"Wonderful." Marie smiled. "I'll get the plates." The three of them sat in front of identical dishes of scaldinghot lasagna, the noodles hard at the edges from being microwaved too long. With the tines of her fork, Claire toyed with the fossilized cheese at the edge of the plate. No wonder her mother never cooked—she couldn't even heat things up without ruining them. Lisbeth's job was safe forever.
Marie eyed Matthew in a way that made Claire's stomach flutter to the ground. There was a thoughtful crease between her mother's eyebrows that Claire didn't like at all. "You know, Matthew, it has been some time since you've been to a gathering. Perhaps we should make arrangements for you to attend the special ceremony we have planned for Claire."
A needle of panic pierced Claire, making her bolt upright in her seat. Matthew was already being weird about the pack stuff, and now her mother—her Alpha—was inviting Matthew to the new moon gathering? To watch her demonstrate her abilities?
"Oh, I wouldn't want to—I mean, I'd probably just be in the way." Matthew was gripping his fork so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
Claire froze. There was no way she could complete the test if he was there freaking out while he watched her transform. Not to mention the hunt.
Oh, holy crap. I cannot let him see that. It will totally push him over the edge.
Marie spoke carefully, her voice carrying a note of command. "You won't be in the way. Quite the opposite—you're important to the pack, and I'm looking forward to seeing you there."
The words sent a shudder through Claire.
Matthew glanced over at her. "You okay?"
She forced herself to smile. "Yeah. Sure. Just not that hungry after all."
"How can you not be hungry for this—" Matthew's focus drifted over her head, and his face paled. "Oh my God, is it really eleven o'clock?" He picked up his half-empty plate and carried it over to the sink.
"I've got to get home or I'll be in serious trouble." He turned to Marie. "Thanks for dinner and all."
Marie waved her hand dismissively. "It was Lisbeth's doing. I'm glad you were here, though. It's good we had a chance to talk."
Matthew turned to Claire. "Walk me out?"
"Sure."
She slid off her seat, carefully avoiding her mother's toocurious gaze, and followed Matthew to the front door. He grabbed his coat from the little chair where he'd tossed it and shrugged it on. When she wrapped her arms around him, she breathed in a whiff of his warm skin mixed with clean wool and the faintest hint of woodsmoke—an autumn version of the Matthew scent she knew and loved. He didn't lean into her embrace, though. Claire noticed it and stepped back.
Matthew edged toward the door. "I'll call you, okay?"
"Absolutely." With a last, lightning-quick kiss, he headed for the driveway. The icy air that swirled in behind Matthew chilled Claire, but the sudden distance that had appeared between them froze her to the bone.
She had to find a way to rescind her mother's invitation. And she had exactly forty-eight hours to do it.
Chapter Eight
"WELL, CHéRIE, YOU'RE the one who talked with him about the new moon gathering." Marie stacked the rest of the dishes in the sink. "And he is a gardien. It makes sense for a secret-keeper to stay reasonably well-connected to the pack. Strong bonds make for strong loyalties, after all."
Claire crossed her arms in front of her.
"Yeah, but he and I were just talking about it. Inviting him to the gathering to see me change and stuff without even checking with me is not okay!" Though, to be honest, she was starting to think that she'd made a massive mistake when she told him about the gathering in the first place.
"I don't want him there while the pack is watching me— just me—like that."
It wasn't exactly true. But she wasn't going to throw Matthew under the bus by telling her mother that he didn't seem to want to be there.
Her mother turned to her. "He is part of the pack, Claire. Being a gardien, a secret-keeper, ties him to us. It is not wrong for him to be there."
Claire scrubbed at her eyes, frustrated. "I know that! I mean . . . it's just sort of complicated."
Marie stepped closer to her, cupping the back of Claire's neck in her hand.
"It will always be complicated, chérie. That is the nature of being what we are."
Claire narrowed her eyes and ducked out from underneath her mother's hand. Marie might be right, but Claire wasn't going to admit it. She stalked over to the stairs, looking back at her mother.
"He's not coming. I won't do it. I'll stand there and not do a single thing if he's at that gathering."
Her mother's nose twitched—an unhappy warning about Claire's commanding tone. She stared hard at Claire, the dominance of her position as Claire's Alpha and mother obvious in her eyes.
"You will absolutely perform as you are commanded. If you choose to disobey me, there will be extremely serious con sequences. Matthew will attend, and you will find some manner in which to cope with your feelings." Marie's language got really stilted, which meant she was about three words away from slipping into French. She was seriously angry. She turned away from Claire, dismissing her.