8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

I was showered, dressed, and drinking a cup of complimentary coffee from the mini coffee maker in my room when Lucas arrived with my brother Mitchell in tow to escort me to the council meeting.

“It’s about time.” Dr. Bennett got up from the couch. His back cracking as he twisted side to side to work out the kinks. “She’s been up drinking coffee and watching infomercials and home shopping channels for hours. It is definitely someone else’s turn to babysit.”

“Hey, I thought we agreed I did not need a babysitter.” I hit the power button on the remote and turned off the TV. “And this is only my second cup of coffee.”

“When you have to be talked out of the vacuum cleaner purchase that you’re contemplating at three o’clock in the morning, it is officially babysitting.” Dr. Bennett teased as he slipped on his blazer and grabbed his bag. “The lodge provides four of those packets of coffee. You’ve used all of them. That’s like your tenth cup of coffee.”

“Well, it’s …” I glanced at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand. “Seven forty-five. That’s like a cup an hour. I’m pacing myself. And as a doctor you know how much wolves shed. That vacuum was awesome. Admit it.”

“The council meeting should be interesting.” Dr. Bennett gave Lucas a hearty slap on the back. “Let me know how it goes.”

“She’s good to go? With the silver, I mean.” Lucas adjusted the Tupperware container tucked under his arm.

“She finished the last round of IV fluids a little after midnight.” Dr. Bennett said, with one foot out the door. “She’ll need to shift, but that can wait until after the meeting.”

“She’s right here.” I interjected myself back into the conversation.

“Sorry.” Lucas and Dr. Bennett replied in unison.

“Lina, if you have any difficulties shifting or the wound opens back up, I want you to call me. Alright?” Dr. Bennett started to close the door.

“I will. Hey, Dr. Bennett?” I called after him even though the door was shut. It didn’t matter. I knew he heard me. “Thanks for everything.”

At some point my nightmare problem became his nightmare problem when I couldn’t go back to sleep. He was the one who introduced me to shopping channels in the hopes that I would drift off. Any purchases made were entirely his fault. When that didn’t work, he took the opportunity to ask me about my scars and for once I didn’t hesitate to answer.

After all, I had doctor patient privilege when it came to confidentiality.

Dr. Bennett was a good man and an even better wolf. Instead of lectures and judgment, he reassured me that everything was normal. From what he saw in the woods, my wolf had a clean bill of health, and our connection was strong.

He knew exactly what to say to put my mind at ease before the council meeting. Unfortunately for him, it did little to help with my sudden bout of insomnia.

“What’s in the container?” I grabbed the opaque white plastic bin and pried open the matching lid. “Your mom made cinnamon rolls?”

“With real cream cheese icing.” Lucas pointed to the thermos my brother carried. “And freshly brewed coffee.”

“Your mother is a culinary goddess and if I thought I had the slightest chance, I would ask her to marry me.” I went right for the cinnamon roll with the most icing. “Thank God for a werewolf’s higher metabolism.”

“Who are you telling?” Lucas poured himself a steaming cup of coffee from the thermos. “I’d be morbidly obese otherwise.”

“Our mom never spent much time in the kitchen.” Mitchell snatched one of the gooey treats from the container.

“The only thing she ever cooked up were political plots.” I refilled the undersized disposable coffee cup for the umpteenth time.

“She’s going to be there, you know.” Mitchell licked a glob of icing from his fingers. “At the meeting.”

“Of course, she is.” I decided to eat my feelings rather than discuss them with Mitchell and shoved half the cinnamon roll in my mouth.

“Is that what you’re wearing?” Mitchell’s face scrunched up like he’d licked a bitter lemon.

“What’s wrong with what I have on?” I glanced down at my jeans which were free of holes and plain white tee— also free of holes, stains, and wrinkles.

And the scent of any wolf other than mine.

“I can call Gemma. You’re about the same size and I’m sure she won’t mind if—”

“I’m not borrowing your wife’s clothes. We don’t have time for a wardrobe change.” I drained my coffee cup dry and tossed it in the little trashcan beside the dresser. “Besides, I’m pretty sure she’d mind.”

My security detail looked the part in similar black suits. The only thing missing were earpieces and dark tinted shades. Mitchell was right, I was way underdressed, but apart from feeling self-conscious there was nothing I could do about it.

“You look fine.” Lucas cleared his throat, back peddling at my arched brow and pointed look. “What I meant to say was—”

“I know what you meant. I’m just giving you a hard time.” I tugged at the hem of my t-shirt. “Screw propriety. This is as good as it gets on short notice. If they wanted me to get dolled up, they shouldn’t have set the meeting at this ungodly hour. I mean, who the hell is up and running this early?”

“People who don’t tend bar?” Lucas snapped the lid on the Tupperware and set the container on the dresser beside the coffee pot. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.” I grabbed my bag and hitched the strap over my shoulder.

After the incident in the woods, I decided it was better to have my stuff with me. Besides, the rogue had broken into one motel already. What was to say he wouldn’t do it again? I was running out of clothes and didn’t have an expendable income.

