“Mother, please.” Dunc turned red. Then he looked up at her and smiled. “Why don’t you move on and pick up a new identity so you can go run around all young again and see what’s out there for you. Then you can leave me alone about it. Have some more kids since you want them so bad.”
“Because I love you!” His mother got up fast for someone who looked so feeble. She threw her arms around her son and hugged him tightly. He hugged her back.
“I love you too, Mom.”
***
Following their conversation, Dunc’s mother hurried to her room with her phone. She immediately called Amanda. Hannah had been planning something, and now she was going to put it in motion. She knew her son well. It was easy to plant a suggestion. He would often turn it down, then think about it and act on it later.
“Good morning, Amanda.” Dunc’s mother got the groggy girl on the phone after a few rings.
“Hello, who is this?” Amanda wasn’t a morning person.
“It’s Hannah, Dunc’s mother. I wanted to talk to you about a surprise birthday party we’re having for Duncan on the 23rd. Please write this down, Child, you don’t sound very awake.” She waited for a few minutes. Amanda could be heard on the other side of the phone fumbling around for a paper and a pen.
“Birthday party.” She could hear Amanda writing. “23rd. Time?”
“What time would you prefer it to be at, Amanda? I’m going to need you to occupy Dunc while we get ready.” There was silence on the other end of the phone.
“Occupy Dunc?” Then Amanda began giggling like that was the funniest thing she had ever heard. “Occupy Dunc?”
“You take him out somewhere nice and keep him away from the house. We have a big surprise planned for him, and I need to get the specifics to everyone. The later, the better. I need him out of the house in the morning and most of the afternoon.”
“What should I do with him?” Amanda yawned. “I need to think about this. Am I planning a date here? Oh, wait. That’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m planning a date.” Amanda groaned and fell back onto her bed. It was too early in the morning to be doing any real thinking. “If you have any ideas, please let me hear them.”
Hannah smiled and managed to keep from telling Amanda what she thought she and her son should be doing—getting together and making her some grandkids. She could talk that way with her son. But it might scare her hopefully future daughter-in-law. And the mother of all those grandchildren she had already named. “I have a few ideas.”
***
Dunc buttoned up the black dress shirt he had chosen for today. While he wore ordinary t-shirts around his house, Dunc preferred something more formal for what he had in mind. His mother’s words had sunk in, and it had triggered several considerations. Amanda needed to relax. He was leaving his home to go into town. He didn’t want to leave her alone, even though she was safest during the daytime. Dunc wanted to keep an eye on her.
He also wanted to show her what he wanted to do for her and what he could provide. He hadn’t been joking when he said he made good money. The McCormicks were well off due to centuries of responsible money management and living below their means. Having long lives made things easier for them. Lycans tended to gain many professional skills over their lifetimes. His mother had worked as an interpreter for decades. She knew 30 or 40 languages and had taught Dunc some of them. She could always get a well-paying job with her skills if it were necessary.
Dunc studied himself in the mirror. His face was covered in cuts. There was a huge ugly bruise next to the bandage covering the stitched wound on the left side of his face. He couldn’t shave until the cuts healed. He could have healed them all without a trace. But Dunc had to carry on the impression that he was a regular human, like Amanda. He could do it. He could live a lifetime with her. He would happily grow old with Amanda. Dunc sighed at that thought. She would pass on before he would, and then he would do what he had suggested to his mother. He would take on a new lonely identity. He stared at himself. Just his luck to find his love in a human. They only had 80 to 100 years compared to his 800 to 1,000. She would never know what he was. Any children they had would take after him. He would have a family to love. He wouldn’t be alone after all.
Then Dunc smiled. That was not here or now. Right now, he had the attention of a gorgeous young lady who excited and scared him all at once. That was enough for someone who thought there would never be anyone at all. He needed to get rid of the ex, and that plan was in motion. He had already called a store in town to pick up a 36” sterling silver chain necklace.
For a brief moment, Dunc considered telling Amanda that he was a Lycan. She knew about Lycans. Then he remembered the photos. No. Lycans tended to have a reputation. That reputation. He didn’t want her to think of him like the things that Joseph hunted. This was a secret he could hold. Dunc was as human as her. He just had a longer life and the ability to change into a monster and wreck anything in his path. He could keep this secret.
***
Dunc had wasted enough time. He was sure Amanda would be up and ready to go if he went over to her house now. Hopefully, she would be
