apply to her, so Marshall had learned to give her just enough to keep her appeased.