A long silence settled between Alan and Daniela.
"Daniela?" Alan asked gently, moving a little farther from Iván.
"You mean… the son of Talia?" she asked quietly over the phone.
"Yes," Alan confirmed. "That's him."
"You really think he'll help?"
"There aren't many wolves who would refuse the Adrastus family. You know that." Alan put in.
"Yeah… but I'm not my husband," she said softly.
"No," Alan replied, glancing over at Iván. "But Iván will be."
"That's what scares me, Alan. Xavier was a powerful werewolf… and he was killed."
"Yes, I know," Alan said quietly.
There was a heavy pause before he added,
"How are you going to tell him?"
"What part?" Daniela asked. "That his father was murdered… or what he truly is?"
"Both," Alan said.
She sighed. "It's going to be hard… but I'll tell him. Over dinner."
"Are you going to tell him everything?" Alan asked.
"No… not everything. Not yet, at least."
The call ended shortly after, and Alan slid his phone back into his pocket.
"Well," he said, turning to Iván, "your mother's relieved you're okay."
"That was a long phone call," Iván said, raising an eyebrow.
"We were catching up," Alan replied with a small shrug.
"Now, if you start feeling anything strange—especially in your teeth or fingernails—that's normal. And make sure you keep the heirloom with you at all times. It's said to have a calming effect."
He turned to leave. "Goodbye. I've got a lot of work to do."
"Oh—bye," Iván said, giving him a wave.
Iván watched as Alan closed the door behind him.
"Well… that was enlightening," he muttered. "Can't believe Alan lives here—and he's Charlotte's uncle, of all people. What a small world."
He glanced around the room.
"Now… what do I do to kill time?"
Iván glanced around the empty house and grinned.
"Sing in my underwear? Tempting…"
He chuckled to himself. "Nah—let's do some unboxing instead."
Back at school, CJ and Rowan were talking quietly, away from prying eyes.
"Have you noticed Scott lately? The way he's been acting?" CJ asked.
"Yeah, I have. Not to mention Iván," Rowan replied.
"I've had my suspicions," Rowan said, lowering his voice. "I'm pretty sensitive to this sort of thing. At first, I thought he had the M word… but after what happened in the cafeteria?" He paused, raising an eyebrow. "That just confirmed it. We've got two furries in school now."
"What should we do?" CJ asked.
"Mmm… I don't know. I'm more of a 'demon possession' kind of guy. You're supposed to be the smart one," Rowan said.
"Hey, just because I'm an apprentice doesn't mean I know everything," CJ shot back. "And for the record, being a wolf doesn't automatically mean they're evil."
"Then explain the dead bodies. They were clearly caused by wolves."
She crossed her arms. "You mean by an Alpha. Only they can cause that kind of damage."
"You see you are smart, I would've tried to slay those beasts myself—if I didn't know how much you actually know."
CJ raised an eyebrow. "Hey, didn't your dad help the Hales?"
"He did, yeah," Rowan nodded. "But that was only because they were casting out a demonic entity."
"Hey, you!" Jackson called out to Rowan.
"What?" Rowan snapped, turning around.
"Oh, you've got an attitude now, huh?" Jackson growled, slamming him against the wall.
"Leave him alone!" CJ shouted.
"Stay out of this," Jackson snarled, giving her a death glare.
"Where's your buddy Iván? Skipped school today, didn't he?"
"I don't know where he is," Rowan said through gritted teeth.
"Well, when you do see him, tell him: locker room. Lunch. Or else."
Jackson shoved him one last time before storming off.
"Wow," Rowan muttered, brushing himself off. "That guy's a straight-up villain."
CJ frowned. "Why do you let him push you around like that?"
Rowan sighed. "Something my dad always said… karma's a bitch."
Back at Iván's house:
"Today I don't feel like doing anything…"
"I just wanna lay in my bed…"
Iván sang at the top of his lungs, lounging around with sunglasses on and a remote in hand.
Clearly not doing any unboxing.
Bruno Mars' song blasted through the house as he grabbed a mop, holding it like a guitar.
"'Cause in my castle, I'm the freaking man!" he belted out, jumping onto the couch like it was a stage.
"Tomorrow I'll wake up, do some P90X…
Meet a really nice girl, maybe even—"
He paused mid-verse and dropped everything in shock—his mom was standing there, having witnessed the whole performance.
"What the fuck," was all she said.
"M-Mom!" Iván yelped, scrambling to grab his phone and pause the music.
She buried her face in her hand. "I should of not called a substitute… would've saved me from seeing this."
"I thought you had work today," Iván said, his face flushed red.
Someone kill me, please.
"First of all," his mom said, deadpan, "put some damn pants on."
"Oh—right!" He bolted out of the room, grabbed a pair of pants, and slid them on in a hurry.
When he met her in the kitchen, she was leaning on the counter, smiling at him.
"…Why are you smiling?" he asked, suspicious.
"You know… you and your dad are so alike."
"Really?"
She nodded, a soft look in her eyes. "I still remember the first time we met. We literally bumped into each other. And just like that, it felt like love at first sight."
He raised an eyebrow. "What was your first date?"
She looked up, nostalgia in her gaze. "He took me to this anime-themed restaurant. Because your dad? He loved Dragon Ball Z."
"No way!" Iván laughed, nearly choking.
"Oh yes. And the second date?" she continued. "He took me to see an anime movie."
"…Dad was a weeb?"
"Very much so," she said, chuckling. "He had an entire collection of anime girl figures at one point."
"What?!"
She nodded. "But after we got serious, he tossed them out and started collecting Dragon Ball and Gundam figures instead."
She sighed, a soft smile on her lips. "He even took me to Japan… we made some amazing memories there."
"Okay, okay—I don't wanna hear that part of the story," Iván said, cringing.
His mom chuckled. "You know, one day you're going to have a girlfriend… maybe even get married. Just promise me one thing—don't change for anyone. Always be yourself."
"Well…" he rubbed the back of his neck, smirking. "The only thing about me is that I've always wanted to travel the world. Oh—and there's my own Collection."
She raised an eyebrow. "What collection?"
He sighed dramatically and got down on one knee. "Mother… I must confess. Father has deceived you."
Her eyes narrowed.
"He didn't throw out his anime girl collection," Iván said solemnly. "He passed it on… to me."
He slid a box out of nowhere like it was a sacred relic.
"He once told me," Iván added with a grin, "every man must have a waifu."