Forbidden (BoyxBoy)

Chapter VIII: Werewolf Family Dinners

Jason.

When I got home, Elijah was sitting with my parents at the kitchen table. The three of them were nursing cups of coffee, watching my brother draw something on his notepad opposite them. I shuffled into the room, my brain exhausted from a long day of sitting still and paying attention. I slumped next to my brother, giving his shoulder a friendly punch in greeting. He grunted in response.

"How was your first day?" My dad asked me after a long sip of his coffee. 

"Exhausting. Who knew sitting down all day could tire you out like that?" I confessed, blushing slightly. Next to me, Zach snorted a laugh. I kicked him under the table, causing him to yelp. My mother simply giggled and shook her head at us. 

"Hey, Eli. Have you had anyone come and announce their presence in town?" I asked him, my mind moving straight to the important part of the day: the status of my english teacher. 

My cousin furrowed his brow and put down his coffee, his shoulders visibly tensing. "No, I haven't. Why?" 

"My english teacher is a witchwolf, and I don't recognise her." I explained. I knew for sure that I was right, because the herbal, smokey smell combined with earthy pine still lingered in my sensory memory. Elijah raised his eyebrows in surprise and pulled out his cellphone. 

"Do you know her full name?" He asked me, his voice filled with alpha seriousness. 

"Uh, hang on, let me check." I replied, reaching into my pocket for my schedule. My fingers closed around two pieces of paper. I remembered, with a warm rush I wasn't used to, that one of them was Alaric's phone number. I quickly separated the papers, pulling out only my timetable. An inexplicable part of me wanted to keep Alaric to myself. 

"Miss R. Piston is all my schedule says." I read aloud to him. Elijah typed speedily and slid his phone back into his pocket. 

"Okay. Thanks for letting me know, I'll look into it." He responded with a curt nod. I tucked my schedule back into my jacket and kept my hand there for a reason I couldn't explain. 

My mother got up from the table and went over to the stove, where she gave a bubbling pot a stir with a wooden spoon. The smell of chili wafted through the room, no doubt causing every wolf in a one mile radius to salivate. Zach looked like he might bite a hole in the table. 

"Are you staying for dinner Elijah?" Mom asked. 

"If that's alright with you, aunt Bridget." Elijah agreed with a rare, wide smile. There was no way he was going to miss out on my mom's chilli. My dad gave him a firm pat on the back and laughed at his reply, knowing full well my mom didn't even need to ask. 

"Don't be silly honey, you're always welcome. God knows you can't cook, I honestly don't know why you're not here every night." My mom teased. She was pouring cornbread batter into a tin now. 

"Probably because he has a life, mom," Zach groaned, lifting his head from his drawing briefly. "He probably goes to parties and has fun and meets girls and stuff." 

I couldn't help but snort a laugh. "Party? Meet girls? Have you met Elijah?"

This time it was me got a kick under the table, and my cousin grinned like the proud culprit he was. I got the sense that my brother wasn't really talking about Elijah, however, judging by the look my father gave him. 

"You know the rules, Zach, no dating until your maturation ceremony. The shift can be very hard to control under... exciting situations before you've fully matured." My father explained with all the awkwardness of a sex talk, which I guess it was. Elijah and I exchanged looks, acknowledging how embarrassing this was for poor Zach. My brother, however, was shameless, and looked at my father with contempt.