9. Chapter 9

Chapter nine

“ I ’ll get right to the point. Caroline Redford shirked her responsibilities, abandoned her family, and the packs. She is a disperser and should be treated as such. The Redfords hold no claim to her.” The hint of a menacing smile formed on my mother’s face.

It wasn’t enough for others to notice. No, that hint of a smirk was reserved solely for me, she wanted me to know she meant and enjoyed what she said.

“Does the Southeastern territory chair yield the floor?” The Northeastern council representative brought the meeting back to order. He waited for my mother’s response before he continued. “Thank you, Ms. Redford. Your comments have been duly noted and are on record.”

With my public shaming and humiliation complete, my mother returned to her seat at the council table. She said what she came here to say. From the way she paid more attention to her French manicure than she did the remainder of the proceedings, whatever else happened was of little interest to her.

Until Benjamin spoke.

“Caroline Redford, the council has been made aware of why you felt it necessary to choose the course of action you did. While we are sympathetic, council laws are clear.” Benjamin closed the manilla folder in front of him and met my gaze.

My mother, ready for the hammer to drop, perked up in her seat.

“By way of majority vote, the council will reinstate the challenge and you will fulfill the obligation given to you by the former alpha of the National Alliance.” Benjamin held a dark wooden gavel in his hand, prepared to conclude the meeting.

“If you’re going to offer up a disperser as the prize, you might as well open the challenge up to all rogues.” My mother couldn’t allow the meeting to end without one last parting shot.

She was blinded by hatred and couldn’t see what she had done.

“What a splendid idea.” The Northwestern territory chair spoke before Benjamin whacked the gavel against its wooden block.

The Northwestern territory had the highest population of bitten and rogue wolves among all the territories. It included states like Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho with lower human populations and more room to run. It made sense rogues and subsequent moon crazed wolves would make a home there and in turn drive up the bitten population as well.

“We’ll have a fair and open challenge.” The Northwestern representative leaned back in his chair; arms crossed over his chest. “For once.”

I noticed the cracks in my mother’s marble facade. There was a flicker of horror in her eyes before she locked her emotions back in place.

“Mr. Fulton, I was being facetious.” My mother tried to hide her disdain for the bitten, but it was evident in her tone.

Disowned or not, a bitten was not mate material for a red wolf.

“Well, now that the idea has been presented, let’s bring it to a vote.” Mr. Fulton leaned on his elbows and looked down the table at the rest of the council members. “Shall we?”

Each of the territories had their share of bitten and all of them wanted to quell an ever-growing segment of wolves that believed the way they became a werewolf should not dictate which position they could hold, or which challenges they could participate in. The deeds determine a wolf’s ability to lead. It wasn’t a birthright.

A sentiment I happened to agree with, but I kept that to myself for the time being. I didn’t want to be involved with pack politics any more than was necessary to figure out who had killed my father. The politicians would have to deal with the rest.

Benjamin turned his attention to me, as if he was waiting for me to voice an objection. When I didn’t, he cocked his head to one side and gave a curt nod. I caught a hint of respect in the swell of his chest and the look in his eye before he cast his vote among the yeas.

I thought about what he said, how the challenge was the best way to flush out the wolf who killed my father. The rogue stalker was my prime suspect. Lucas believed I was the rogue’s target. I was a means to an end, a way into the alliance, and the positions unattainable to wolves like himself.

If Lucas’ theory was correct, the council handed him the perfect opportunity.

“Benjamin, you can’t be serious?” My mother spoke to the head of the council, but all of her ire was directed at me.

“Once again, Marianne, it’s a majority decision. The council has made its opinion on the matter clear.” Benjamin pinned my mother to her seat with a heated glare that rivaled the one she’d gave me. “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it.”

“You honestly believe this is the outcome I wanted?” She scoffed. “There was only one thing I wished for Benjamin Williams, and it hasn’t come true.”

My mother’s careless jab came back to bite her in the ass. But based on her last comment I knew she would lay the blame squarely at my feet. The woman had raised me, and I was all too familiar with how her cunning mind worked. The fact that she opened the door for Mr. Fulton to advance his agenda was irrelevant. In her mind anything and everything that went wrong for the Redfords was entirely my fault.

The moment my father died I became the scapegoat.

“Yes, well, in light of recent events, it just might.” Benjamin wasn’t subtle in his warning to me. Trouble was brewing in the council, and it seemed I was at the center of it. “Let’s hope not, because you may live to regret those words.”

“I highly doubt it.” My mother opened her purse and reached for something inside.

I half expected her to whip out a gun from her bag and take her revenge. When she pulled out a tube of lipstick instead, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

“If there’s no other business to discuss?” She scooted her chair back from the table before Benjamin adjourned the meeting and stormed across the conference room, stopping just in front of me.

I kept my feet firmly planted, refusing to back up in a show of weakness as she intended.

“You couldn’t have stayed gone? You just had to come home.” She reeled back and slapped me with all of her might. “It should have been you.”

If there had been a sliver of doubt about my mother’s feelings, she erased it with that single blow. Our family’s dirty laundry had been aired in front of the council. Something she never would have permitted if she had the slightest inkling of making amends.

The tang of blood coated my tongue when I licked the corner of my mouth. Warmth spread across my left cheek and my fingers came away tinged bright crimson when I touched the spot where she landed the blow. At some point she must have spun her wedding ring around before she hit me. I had no idea my mother was a dirty fighter. Something to keep in mind for the next time .

And there would be a next time. I had no doubt about that.

I didn’t react the way she expected. Two could play this game. If she wanted to act the part of the woman scorned, I was happy to fill the role of the mistreated daughter. Her performance in front of the council made it almost too easy.

One of the security guards rushed over and caught my mother by the wrist mid-swing just as she was about to land another blow.

“Mom, please.” I raised my arms in front of my face to block the hit.

She glanced down at her wrist, following the massive hand that encircled it up the arm to the enormous man attached to the appendage.

“Excuse me.” She jerked her arm and tried to free herself from his grip to no avail.

She flicked her gaze to me, and I had the pleasure of watching the realization dawn in her eyes at the miscalculation.

“I … I …” She stammered. Her words failed her much the same way her plan had.

Marianne Redford showed a side of her seldom, if ever, seen in public. The persona she had been so meticulous in creating for her role as wife of the alpha for the National Wolf Alliance was destroyed in one glorious spectacle.

Another security guard joined the party and helped escort my mother out of the conference room.

“Perhaps it’s time we discuss the reappointing of the Southwest territory’s chair.” Mr. Fulton wasted little time addressing the elephant in the room.

It sounded like my mother had been given a challenge of her own.

“That would fall under new business, Brian and well, I’d say we’ve moved past that at this point. We can discuss it in the next meeting.” Benjamin had bought my mother another month on the council.

Whether she survived the onslaught of political attacks to hold on to her position was entirely up to her.

Brian Fulton nodded his concession to Benjamin, before leaning into a private conversation with a council member to his right. I didn’t recognize the other man, but according to the name plate in front of him he was the council chair for the central territory. The two largest regions in the alliance appeared to be awfully close and it had nothing to do with the proximity of their seats.

The two regions with the highest rogue and bitten populations. I found that interesting enough to follow up on. I made a mental note to ask Benjamin about their working relationship.

Who knew I was so astute at politics? It looked like I was my father’s daughter after all.