Suitable Circumstances

MAX

She’s coming home.

It’s been a year since I last saw her, last spoke to her. But now she’s coming back. Not for good, just for the summer.

I’ve heard she won’t stay the whole summer, but that’s okay. She’ll be here, even if it’s just for a bit, and maybe I’ll get to see her.

I’m excited about that, and my wolf is too, maybe even more so. This year, without any contact with her, has been tough.

I didn’t mention my wolf before because I’ve been able to keep him quiet, tucked away in the back of my mind.

That’s not normal for someone like me. We’re supposed to live in harmony with our beasts, they’re part of us.

But I had to keep my sanity, to keep on living.

If a werewolf loses control of his wolf, he risks going wild, and I can’t let that happen. So, it’s better to do the unthinkable than face something worse.

If I went wild, any chance I had with Estella would be gone.

It might seem like that’s already happened, but as crazy as it sounds, I haven’t given up hope.

I’m not sure how I’ll handle it if we see each other, but I hope it’ll be better than last time.

I think, though, that pushing down my fears is starting to wear on me. They’ve started to come back in my dreams, like they often do.

A month ago, I started dreaming about Estella sleeping with another man.

Every time I have that dream, I wake up with a sharp pain in my chest, and I can’t breathe for a while.

Of course, I can’t go back to sleep after that. So, I just lie there, wondering if that could be real. Her sleeping with someone else.

It’s painful to think about, but I can’t deny that if she moves on with her life, it could happen, if she stops waiting for me.

That’s another reason I can’t sleep at night.

Besides, I’ve had my own experiences, mostly before I met her. After I met her, nothing was the same. And it never will be if she decides to reject me.

ESTELLA

I never thought I’d choose to stay away from home for so long, all because of Max.

I’ve missed important moments in my friends’ lives, which hurts, but deep down, I know it was what I needed to do.

No one’s giving me a hard time about it, thankfully. Although my aunt and uncle have mentioned they’d like me to visit them, instead of them always coming to me.

What bothers me more is that I haven’t seen little Ada in person yet.

In case you forgot, Sarah was pregnant, and a few months ago, she had a beautiful baby girl named Ada.

I’ve only seen her on Skype and in the photos Caleb and Sarah have sent me.

She looks pretty adorable. Caleb is totally smitten with her, but Sarah is disappointed that her firstborn didn’t get her red hair.

Soon, I’ll get to see the little cutie and hold her, and I’m sure I’ll get to tease them both about her.

Actually, I’ll get to see all my people, which makes me happy.

What I don’t know yet is how I’ll avoid seeing Max.

Yes, you guessed it. Even after over a year, I’m not ready to face him yet. I mean, it didn’t go well last time, did it?

It’s not about missing him, because, unfortunately, I do. I’m still with Laurent, and I feel guilty that every time I pick up a pencil, his face isn’t the first I want to draw.

Gaby says that when I’m back, it’ll be a good chance to clear the air between Max and me.

“Who knows?” She shrugged. “Maybe when you see him, you’ll realize you’re not in love with him anymore, and you can finally give all of yourself to poor Laurent.”

When I gave her a look, she laughed and shook her head.

“We both know this isn’t enough, and it doesn’t really prove anything,” she said.

If you’re confused about what that means, you’ll have to stay confused a little longer. I’ll explain later. Maybe.

Anyway, like I said, I’m going home.

Yay.

EVA

“No, Cal, you’ve had her long enough!” I said firmly.

“Come on, sis! She just got here. I haven’t even shown her my pack yet!”

“My pack?” I heard Sarah yell from the background. “You mean our packs, you arrogant jerk!”

“Oh, shit.” He groaned, and I laughed.

“You deserve that, brother,” I said smugly. “Now, I’m giving you half an hour. Then I want Estella here.”

With that, I hung up on him.

This is what I get for letting Cal pick up Estella from the airport. But I knew she hadn’t seen baby Ada in person, so I let them have her first.

But my sneaky brother took advantage of that and has kept her there half the day. That’s not going to work.

I need to get her to see Max.

Yes, I’m meddling again, but I swear I wouldn’t if it wasn’t for the nightmares Lucia and I are having.

I’ve had to see my daughter wake up with white hair three more times, and I’m not going to let that happen again.

So, since I can’t interfere with their destiny by telling them what will happen if they don’t mate, I decided to give them a little push in the right direction.

But to do that, I need them both here.

I've got a plan to bring Estella here, to talk to her and then call Max. Maybe if he sees her after all this time, it'll spark the miracle we're all hoping for. Patrick's on board with the plan, even offering to call Max when I give the signal.

But now, thanks to my little brother, the plan might go up in smoke.

Maybe I should've looped Cal in, but he'd be against it. He'd say Estella is better off without Max, that Max should be focusing on finding his mate instead of messing with Estella's head.

He'd be right, if Estella wasn't Max's mate.

