Damon didn't know what to say, but Jun's mother didn't wait for him to agree and simply pulled him to the table by his arm.

It had to be a trap, right? ...Right?

If it was, it was a really good one. Jun's mother plopped Damon into Jun's father's seat and propped his chin in his hands, staring at Damon with bright, inquisitive eyes, apparently waiting for a detailed recount of everything Jun had ever done or said. Damon's mouth fell open slightly, acutely aware of Jun and Jun's father behind his right shoulder, watching this happen with only slightly less disbelief than Damon – and a lot more indignance.

"Honey –" Jun's father began, but Jun's mother placed a finger over his lips and went "shush!" and Jun's father went quiet, mumbling "but that's my chair," like a wronged child.

Jun said nothing, and Damon couldn't see him, so Damon wasn't sure how he felt about this development. Surprised or not, Damon couldn't tell, so he didn't know if he needed to proceed with caution or not. Maybe it was a test or something and Jun's mother was actually waiting for Damon to gripe about Jun and give him an excuse to split them up.

"Um," Damon muttered. "Jun's great. He hasn't done anything wrong."

Jun's mom tsked and waved a hand. "Oh, I don't believe that. You can tell me, it's okay. I'll beat him up for you."

Alright. Well. Maybe there was something small Damon could confess? But when Damon thought about it, Jun hadn't done anything small that Damon would classify as wrong. There were a couple big things – i.e, not telling Damon who he was and why he was in Ganymede pack. And, you know, that he was engaged. That would have been nice to know before developing Feelings for him. But that was the kind of stuff Damon didn't feel comfortable talking about to a room full of Jun's family members. And Jun himself.

Plus, Jun knew what he'd done was wrong. They were past that. No need to rehash it.

Still, Jun's mom was apparently very intuitive, because he made a shooing motion at the others. "All of you, wait outside. Damon's going to tell me if my son has been an asshole and he can't do it with you all watching. Leave."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence – well, from Jun and Jun's father at least. Jay pouted, probably wanting to hear the hot gossip, but he stood to go, nevertheless. Jess followed suit, winking conspiratorially at Damon. Damon didn't know how to interpret that.

Jun's father went next, slower, and from the corner of his eye, Damon could see him looking back over his shoulder several times with a forlorn expression, like a dog being put in a kennel.

Then it was just Jun in the room, maybe not willing to leave Damon on his own – maybe worried that his mom would actually get Damon to squeal, and he would get his ass beat. Whatever it was, it made Jun hesitate, which in turn made Jun's mom narrow his eyes at him dangerously.

Finally, Jun left. Damon met gazes with him briefly on the way out and Damon tried to silently communicate that he would be fine, even though he wasn't really sure if he would be.

Once they were alone, Jun's mom again focused all his attention on Damon, who gulped. Well, he likely wasn't getting out of here without spilling about something. But what to spill that would result in the least fallout for Jun?

"So," Jun's mom said, "what has he done, honestly?"

Damon looked into Jun's mom's eyes and recognized the sincerity behind his question. As if...he was seriously worried that Damon had suffered at the hands of his son.

That was a new feeling. Also, concerning. Did Jun's mom expect Jun to be an asshole? If so, why? Jun was a sweetheart. It was practically an internationally recognized fact.

Now curious, Damon realized the only way to figure it out was to ask. "If you don't mind me asking," he began, "why are you so sure he's done something?"

Jun's mom sat back with a sigh, a hint of tiredness in his face. Damon could imagine that exhaustion came from his son being off doing whatever he pleased for the last six years. But Damon thought, if he had a son like Jun, he might miss him terribly if he was gone for so long, but he wouldn't be unreasonably worried about him getting into trouble. Jun wasn't the kind to get in trouble.

Well...he had kind of gotten arrested. So there was that. You know what, never mind, Damon would be worried.

"It's not so much that I'm sure," he replied, "but that I know he had a very specific reason for transferring packs, even if he wouldn't tell me what it was. And after he came back with you – well, I figured out the reason. My son is sweet, but his determination gets the best of him sometimes. He can be a little bull-headed, so I've been worried that he did something to – " here he paused, eyes sliding to the side, " – convince you to be with him."

Damon could read between the lines. 'Convince' was a nice replacement for what he probably really wanted to say – coerce, maybe even force.

"Oh – no. Well, not really," Damon stuttered, and unfortunately, Jun's mom latched onto that phrasing like a spider latching onto a fly twisted in his web.

"Not really? What do you mean?"

Damon bit his lip and mentally apologized to Jun. He was about to get him in some deep shit. "Nothing," he said, too quickly, "it's just that he was very persistent. He declared the courting claim before I even knew who he was so – "

"He what?" Jun's mom interrupted. "Wait, you're in a courting claim?"

"Well, we were. My mom dissolved it, but we were already in a heat agreement so – "

Jun's mom held up a hand to stop him and dragged the other down his face, settling more comfortably in his seat. "Wait. Wait. Okay. Start from the beginning – the moment you met. Leave nothing out."

Damon pursed his lips, also settling back in his seat. Now that he'd gotten started, the floodgates were opening. It was all coming out whether he wanted it to or not. "Well, technically we met when he was fourteen, but I didn't meet him again until this year."

Jun's mom's expression went deadpan, and suddenly Damon had the niggling feeling that when he went home with Jun tonight, Jun probably wouldn't be able to sit down, because his mom was going to spank him into the next life.