Hare Moon

Avoid Family Dinners

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The doorbell isn't audible from this side of the door so I'm unsure if it works. I raise my hand to knock. Should I knock? If I just rang the doorbell won't that seem impatient. I hate it when people do that to me. 

The door opens and a tall, slender woman stands there, a flowing dress cascading down her body. Grey, nearly white hair contrasts with her dark skin. Sunny looks just like her but Clarice has her height and elegant frame. She's incredibly slender boned, like a stiff wind would blow her down, but as she holds out her hand I can see defined muscle along her arms, one of which ends just before the wrist.

"It's such a pleasure, Bunny! I'm Ylva."

Touching the hand of a stranger is bizarrely intimate. Mrs McKendrick's is soft and delicate but firm. Hopefully my hand doesn't feel gross. They are a bit sweaty.

"Let's go find the men now shall we? I told them to wait in the western sunroom but they do have a habit of wandering off if one does not keep a close eye."

I chuckle and step inside. The first thing to greet me is the snarling face of an angry wolf. It has black fur with a reddish tinge and it's mouth is pulled back to reveal vicious teeth, dark eyes fixed upon me. I just about suffer heart failure before realizing the wolf head is mounted on a plaque, along with the McKendrick crest and the words For The Pack. Clarice wasn't lying, Mayor McKendrick really does sort out naughty wolves.

Now that I'm not distracted by Sunny and creeping through darkened corridors I can see just how spacious and airy the house is. It might as well be carved out of the sleek wood and glass. The furnishings are sparse and simple.

"Shall I take your coat? I'll just leave it on the hook here. I've been asking my boys to invite you over since you moved in. It's not very often we get new faces around here and even more uncommon for all of my sons to take a liking to the same person. This is the bathroom by the way."

I follow her through the house, trying to keep up with both her long strides and her chatter. Sunny takes after his mother, for sure. Then she stops in front of a set of glass double doors. She runs her eyes down me, smiling wide. "I really am so glad you could join us."

Why is she smiling like that? I shift under her gaze. She opens one of the doors and allows me to enter first. The three brothers all stand in a line and behind them is the...Mayor?  Alpha? Either way he's the biggest man I've ever seen. Has he grown since that day at the Town Hall? His eldest son has an inch or two on him height wise but this man makes up for it in sheer bulk. He is very much Milton's twin except his smile is so wide it cracks his whole face in half. His hair is slicked back. Between the men in their crisp kilts and the elegant Ylva I feel underdressed. Dammit Sunny. 

Sunny looks antsy in his highland dress, like a kid at a wedding. Clarice is absolutely dashing, wearing his with an 'I look good and I know' it attitude. Milton seems completely at ease,  maybe even a little bored, his vest hugging his broad chest perfectly. And I can't help but imagine that chest, now that I've seen it. He's trimmed off the beard that had been sprouting over the past weeks, leaving a ghost of stubble. 

Damn. No one should look that good in a tie. I can't believe I'm thinking that. It's just, out of school he's less grumpy snob and more, I don't know, Christian Grey? My face heats up and I banish that idea. I don't even know where it came from. This is Milton...just...no. It doesn't help that he's doing that thing where he smirks with only his eyes. Oh God, how long have I been staring? Quick think of something witty!