Something I needed to rectify if I wanted to keep my room at the lodge. Lucas’ mom seemed to have the food part covered.

The council offices and meeting rooms were a short elevator ride away and encompassed the entire second floor of the lodge. A bundle of nervous energy, sugar, and caffeine, I opted for the long route and took the stairs.

Mitchell took point, with Lucas bringing up the rear. I had a sneaking suspicion whose idea that was. In a few short minutes, my little entourage and I arrived at the council offices. There was a bench to the left of the double doors that led to the conference room. I sat down, with Lucas and Mitchell on either side and waited to be called.

“How long have we been out here?” My right leg bobbed up and down as my body burned off the caffeine and a case of the jitters set in. “What is taking them so long?”

“It’s only been fifteen minutes.” Lucas rested his hand on my knee to settle my leg which sent my left leg bouncing instead. “Relax. You already know what they’re going to say.”

Mitchell stiffened and the color drained from his face.

“What?” I jabbed my elbow into my brother’s ribs.

“Is there something Lina ought to know before she goes in there?” Lucas leaned forward to get a better look at Mitchell.

“Wait, you’re not going in there with me?” My stomach twisted into knots, and I gave serious consideration to backing out.

Going before the council was one thing. Doing it without the one person who was on my side was something altogether different.

“Mom prepared a statement.” Mitchell pulled the handkerchief from the breast pocket of his blazer and dabbed at his forehead. “I don’t know what she plans to say, but she promised it would be brief.”

“Who the hell thought it would be a good idea to give that woman a hot mic and an open floor?” My shoulders sagged under the weight of the knowledge that I was about to be eviscerated by my mother in front of the entire council.

“Caroline Redford?” One of the council’s security guards stepped out of the conference room and held one of the doors open for me. “They’re ready for you.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to my feet. The guard’s disdainful once over of my casual attire was just the spur I needed. I stepped in front of the guard with my hands clasped behind me and gave him the finger as I marched into the conference room with my shoulders back and chin up.

I fought back a smile when I overheard Mitchell tell Lucas he’d seen that look in my eyes before and not to worry, as the guard closed the door behind us.

“Miss Redford.” Mr. Martinez, the council chair from the Southwestern territory welcomed me to the meeting. “Thank you for joining us this morning.”

“My pleasure.” I repositioned my hands, clasping them together in front of me with the hope I looked less like a convict. It wasn’t much of an improvement.

“Oh, I very much doubt that.” My mother, who I’d worked hard to avoid making eye contact with, couldn’t even contain her snide remarks for thirty seconds. “I believe the floor is mine, gentlemen?”

She framed it as a question, but didn’t bother to wait for an answer. She pushed her chair back from a rectangular table that spanned almost the full width of the room and stepped up to the podium. She’d put effort into her appearance and hardly resembled the unkempt woman who tossed me out of the garage apartment the day before. Dressed in a prim maroon colored pencil skirt, cream short-sleeved cashmere sweater with matching belt and heels, she could have passed for June Cleaver.

The cleaver was a literal reference to the knife she was prepared to stab in my back and not the fifties sitcom ideal of motherhood.

A staticky thwump came through the speakers when she performed a mic check and tapped her index finger against it. So much for a brief statement . It was obvious my mother intended to make a show.

“I would like to address my esteemed council members and review the charges laid before Caroline Redford before a decision is rend—”

“Ms. Redford, we’re all aware of the charges and your position on them. I see no need to rehash the last twelve months.” Mr. Martinez failed to disguise his eye roll behind an extended blink. “Only to waste more of the council’s time.”

The look my mother gave Mr. Martinez would have withered lesser wolves on the spot. As an alpha of an entire territory, her death glare didn’t have much of an effect on him—but it did one hell of a number on me.

“Thank you for your unsolicited opinion, Alpha Martinez. If I may continue without further interruption, the proceedings may continue without anyone wasting council time.” My mother wielded manners and a smile with the precision of a world class surgeon armed with a scalpel.

A little slice here, small nick there and before you knew it you were bleeding to death.

Mr. Martinez let out an exasperated sigh before he nodded, conceding the floor to my mother. Finished with the alpha, it was my turn to be the center of my mother’s attention.

Ready or not, here she comes .

Her eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on me. The fire in her eyes, fueled by anger and grief, scorched my heart from twenty feet away. My mother blamed me for my father’s death and at some point, her misplaced blame had turned to hatred.

The rogue wasn’t the only one I had to watch out for. It seemed I had to add my own mother’s name to the list of people who were out to get me.

I stood my ground and took the full brunt of her hostility without as much as a word. It pissed her off even more—and had been precisely the point. If she thought she would get a reaction out of me and that I would make a fool of myself in front of the council, she had another thing coming. My mother had cut me off, and I refused to give her the satisfaction.

After a year on my own without the financial aid of my family and the protection of the pack, I liked to think I’d learned a thing or two. My father may have taught me how to survive in the wilderness. But street smarts? I picked up those on the fly. I wasn’t the same person that had ran away from her problems all those months ago.

It scared the hell out of me, but it was time I faced them head on.