“I’m glad you’re finally back. Tara’s upstairs resting. It’s been weird, around here while you were gone. The pack has been sending people to talk to Tara about every little thing. So far, she’s listened to every single thing they’ve had to say and not turned a single pack member away, no matter how crazy the request is. They drained her of all her energy. Oh, and I think you really need to meet with the Council of Elders. Several carefully inquired about Tara having a problem she might need to talk about. Either she didn’t understand what they were talking about, or she ignored it for now.” Jaxon met Cal in the garage when he finally pulled in. Exhausted as he was and out of sorts, he could see Jaxon was upset about something, and needed to tell him all about it. Now whether Cal would do something now about it was a different story.” “What do you think the Elders are trying to get to her to see if they can get proof that she’s a poor selection for Luna? Well, it’s a
Cal entered his apartment and then winced. He’d been so absorbed in his mistakes and screw-ups. Then everything that’s going on around him, that he looked down at himself and realized he’d made another. He looked like he’d bathed in blood and gore. He prayed Tara was still sleeping and didn’t see him like this. Gad, it would solidify the horrible image she must have for him. He was pulling off his boots when Cal noticed the small wolf asleep on the living room carpet. That had him pausing with a frown. Why was she sleeping on the floor? This was her home… Then it hit him. Their relationship started as Master and slave. She wasn’t comfortable sleeping on the bed or sofa. Did she truly fear that he’d be angered by her sleeping like that? He needed to do something to fix that. First, he had to go clean up; he looked like he’d been swimming in an abattoir or slaughterhouse. He didn’t smell much better, either. Now he remembered why they’d decided not to war so o
“Okay, calm down. It’s off. Let me look at you and sure it didn’t hurt you. This has shift silver in it. How did you shift?” Cal was trying to examine her throat. He thanked whoever decided Tara would be a small wolf. The collar was tight and digging in, but it hadn’t done more than bruise her. Tara whined again. It sounded so lost. Clearly, she didn’t know how she’d done it. “I’m sorry, take your time. That must have been a surprise waking up like that. I didn’t even think about your collar when I came in. It’s a relief that we don’t need it anymore. I came to tell you that Elmwood and what’s left of the rogues won’t be trying to harm or kill you anymore. We’ll talk about that later when you’re more comfortable. Are you ready to try shifting again?” This is crazy. She’d tried in the beginning to shift with the collar on and she couldn’t. What changed since then? Tara grumbled a little and he could see her concentrate on shifting. Unlike before, whe
“Tara, it’s not like that at all. Come, let’s get off the carpet and get something to eat. We’ll talk about this, and I’ll see if I can’t make things make more sense to you. It sounds like you’ve missed something or had a different perspective than I thought you would.” Cal stood up and helped Tara to her feet. Then he retrieved her clothes from the floor. “As lovely as you are to look at. Right now, I think you should dress now, so there’s one less distraction. Then we’ll get something to eat from here and talk while we eat.” Tara looked up into his face for a moment before saying. “If I have a dress, so do you. Your tattoos have always been distracting.” Cal laughed as he looked down at his mate. This was the she-wolf he saw hints at before this and wanted to see more of. What did he have to do to get her to show herself more often? “Fine, I’ll be back in a moment. It’s only fair in this situation.” He left her getting dressed in the living room and went t
Tara never told Cal about her dream or whatever that was that she experienced. He made it quite clear to her she needed to speak up, and say how she felt. Cal admitted it made him uncomfortable to know that she wasn’t happy about something, but to let it avoid confrontation. She was his mate where the pack and the public were concerned. But within the club and their private spaces, she was his submissive. He’d make sure she knew when the tables turned from now on. This wasn’t a simple conversation to start for either of them. Tara could tell Cal wasn’t comfortable putting himself in a vulnerable position. Tara feared angering him, and Cal taking his anger out on her. Or calling it quits all together. Tara knew she didn’t have anywhere to go if she left this pack for any reason. There wasn’t any sane explanation why she feared this happening. Now, she sat there eating the food they’d prepared together and wondering how or when this all chang
Dean stood at the head table within the Pack’s Dining Room as his Gammas entered and took seats. Like most meetings, they took their time filtering in and grabbing a coffee and snacks to eat as they listened to him address them. He did this because it lowered the number of interruptions from people discussing what he was trying to say. He did a quick head count, and it appeared as if almost everyone was there, and he didn’t have time to wait any longer. Time didn’t fluctuate, so he was losing it. Several commented on how he was dressed. They rarely saw him dress for business. But Ambassador Wolversen clarified they must present themselves as wealthy and successful. Which meant Cal was standing there in a suit, and he felt he was going to suffocate in it. “Alright, I have to make this quick. This is a rather unplanned meeting and I’m sorry for that. I’d like to thank you for attempting to attend. Now here’s what the issue is. I’ve been receiving messages abou
Cal wasn’t sure which prompted Tara to be on time, whether it was her personality or his training. It made him happy to see her waiting outside of the conference room. They would go in there together and he would set them straight on how he ran his pack. They could expect him to be more than mildly annoyed by their reaction to his mating. He’d shown them her bite when he did it to prevent them from being this foolish. “Are you ready for this? It could get ugly, but I will handle it. You just have to stand by my side and support what I say. We go in as a united front.” “Sure, if you say so.” “No, Tara, it’s not just what I’m saying. We’ll make this work if we work together. That’s what mates do. Are you willing to do that?” “Yes, Cal, I’ll stand with you and what you say.” She was annoyed with him for splitting hairs, but he didn’t want to have to deal with anyone picking at every little detail within their relationship. It just wasn’t their
Tara sat and watched the elders’ reactions and Cal’s disinterest in their thoughts and opinions. He was angry and frustration. This meeting was for him to vent, and later he’d talk to each one of them individually about his decision of who would stay. It felt good to have someone on her side for once. Though right now she was preoccupied with the image of herself in the mirror and how uncomfortable this suit was. She didn’t recognize herself once she’d finished dressing. Cal hadn’t said anything about how she appeared, so she figured that meant there was nothing wrong, or anything special to remark about. Though she’d been wrong about other things, she could be wrong about this. His hand hadn’t left her shoulder once since she sat down. It was like he was telling her to stay put and stay quiet. Well, he didn’t need to communicate it without words, because he’d already used words to tell her just that minutes before they entered here. Tara couldn’t t