Coyotes: Denis

Chapter 18: Confessional

Despite their plans to stay with me and talk to my mother as quickly as possible, it dissolved with our anxieties. It wasn't the mature thing to do, but we had already proven our immaturity enough in this situation.

We held off on breaking the news to our parents for as long as we could. It wasn't until I began to grow a small bump, now noticeable on my thin frame, that I had to come to terms with reality.

It had been almost nice in the meantime. Hunting trips mostly consisted of me watching the boys do the work, begrudgingly giving in to their concerns about putting the babies in danger. They came to my home much more often, and Anders slowly started to interact with my family.

My siblings delighted in pestering the stranger, and my mother appreciated his guitar playing while we socialized into the night.

The more they came around, always in a pair and always offering to help me with small tasks and take my chores, the more my mother asked about how Anders fit into the picture.

It made me nervous, but I didn't have to lie completely. He was an old friend of Benoit's, he traveled and came here to stay for a while. One night, the true reason he came was revealed to me during a conversation about our fathers with Benoit.

A journal full of evil, and a desire for closure brought Anders to us. It was horrible, but I had to appreciate what good came of his arrival.

As I washed up after dinner, I pressed a hand to the bump on my stomach. Much, much more than I had bargained for had come with his arrival. But slowly, I was accepting it.

When I left the bathroom and noticed the fire was still lit outside, I went to sit around it with my mother as my siblings slept in their room.

I wrapped a cloth around myself to keep off the nightly chill, and to help hide my midsection. My mother was sipping coffee, staring thoughtfully into the fire.

"Are you okay, mom?" I asked her, wondering what was on her mind.

She smiled, and raised her brows. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm alright, just tired after getting the kids washed for bed."

My mother looked at me then, and I felt that there was something heavier to her question. "Denis, are you being honest with me?"

It felt like a punch to my gut, and I stared back at her in bewilderment. There was so much I had been hiding, and I was certain it all played across my face. I was never good at lying to her.

She clicked her tongue, and sipped her coffee again. "... I see the way those boys are with you, Denis... I know you and Benoit are together, but this new guy seems very attached to you."

I blushed, and scratched at the back of my neck. Nerves were eating me up. "I... Um, it's..." I took a deep breath to calm down. "It's, uh, complicated."

My mom smirked. "Lay it on me, I have all the time in the world to listen to your boy troubles."

I laughed nervously. "It's not really, uh, boy troubles, mom. I'm not sure if what..." I paused, but the expectant look from my mother kept me going. "If what we think is going on, is even possible."

She seemed confused now, but she was still listening. "And what do you think is going on?"

I shrugged again, and shook my head. "We think... Somehow, we all... /imprinted/ on each other." I finally choked out.

My mom's eyes flew wide open, and she set down her coffee mug to give me her full attention. "Denis, you've had your first heat?"

I stared at the ground. I was so guilty that I had kept it from her, and it was threatening to boil over now.