Two days passed quickly, and it was now the day before the winter formal. Jacob, Allison, and Lydia had a normal day at school before returning home.
As soon as they got home, Malia kissed Jacob and said. "Jay, I want you to go somewhere with me."
"Right now?" Jacob asked.
Malia nodded. Jacob took her hand. "Then let's go." He looked at Lydia and Allison. "Girls, I'm taking Malia out."
"Okay." Allison said.
"Have fun." Lydia added.
Jacob and Malia left the mansion and got into his Camaro. As they drove away, Jacob asked. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going?"
"To the cemetery." Malia said. "I want to visit my family."
"Do you know where the graves are?"
Malia nodded. "Cogman found them. He said he put the location on my phone; all I have to do is follow it."
"Alright."
He drove to the cemetery and, after they arrived, he took Malia's phone and found the graves using the location.
Malia stood in front of the graves of her parents and sister. "Jay, give me a moment, please."
Jacob took a few steps back.
Malia's eyes started to well up with tears. She touched the grave of her sister, then her father. When she tried to touch her mother's grave, she hesitated. Then she started crying harder and got on her knees in front of it.
"I'm sorry, Mom." She whispered, her voice choked. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said that day."
Jacob came and hugged her. Malia looked up at him, her face streaked with tears. "The night they died, I was having an argument with them. In anger, I told my mom, 'I wish you were all dead.'" She began sobbing again.
Jacob hugged her tighter. "You were nine back then. You didn't even know what death really meant. Besides, it was the full moon that night—it might have messed with your head, too. So don't blame yourself. You didn't mean that, and their death wasn't your fault. It was the blue-eyed woman's fault."
He paused, letting his words sink in. "And Malia... I think I know who that woman is."
Malia stopped crying immediately and looked at him. "What? You know and didn't tell me?"
"I don't know where she is or her name." Jacob clarified. "But I think she is your biological mother."
Malia stared, confused. "What do you mean?"
"Your family, the Tate family, they weren't shapeshifters. They were just normal humans. If they were shapeshifters, that woman wouldn't have been able to kill them that night; they would have killed her instead."
He gentled his voice. "What's more is this: when a werecoyote gives birth to a child, they involuntarily transfer a significant portion of their supernatural power to their child during birth. That means the mother becomes weaker. So, I think that woman was your real mother, and she was trying to kill you to get her powers back."
Malia went silent for a few seconds, absorbing his theory. Then she asked. "Can you help me find her? I will make her pay for what she did."
"I will," Jacob promised without hesitation. "Not only me, but Cogman, Allison, and Lydia will help, too. We'll find her eventually. Besides, now that you've fixed your legal status and will join school next week, she will eventually hear the news and come looking for you herself."
Malia's jaw tightened. "I hope she comes soon."
Jacob wiped the tears from her face and kissed her softly. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your family?"
A small, genuine smile touched Malia's lips. "Sure." She looked at the graves. "Mom, Dad, Kylie... this idiot is Jacob. He is my... my husband."
Jacob looked at the graves, a respectful softness in his expression. "Hello. It's nice to meet you all."
Then, he pretended her father was talking to him. He tilted his head. "What did you say, sir?" He nodded solemnly. "Don't worry, sir. I will take care of her."
He shifted his gaze to Malia's mother's grave, his tone becoming warm and conversational. "Don't worry, ma'am. She is fine and happy. And a little mischievous." He smiled as if listening to a reply. "Yes, she likes to cause trouble at home, and she does like to wear my clothes, too. She hates women's clothes." He feigned a pleading look. "And, ma'am, can you please tell her not to cut her beautiful hair? ...Yes, she wants to cut it short. It's such a shame, really."
He looked back at Malia, a playful glint in his eye. "Did you hear that? Your mom told you not to cut your beautiful hair." But he noticed she was crying again, silent tears rolling down her cheeks.
He pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry. I'll shut up."
Malia smiled through her tears and shook her head, burying her face in his chest. "It's okay. I was just imagining you really talking to them. I miss them. I miss them so much."
Jacob just held her, saying nothing. He knew how she felt—he missed his parents, too—but he understood that what she needed right now was a shoulder to lean on, not someone telling her they understood or how she should feel. So, he stayed there with her in silence as she cried and vented the emotions of missing her family and being alone for years.
After a while, Malia took a deep, shuddering breath and pulled back. "Okay. Let's go." She looked one last time at the graves. "Goodbye, guys. I'll come visit from time to time."
With that, they left the cemetery. At Malia's request, Jacob drove to her old house. She retrieved a few pictures of her family, and then they returned to the mansion.
---
At nightfall, Allison took one of Jacob's bikes and went to her parents' house to spend the night with them.