Caleb doesn't know the truth. A seasoned alpha would've picked up on it, and Patrick thinks we should tell him.

But I know my brother. Nothing good will come from telling him. Cal's impulsive and he cares too much about Estella.

His protective instincts will kick in. He'll blurt out everything to Estella and then he'll go after Max.

As much as I hate to admit it, this is something Max has to handle.

So far, he's not doing a great job, hence my little intervention. But I'm going to let him tell Estella the truth himself, like he's supposed to.

I'm just going to create the right circumstances for it to happen.

There's nothing wrong with that, right?

ESTELLA

You know that feeling when you go back to a place after a long time and everything seems the same, but really, important things have changed?

That's what happened to me, after being away for over a year.

I'm not complaining, because in a way, I've changed too. For one, I'm older than when I left. As for the rest, you'll just have to wait and see.

The biggest change wasn't that Sarah and Caleb were now leading two large packs and were parents.

It was that I could finally visit Sarah's pack (or former pack, or merged pack, whatever you want to call it) without getting dirty looks from the werewolves living there.

At least, not when the alpha mommy (she's been promoted from alpha girl, obviously) was around.

For now, I went to see baby Ada.

There's something about tiny humans that's just so adorable, even when they're doing the silliest things.

Ada is the perfect blend of her parents. She's going to grow up to be stunning and strong-willed.

I spent almost the whole day with her. And in case you're wondering, Caleb and Sarah still argue way too much.

According to Sarah, they work it all out in bed. Not that I needed to know that, but okay.

After Eva called Cal and insisted he drive me to her, he did, but not without complaining about how demanding his big sister can be.

As much as I love my stubborn friends, I've missed Eva, Patrick, and the kids and I'm excited to see them.

The only problem is I might run into Max, and I have no idea how to handle that.

What do you say to someone you haven't seen or spoken to in over a year?

~“Hi?”~

~“How are you?”~

~“Have you found your mate?”~

~“Are you still as dumb as you were a year ago?”~

~“I missed you.”~

All of the above?

Let's just hope I don't run into him on my first day back. That would be awkward.

But as Cal drove into pack territory, I found myself looking around, searching for him. So I tried to distract myself by thinking about Laurent.

Laurent, my handsome, funny, caring boyfriend.

Before I knew it, we were at the pack house, and I let out a sigh of relief as I fell into Eva's arms.

Her hugs always have a comforting quality that I only remember when I'm wrapped up in them.

I've always felt that she truly cares about me. I feel that way about all the people I love, but with Eva, it's sometimes more intense.

“I've missed you, sweetie,” she whispered, kissing my hair.

“Me too. I'm sorry I didn't visit.”

“Oh, that's okay. We came to see you, didn't we?”

“Yes, you did.” I smiled as we walked into the living room. “Where is everyone?”

“Patrick and the boys are still training. We've had some issues with rogues lately. And Lucia is at a birthday party nearby. They'll all be home in a couple of hours.”

“We have plenty of time to catch up then.” I winked.

“Exactly what I was thinking.” She grinned.

We chatted about everything, as if we didn't talk every week. I filled her in on my university news and showed her my photos.

She told me she was thinking about getting another master's degree. Now that Lucia was older and in school, she had a lot of free time.

Eventually, she asked the question I'd been waiting for.

“What about boys?” she asked, smirking.

You guessed it. I hadn't told her about my boyfriend. I couldn't do it. I don't know why.

Maybe because everyone seemed to think that I would end up with Max, which is just weird.

“There are plenty of them. The population is well balanced,” I joked.

“Anybody good enough for our Estella?”

“As a matter of fact, yes,” I said, taking a deep breath.

“Yes?”

Eva looked surprised and, dare I say, a little disappointed. But why would she be?

I mean, despite what everyone seems to hope, they can't really expect Max and I to end up together. I can't expect that either.

“Yes.” I nodded. “His name is Laurent, and he's an aspiring children's book author.”

“Wow, that's great! Is he good-looking?”

“Yeah. Wait. I have a picture of him right here.”

I extended my phone to her, letting her flip through our shared photos. Her smile was warm and genuine.

“You two look adorable together,” she said, her voice filled with sincerity.

“Thanks.”

“Oh my, you’re blushing. Has the French guy swept you off your feet?” she teased.

“Not completely. Not yet. But I think we’re on our way.”

“How much longer do you think it’ll take? To get there, I mean.”

“Not much longer,” I whispered, shifting uncomfortably in my chair.

“Estella? Have you...you know...been with him?”

“Well… yes.” I let out a sigh. “About a month ago.”

She didn’t respond right away, seemingly taken aback.

“Did he treat you well?” she asked, her brow furrowed.

“He was wonderful, Eva, and everything was really nice. But now that we’re discussing it, I think I might need to see a gynecologist. For a checkup, you know.

“I was told it’s a good idea after becoming sexually active.”

As I spoke, the scent of fresh laundry wafted into my nostrils, and I knew; he was here.