CHAPTER 93: 93-HER BEST MAN IS A PLAYER

Iris:

"Wait, what did Iris just say?" My mother confronted Luca before he could step into the room with his bags in his hands.

I noticed the way he tiredly stretched his neck back and placed the bags on the floor before turning around to face her.

"Kids, why don’t you go inside?" I told Colin and Amy once I realized it was going to get heated.

My children still seemed eager to play, but because I instructed them to leave, they followed me in silence.

"Now tell me, what is Iris saying?" my mother questioned Luca once the kids were gone.

I stood with my arms folded over my chest, tapping my foot on the ground.

Scarlett wandered out to the children to help them freshen up and change.

"So what if I did? What is so bad about it anyway?" Luca replied. Now that he was caught, he openly began to defend himself.

"You don’t think you should have spoken to me first? How long have you been planning to do it?" my mother pressed.

Each time she questioned him, I noticed how annoyed he looked.

"It’s not like I planned it. The idea came to me in the moment, and I just asked him. I don’t understand what I did wrong," he argued back.

The look on my mother’s face was worth watching. She was finally realizing that the monster she had created was now out of her grasp.

"It is the fact that you decided to use my daughter for your own gain," she remarked.

As soon as she said it, he began to laugh, and I enjoyed the look on her face.

"Did I say something funny?" she demanded, clenching her jaw so hard that I heard it pop.

"Since when did you start caring about whether Iris is being used? Aren’t you doing the same thing, using her to get help for your son?" he wondered.

The way he said it, and the way my mother instantly shifted her eyes to me, made me smile and shake my head in disbelief.

It was the first time someone besides me confronted her for it, and it seemed to affect her because she took a deep breath and rubbed her face once before straightening her back to respond to him again.

"Why did you ask for a pack? It is not as if you can become the alpha and everything will be fine. Do not forget your roots. To become an alpha, you will have to show your wolf and the strength it carries. Do you think Alpha King Kash is a fool who will let you have a pack without investigating you?" my mother warned, reminding him it would not be easy to get Kash to give him a pack and let him enjoy it.

However, Luca appeared unbothered.

"It will all be fine. He is willing to do anything for your daughter," Luca stated angrily and pointed at me with a firm expression.

My mother stared at me, then looked back at him and clicked her tongue.

"What exactly happened out there?" my mother asked, referring to the trip we had taken.

"Nothing. Nothing happened," Luca snapped.

But it was me who had to respond, knowing I needed a clear answer for her.

"We got the herbs," I replied, noticing the way Luca looked at me.

I wondered if he was upset that I had reacted so harshly instead of remembering he had gone out of his way to get a cure for my son.

"Oh great, so where is it? Give it to me," my mother said, holding out her palm.

"I don’t have it," I replied almost immediately, just as she moved closer, trying to search me.

"What do you mean you don’t have it? Then who has it?" my mother asked, pausing as she began to realize it herself. "Kash must have it. When is he going to give it to you?"

"He said he will come over soon after he takes a shower, and then we will give the cure to Colin," I told her.

As I started to leave, I heard her click her tongue.

"No," that sound came from deep within her.

"Why not? Wasn’t the deal that we would go and grab the herb to cure Colin?" I hadn’t asked her that.

Shockingly, Luca was the one questioning her, and I could already tell my mother was struggling.

With him pressing her, she seemed to be losing her composure.

"Yes, indeed, we did it to cure Colin, but he’s not going to get cured like that," she explained. My eyes narrowed into a frown.

"What do you mean? You said a cure would free my son from your son." I almost clenched my fists at her.

After everything I had endured, watching my son in pain, she was now telling me he could not be freed.

"I’m not saying he won’t be freed. I’m just saying that to free him, we will have to give the cure to your brother, not Colin," my mother explained.

Now that she had clarified, I began to ponder: how the heck are we going to do it?

Who could convince Kash to give us the cure so that we could give it to Colin alone, away from his father?

"Now both of you get your shit together and don’t fucking do anything without my permission, either of you," my mother hissed, yelling not only at me but including Luca this time as well.

She sped away without even asking her grandchildren if they were okay or how they had spent their time.

I could see it reflected in my children’s faces, they were clearly looking for a grandmother who would treat them differently.

However, I knew in my heart they didn’t need that. My mother was far from someone they would want to spend time with.

At that point, I began to march toward my room. When Luca tried to follow, I stopped him and raised my palm.

"You’re not coming into the room, at least not right now," I said.

I watched him look defeated, not cocky or defiant, but I knew very well not to trust those cute little actions.

They were all playing me.