“Thank you, everyone, for coming to this meeting. I wish we had more time, but we don’t have the luxury right now. So, without further ado, we’ll get down to business then.” Melody stood at the front of the conference room. Ellie sat to her right beside her. “Now we have a pivotal decision to make about the Saint Lawrence Market shop. It’s our first shop. We were lucky when the draw happened to have our application drawn. If we leave, we’ll probably never get another shop there. That being said, the repairs are not as bad for us as some there.” Melody wrote her words on the whiteboard behind her as she spoke. “Now those are the pros. The cons, however, are that we don’t know whether the sewers leak was an accident or sabotage.” Melody paused to look at the faces of the wolves before her. But she only sensed curiosity and confusion between them. A couple though we’re here, but they didn’t want to be. She couldn’t blame them, either. “After the attack
They went to get coffee and food. The guys would be late getting home because there was far too much to get done. “Okay, we have several surveys already. The results are early, and the results can change with more survey submissions. But they say they want to stay at the market and work.” Ellie had her phone at the ready, waiting for the results to start coming in. The light in her eyes came back, at least temporarily. “Okay, maybe coffee was a bad idea.” Ellie’s hand went to her stomach, and she winced. “This sucks, and before you say anything, I need some fresh ginger and lemons to make the lozenges.” They made their own stomach cure with lemons and ginger. Melody thought they tasted like ginger ale or a watered-down version of ginger beer. “I have an idea about that. Why don’t you talk to someone in the kitchens? You’re the Beta female. Maybe talk to them about bringing in ingredients for candies. We can work on the recipes and get through the p
Melody brought David back to the dining room and gave him his dinner. Only his attention quickly changed from his food to a little female pup at a nearby table. To keep him from hurting himself or falling, she had to take him out of his chair and let him run. David went straight to the little female pup and handed her a piece of pancake. Melody wanted to cry because pancakes were David’s favourite food and he hated to share them with anyone. “Well… I believe my son knows what he likes when he sees it, and I think that includes girls.” Malcolm laughed delightedly. “If that’s the case, we could be in for a tough time if we don’t teach him to respect women.” Melody said as watched her little guy fawn over a girl. It was surprising actually to see her baby think of someone else for the first time in his life. She felt it was all too soon. “Oh, don’t worry, I will work on that soon.” Malcolm promised as he watch his son become a flirt and enterta
Jordan and Ellie lay sleeping after having a quiet night in with no work, getting in the way after Ellie’s rushed email. Jordan’s phone rang, breaking their comfortable silence. He grabbed up his phone to answer. Jordan took the call and immediately left the bed, hoping that Ellie wouldn’t be disturbed by their plans. “Yeah? This better be good.”Jordan mumbled into his phone.“Get dressed and meet me at the elevator as soon as possible.” It was Malcolm, and he disconnected the before Jordan could ask questions.Jordan leaned against the wall beside the bedroom door with a heavy sigh and looked up at the ceiling.“Is there something wrong?”“Probably. That was Malcolm. All he said is I need to get dressed and meet him at the elevator.”“Well, you signed on for the position of Beta. It’s your job.”“Yeah, it is. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Then he headed for the bathroom and got dressed as quickly as he could. “I just wish he told me what’s going on. There’s so
One day we’d fix the traffic issues in this city. It was getting worse, not better, and the foolish humans resisted change because it wasn’t convenient in the short term. So every time someone posed a change, it became a political issue. What should have been a fifteen minute drive turned into twenty-five minutes as we dodged delivery vehicles and early morning commuters through one-way streets. It was a pain in the butt. But it is what it is, a failure in traffic control. We got to where the meeting would be held. The enforcers stayed upstairs or with the vehicles as did the other packs’ enforcers while Alpha and Beta’s went down the narrow stairs to the basement conference room. Malcolm was tired, and with having to all but walking sideways down the stairs was aggravating him. Because someone thought leaving the old stairs from when the building was first built in place was a security feature. Only one person could go up or down the stairs at a time, and movem
The meeting went on with each Alpha reporting on their experiences and observations from their investigations. At some point, Jordan’s map was projected onto a wall. There, the map gathered steam as we cornered the guilty party or parties with the information everyone brought to the table. Everyone in the room felt the excitement as the instinct to hunt rose in everyone. Territory of the packs here was blacked out. They placed the incidents and events on the map. Regions crossed out. Known perpetrators’ or victims’ homes were added. Now they were getting somewhere. The patterns appeared and holes formed. Holes where nothing happened, and no one was contacted. Soon enough, fewer holes passed scrutiny. Until it left them with five spots. “One or more should have our guilty party. However, before anyone goes half cocked to deal with the unknown. It’s our job to deal with whatever creature they are. We need to curb the instinct to deal with
