This is the last double chapter within this book.
Hayden cursed himself when the alarm on his phone told him he was late for something. When he stopped at the light on the way out of town, he looked at it. Sure enough, he was missing an alpha council meeting. He’d never get back in time for it. At least the documents got through to Eric and Magnus. They should have enough time to at least read through it all before the meeting. He’d get there, but he’d be late. Hayden hoped it wouldn’t reflect badly on Magnus. He’d tried to get through the mountains of documents, and he didn’t expect to end up locked in the archives for several hours with no way to get out. Magnus knew, but said nothing to him. This meant Hayden didn’t know whether he was fine or in trouble when he got back to the packhouse and into the meeting. He’d not have time to
April waited for Lynn to finish up in the library before she locked up for the night. Thank heavens Xavier and his buddies didn’t return to harass her and Lynn further. But she still worried whether Hayden returned to his territory with no problems. With no way to contact him to check in with him, April walked over to the custom bike shop. She’d stop in there to see if she could get his number or have her number passed on to him. April couldn’t get the tarot reading out of her head. If he was her lifetime companion and elders forbid the joining April wasn’t sure what she would do. Thirty years ago, it would have been no problem. But when the Alpha of the Vagas Moon Pack mated with a witch, it was a disaster. She’d used some sort of magic to attract him to her, and that was the problem in a nutshell. Any trust went out the window.&nb
Magnus sat there and listened to his father introduce the business for today’s meeting, and he did exactly as promised. He moved Magnus up in the list of people presenting and reporting about what was going on in their corner of the pack. “Now Magnus, you said that you’ve encountered several issues that weren’t identified at the time we signed the documents to take ownership of the land? Can you elaborate on your current situation?” “Yes, first. We are settling in here well. But we found out at the nonaggression treaty with the local pack was, in fact, not what they touted it as. Eric here found several questionable clauses that all worked in the favour of the Vagas Moon Pack and their leader. We decided to not sign th
Ivory couldn’t take this anymore. The dishwasher overflowed again, and no one would tell her why or help her fix it. Now she was ruining her nails, washing everything by hand. She wanted to scream more, but Den Mother, Liz, threatened to hit her if she didn’t stop making so much noise. Then she told Ivory exactly what she thought of the jobs Ivory did, and she didn’t have a nice thing to say about any of it. None of this was fair. She was the daughter of the Alpha, and she shouldn’t have to do these things. She was ruining her beauty by doing all this. They needed to get Sapphire back here to do this or find someone that could replace her other than Ivory herself. She’d never recover from all this work. There was far too much for one person alone to do it. She needed a rest from Liz’s constant com
Lenny now had an entire pack to choose from and it didn’t matter who he chose to his alpha. He could build his dream team and for sure get this done without a single hitch. The first call he made was right to Xavier his man. They worked great together on the last few missions, and he didn’t take any crap from anyone. That’s what he needed on his side. Someone that wouldn’t wait to protect himself. With Xavier would come his buddies, Jack, and Gary. Both cold jerks but still handy in a fight even if you had to direct them because they didn’t have an individual thought between them. “Hey Xav. I got a job that needs your light touch. There’s space for Jack and Gary if they’re available. Meet me at the old supply cabin in half an hour and I’ll fill you in on the job we have to do. Br
Sapphire couldn’t believe how late it was. The meeting just ended, and she wasn’t sure what would happen next. Hayden recounted what he discovered to the Council of Alphas. Magnus later spoke with Hayden about several things. She wasn’t sure what exactly they were talking about beyond the fact that she was somehow involved, and the colour of her fur had something to do with documents that were written long before she’d been born. Magnus and his father agreed on one fact. If she left their territory and tried to strike out on her own, she would become a target of several unnamed hunters. That scared her. She’d never thought about hunters wanting her for her fur. In this day and age, who hunted for pelts in the wild? Sapphire knew there was a large anti-fur movement. But she was now distracted, reassessin
April and Lynn left the motorcycle shop impressed with the staff and the shop. April felt her request would be fulfilled, and he’d probably call tomorrow. “Hey, want to stop at the veggie stand and pick up something fresh for dinner?” April suddenly found she had an urge to make something special for dinner. Like they had something to celebrate tonight. “Sounds good to me. Strawberry season is upon us again. How about we make a strawberry salad? We could barbecue those chicken legs if mom’s not done something weird with them.” Lynn injected a little more detail into April’s urge with her favourite food combination. Lynn and April talked while they walked, but they weren’t at ease. Both women kept their eyes open so they wouldn’t get caught unaware by anyone. So far, there was no
Magnus paced outside of Sapphire’s door, praying that she could sort out her panic and see her way past her conditioning. He couldn’t take it much longer keeping his hands off her, but he was determined not to add to her trauma. She deserved so much better than that. As he changed, he wondered if she’d ever been able to play and kick back in her fur. What little she’d told him sounded to him like the entire pack forced her into isolation and forced her to view her wolf as something she must hide. To Magnus, that was a crime against the beauty of her wolf and losing her freedom. All shifters should have the freedom to exist in both their states. It took a long while of pacing, but she finally left her room. Sapphire smiled at him hesitantly and he couldn’t get over how beautiful she was. She was pretty w