Dear Readers,
Sorry this took so long but holiday errands and travel have cut into my creative time, and some sections are harder to write than others.
Next chapter is in the works and, hopefully, won't take as long.
Enjoy the story and the holidays.
KemMyst
*******
Saturday
Lyssa did remember the dream, at least, parts of it. He had woken her gently enough that she had been able to retain part of it. There had been blood. Lots of it. She smelled it. It covered her muzzle, she felt it in her mouth, felt her jaws around someone's throat. She felt that last breath pass through the windpipe in a groan. And her eyes lit briefly on several bodies, nearby.
Wolves. Bloody. Throats torn.
Not one moved.
She saw grey fur.
What was wrong with her? Why would she have dreams like that? She didn't want any of them dead. They were her friends, her family. Her mate.
Emmett leaves her in the bed with a kiss. "I've got to get to work. We've got petitions, Erich's installation, and the pup's naming tomorrow. Gonna be a busy day." Lyssa groans and pulls the covers back over her head. [Don't go in if you don't feel well. They can finish without you.] Another groan from her. "Feel better."
**
Erich and Madeline are grinning and whispering like lovers with a secret.
Randall and Ariel watch and smile, glad that another of their pack members had found happiness with a mate. Happy that the size of the pack would likely increase with another mated pair in the pack.
Calvin arrives early that day. He was trying to find different times of day that would allow him to interact with Stephanie.
He hopes that she will loosen up, get more comfortable around him. However, he knew how difficult it would be to overcome the indoctrination of her youth. And, unfortunately, the kiss he had given her had set him back in her eyes, badly.
He had been careful not to touch her again but hoped his continued presence would begin to de-sensitize her.
She had duties to her pack, as did he, and he did not want to interfere with her work. That was, apparently, all she had. With no real friends and no romantic entanglements and decades before her, her life was her work.
Perhaps, given time and a softening of her feelings, he might petition to join the Wyeth pack, to be near her. But this was something he had to evaluate carefully if, no, when, the time came. Could he be just another member of the Wyeth pack? Or would conflict arise between himself and Randall because of his personality and traits, those things that made him Alpha?
He wasn't having trouble with Michael in charge of the pack but, then, he had been otherwise occupied. In fact, he continued to see and hear things that were deeply troubling. He could not, however, just take Alpha back from his son. There would be a confrontation; he would have to kill Michael to do it. Alpha was passed, generally, from father to son, going the opposite direction would be disruptive to the pack. It would also point out his weakness; that his own offspring had not been trained properly, was incapable of leading the pack.
Calvin's mood grows darker as he contemplates the many problems associated with the, as yet, brief reign of his son. It did take a while for young Alphas to get their feet under them, but things in the Ross pack appeared to be getting worse, not better.
The most enticing scent pulls him out of his reverie as Stephanie sits at the table. He looks at her and smiles. She grunts a 'hello' before starting in on her meal.
**
Lyssa showers, dresses, and hauls herself off to work. The cross checks on the two sets of software were completed and the new system put in place. Training for the employees would start the following week.
She says goodbye to the others after thanking everyone for their help and hard work.
Again, she starts driving away from the den, not quite ready to go home. This time, she ends up at another burned-out house. The place where she and Joanna had been held not so long ago. She sits in the car and stares. Another part of her life literally burned to the ground. Her past was gone, even her recent past. The only thing she had left was a pack of werewolves.
Sighing, she puts the car in drive and heads back to the den. A light snow begins to fall.
**
Joanna had been invited to the Severn compound, to have dinner with Nathan's parents. She and Madeline are in the clothes room, where Madeline is picking out some new clothes and Joanna is looking for the right thing to wear to dinner.
Madeline has a small armload of skirts and blouses. "Don't you wear pants? You can get a few more outfits, you know."
"No, I've never felt comfortable in pants. I feel freer in a skirt. And, there's not a lot here in my size."
Joanna replies, "Oh. I guess not. We'll have to get Alison your size for when she gets more clothes and you'll need to let her know your preference."
"Oh, sure. Have you figured out what you're wearing tonight?"
"No. I can't make up my mind. I don't want to look too young, too flirty, too frumpy, too anything."
"Has he told you what they'll be wearing?"
"He just said 'regular clothes'."
"Lot of help," Madeline replies. "Who's gonna be there?"
"His parents, 'course. And some or all of his brothers and their mates."
"Pups?"
"Yeah. Not sure how many there are."
"OK, Jo. So, his parents, his brothers and their mates, and the grandpups. So, nothing frilly or too girly... You've got some dark pants or capris, right?"
Joanna nods, "Yeah, sure."
"Then just a nice blue sweater to go with your eyes and you should be good to go."
Joanna exhales. "You know, you're right. Thanks, Maddie."
**
Lyssa drives back to the den and hands off the car to Anton. She climbs to the Wyeth 'control room', gives her mate a kiss and starts to pull away.
Emmett snakes his arms around her, pulls her to him, and kisses her more deeply. After a few moments, she puts a hand to his chest and pushes away slightly.
"Randall," she says, "I'm sure Mathias has already told you, but the new software is up and running. It's been put through all the tests successfully. Mathias and Gabriela have training sessions set up for the other employees next week."
"So, there were no issues?"
"Not yet."
Randall arches an eyebrow, "Meaning?"
"No one likes change. Moving to a new system will make many of them uncomfortable for the foreseeable future. But, hopefully, when they see how seamlessly the integration is between receipt, delivery, inventory, and sales, including the links to the provenance, they should learn to appreciate it."