Melody and Ellie were just too much alike at times. Melody put that down to having lived far too many years together. Growing up with common interests and problems helped them a lot as well to bond with each other. Now fate had them mated to the Alpha and Beta of the same pack, working at a shared business, and having pups close together. The parallels in their lives didn’t stop. Now they restlessly prowled the condo during the day, trying to work on what they could, care for David, easy Ellie’s morning sickness, and discussing the men’s idea of turning the penthouse floor into a single multi-bedroom condo for both the Alpha and Beta families. The logistics were far greater than the men believed, and it fell in the ladies’ laps right when the men were out dealing with a threat that was all too real. “I like the fact that we have the dining room to eat in when we can’t eat here. That makes things easier, no cooking, or cleaning. If we plan this correctl
Malcolm and Jordan prowled carefully down the darkened, wet streets. Their fur was wet, but they weren’t cold like they would be if they were in their skin. It didn’t make sense to bring so many media people here out of false pretence if there wasn’t anything out there. So, what were they missing? Where would this scum hide? Malcolm sat down suddenly when the answer hit him. They were on the outskirts of the greater city. The humans never fixed the differences in their infrastructure when they amalgamated the different cities into one. Technically, the water, sewer, and electricity physically ran through different aging systems. This region wouldn’t have a very active sewer or rainwater removal system. The pipes were large and technically; they were large enough to travel from one location to another. Jordan noticed Malcolm stop and sit. He turned around and cocked his head in question. Malcolm noticed and nosed a storm drain in the gutter, then put
The investigation took weeks, and by then they’d moved into the packhouse. Life slowly got back to normal. The pack warmed up to Melody and Ellie. When they realized they were the minds behind their products. The she-wolves embraced them readily. Malcolm and Jordan split their time between the city and the Muskoka territory. Even the various construction projects were progressing well, with no more interference. The Fae were nowhere to be seen. But there were new rogues in the shadows of the neutral zones, and they weren’t living there quietly. The council of alphas were making plans to deal with them along with an ever pending war between the Toronto packs, the Scarborough Grove, and the Don Valley. It was something that cropped up again and again. They had history and family conflict. No one could blame them for the father they had. Now there’s a girl driving a wedge between them again, with her mere existence. Ellie was concerned about Jordan. He’d have to come to terms wi
“When I stepped into leadership of this pack, I made it clear we wouldn’t hold on to old prejudices. This might not be a message that got to some of the most recent pack members. This is a historic time and events have been fast and furious. So, I will state this again without naming names or telling tales out of school, as the humans say.” He paused and looked about. Several uneasy people were now relaxed. “That’s not to say those people will avoid the appropriate punishments later. Now, we are a wolf pack who recognizes fate can grant us mates who aren’t wolves. We don’t punish a person for their species, race, lack of magic, or anything like that. If you have a problem with another, you seek to resolve it without harming each other. Yes, I know for some that is a tough thing to do. But we do that within this pack. I have heard that someone has used their station and position of responsibility to force their political beliefs onto the pack as a whole. The reports I rece
“Now you’re sure we have everything. I’d hate to get there and find out we’re missing something.” Melody was checking her bags again. Malcolm could see her anxiety in her actions. Normally, she would never reveal it. Now he figured it was her motherly instincts kicking in to protect and care for her pups. “Melody, there will be other families there. I’m sure if you’ve forgotten something, someone will have it.” If looks could kill, Malcolm would need a healer, at least if not an undertaker, as the humans would say. Melody didn’t appreciate his assurances. As Jordan passed him with another car seat. They had to install three of them and that was the last. Jordan made eye contact with Malcolm, and they exchanged a sense of commiseration. Malcolm figured it was because Jordan just escaped a similar situation upstairs. “Ellie, let me get the base in the car and then I’ll come get the pups for you. I don’t want you to carry two of those heavy car seats. Just