In the living room, Malia was watching TV, while Jacob played his Game Boy. Lydia, scrolling through her phone beside him, sighed heavily and went upstairs to her room.
Jacob raised a brow, sensing something was off. He followed her and found her standing by the window, staring outside. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. "What's wrong? You've been acting weird all day."
Lydia sighed, leaning back into him. "My mother wants to meet you."
"Then let's go meet her." Jacob said. "Why do you look so troubled?"
"Apparently, she knows you're dating both me and Allison." Lydia said.
"How does she know?"
"She used to be a teacher and still has friends at our school." Lydia explained. "Someone told her I was fooling around with a rich playboy who's dating me and another girl. She's been nagging me for days, demanding I break up with you. When I told her that wasn't going to happen because I love you, she decided she wanted to meet your parents to ask them to keep you away from me. When I told her your parents were dead… she said she wants to meet you."
"Alright," Jacob said calmly. "Let's go have dinner with her. I think it's time to tell her the truth about our world."
"I don't think she's ready for that." Lydia worried.
"She'll have to know eventually." Jacob reasoned. "Better we tell her the truth now, before she tries something stupid—like trying to put you in a nuthouse."
"She would never do that!" Lydia said.
"Didn't she and your father put your grandmother in a mental institution?" Jacob asked.
"That was different!" Lydia protested. "My grandmother didn't know she was a banshee and was hearing voices all the time. It looked like she was losing her mind. Still… you're right. We should tell her the truth."
"Okay," Jacob said. "Call her and tell her we're coming for dinner."
Lydia called her mother. After hanging up, she turned to Jacob. "Go change your clothes. And let's not bring Cogman. I don't want her to meet him yet. He might say something terrifying, or put her on his shit list."
Jacob smiled. "Don't worry. He may be a psycho, but he would never disrespect your mom or add her to his list."
"I know Cogman is polite." Lydia said. "But my mom isn't. She can be a real bitch sometimes. So let's not take him with us, and please, be patient with her if she says something rude. For me."
Jacob kissed her forehead. "Don't worry. I'll charm her. She'll like me."
Lydia's eyes widened in horror. "No, no, no! Don't you dare charm her or have any ideas about her! That's why I was so worried about you meeting her. I don't want to go through what Scott is going through."
Jacob laughed. "I didn't mean I'd make her fall in love with me. I just meant I'll be nice."
"I'll be keeping an eye on you." Lydia warned. "And one more thing: you will only meet her when I'm with you. You are not allowed to meet her alone, you handsome pervert. I don't want her charmed by your face and that ability of yours."
Jacob laughed again. "Don't worry. My charm won't work on her."
"Why not?"
"My charm ability changed. Now it only works on women I'm romantically interested in." He explained. "Haven't you noticed the girls at school haven't been throwing themselves at me for the past week?"
Lydia considered this. "Yeah, Allison and I noticed. But they're still ogling you and smiling at you."
"Well, I'm handsome, after all." Jacob said with a smirk. "My charm ability was just a bonus. Even without it, they can't resist looking at the most gorgeous man they've ever seen."
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Go change, you narcissist. We're going to be late."
Jacob smiled and left to change, then went downstairs and sat with Malia until Lydia was finally ready—which took another forty minutes.
"You said we were going to be late, but it took you forty minutes just to change." Jacob pointed out.
"I have to look good, don't I?" Lydia said, striking a pose. She was wearing an elegant coat. "This coat is Louis Vuitton. I bought it for $12,000." She opened it to reveal a beautiful blue dress underneath. "This dress is also Louis Vuitton. I bought it for $10,000. And my shoes…"
"Okay, stop." Jacob cut her off. "Let's just go."
Lydia pouted. "But I haven't told you about my shoes, my purse, my watch, and…"
"We're going to have dinner with your mom, not make her jealous." Jacob said.
"I have to show her how well you're taking care of me!" Lydia smiled.
"You can show her when we get there and tell her how much your stupid clothes cost." Jacob said. He then kissed Malia—who didn't care about them at all and was still glued to the TV, watching an animal documentary about wolves—before standing up, taking Lydia's hand, and gently leading her out of the mansion.
Cogman followed them to the driveway. "Shall I drive you, sir?"
"No, I want to drive tonight." Jacob said.
He and Lydia got into his Camaro and drove toward her mother's house.
When they arrived, Jacob retrieved a luxurious box of chocolates from his pocket dimension. "How does your mom feel about chocolate? We don't have any wine at home, and I don't have any in my pocket dimension."
"She'll love it." Lydia said. "And she'd probably judge you if you brought her wine."
Jacob smiled. "Good thing I didn't bring any, then."
He took Lydia's hand, and together they walked to the door. With a deep breath, Lydia rang the bell.
To be continued… 😊