Malcolm didn’t stay long after that at the meeting. The elders clearly had a lot to chew on and get straight. He’d gone on to remind them their job wasn’t to run the pack or tell people what and how to do things. They weren’t to threaten the pack members if they said or did anything. Their job was to advise and give council. Use their experience and list, assist in finding answers. Guide the next generation. Someone had lost their way and Malcolm would keep an eye on them. So this wouldn’t happen again. They were getting ready to settle down for the rest of the evening when the elders appeared at their door. This time they requested if we could introduce them to the new pack members. A far cry from the morning. Malcolm noticed the speaker wasn’t there, but Cathleen was. “I’m sorry about all of this, Alpha. I truly didn’t believe it. Gisselle was sent by the others. However, I spoke with her about how unreasonable the horrible words were. She agreed with me. I just ask that you
Malcolm was unhappy when he entered the elder’s meeting room to hear this information. What were they thinking, pulling this? Running on rumours and speculation. That wasn’t how he or how he expected his pack to run. Malcolm waiting rather impatiently for a response that didn’t appear to come fast enough for his liking. “Tight lipped, are we? Anyone else like to step up to the speaker’s spot and inform me of exactly what my mate, they accused your Luna of what and by whom?” “I can’t tell you who reported this to us, but I would love to fill you in on this. It’s rather disgraceful, over-the-top, and factually unbelievable.” Cathleen stood up from her seat, a look of sour disapproval on her face. “To make matters worse, they kept me out of the loop on the births that happened at the cottage. This, I gather, was to ensure that I didn’t spill the beans about what they were doing.” “Madam, if you’d please state the accusations that they forced m
Gisselle found herself basically being escorted to the elders. She was sure they weren’t pleased with her right now after the subtle stance she took. Now she’s having to tell them their information about the Luna was full of misleading or outright false information. That wouldn’t go down well either. She entered the building that the elders used for their private meeting. Cathleen was there this time. She’d been missing when the elders stopped in to see the Luna and recognize the pups. “I hear they left me out of the loop in being told the pup was born early this morning.” Cathleen cornered Gisselle about this as soon as she got there. “For that, I’m sorry. I left a message with someone, and they were supposed to contact everyone. Whatever happened, it wasn’t on my part, I had my hands full at the time.” “Tell me you found these fools were acting out of ignorance and that none of this is true.” “Truthfully, none of it was true. Not
When Malcolm woke up, his phone was inundated with messages, wanting to know about everything. From where was he, to be everyone alright, even a few inquiries about complaints from a couple of elders about him throwing tradition to the wind? Business seemed to be well contained, with only a few reassurances that he takes his time, and it would be managed for him. That meant he would need to deal with several things here at home, make several decisions, and find his footing in this new dynamic. If someone told him he’d be mated and a father of two right now, three years ago, he’d have laughed at them and asked them what they were smoking. Now he had one almost running. They needed to get some safety items set up in the cottage. Malcolm was there to catch David this time before he fell down the stairs. No one told him pups moved that fast. Now there were four! He thought he’d let Melody look after this. But with the mess in how people were communicati
Malcolm was more than annoyed with the elders. This was his family and his pack. That meant his word was law and what they did was overstep their place. He didn’t have to listen to their advice, and that’s all their words should be. A voice of experience or a different perspective. They shouldn’t be demanding anything. “What is going on out there?” “Insensitive, self-important ninnies every one of them. The elders were downstairs. They expected you to give birth and then get up and walk down to them so we can present the boys to them officially.” “Is that what it was?” Melody sighed and kissed David’s head as he cuddled. He was still trying to wake up after being woken up several times during the night. “I would have thought you’d want to get it over with.” “We don’t have a name for this little one. I’m not leaving anything to chance. They make me worry that if we don’t have a name, then they’ll select one themselves to expedite things. Are they still giving yo
Three hours after returning to the cottage, Malcolm saw his pup come into the world. It wasn’t at all what he’d expected and if they had any more, he’d gladly wait elsewhere. Gisselle believed the little male would be another pup. So, Malcolm finally made a list of the information he needed to add to the pack’s registry. He couldn’t believe that he’d not added Melody or David to the registry. They’d added Ellie along with the twins. He hoped that’s why no one was respecting them before this. Once things quieted down, it was late enough in the morning for the elders to make their appearance and demands clear. They wanted to be introduced to both pups and do it all official. Malcolm was more than annoyed by this. They expected to be catered to without thought to Melody’s health or anyone else. Why did it even have to be today at all? “Alpha, could you let me handle this as the Luna’s healer? It’s my duty to ensure she recovers. I know you haven’t said anyth