The Council by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 18
Jara
Mason came and got me for dinner. We walked in together and everyone stopped for a moment, looking at us, before going back to eating and talking. We grab our food and head over to where Elijah, Joe and Stella are already seated.
I’ve just sat down when the entire room goes quiet again. I look up and see Luke, his mate and their daughter standing in the doorway. I watch Luke looking around the room and because he was my guard, I know he’s a*s*sessing the threat level in this room. His mate has not-so-subtly moved their daughter behind her back, but the cute little girl with big blond curls is peeking around her mother’s legs, smiling at our pack mates.
I stand immediately and Luke’s gaze snaps onto mine. His posture relaxes and he smiles. “Luna Jara.” He says as I begin walking toward him.
“Luke!” I say, pulling him in for a hug. I know wolves aren’t generally touchy, but he’s going to be part of my pack now and he’s my guard. I already have a close connection to this man and now that his mate and daughter will be a part of this pack, that connection will only increase.
When I pull back, I can see that his mate is deciding between being jealous of me touching her mate and trying to make sure that her daughter is safe. “Luke, please introduce me to your family.” I say, smiling at his mate.
“Luna, this is my mate, Brynn and my daughter, Melinda.”
“Brynn, it’s so nice to meet you.” I say, pulling her into a hug, hoping she realizes that this is just who I am. Then I squat down as I feel Mason come up behind me.
“And you must be Melinda.” I say, looking at the little girl. She can’t be more than two years old.
She nods her head, looking around. “Why are they staring at me?” She asks, watching my pack members thoughtfully.
“Melinda!” Brynn scolds.
“It’s okay.” I say, looking up at Brynn. “Most of them have never seen a she-wolf pup before. They are excited to have you in our pack. And they want to get to know you.”
She looks at me a moment before stepping around her mother and looking at the dining room full of adult men. “Hi. I’m Melinda.” She says, waving her hand.
“Hi Melinda.” The room full of warriors and omegas says and I swear every one of them just lost their heart to this little girl.
I smile at her and stand, turning to look at the room. “Everyone, this is Luke, my guard from the claiming. He kept me safe and will continue to be my guard now that he and his family have moved to our pack.”
There is a lot of clapping and cheering to that. Luke nods and waves his hand briefly. I move to stand beside Brynn.
“This is Brynn, his mate.” And before I can say more, there is a chorus of “Hi, Brynn” and Welcome to our pack”.
“Thank you.” She says quietly, looking down. I definitely need to talk to her about her experience in Alpha Shawn’s pack.
“And this, as you already know, is Luke and Brynn’s daughter, Melinda.”
Melinda begins to wave like she’s a Disney Princess on a float in a parade, turning and making sure to wave in every direction of the room. The guys all begin clapping again.
“Alright everyone! Get back to dinner. We don’t want to overwhelm them on their first day with us.” I say before turning back to Brynn.
“Would you join us for dinner?” I ask.
She looks at Luke before turning back to me. “We’d love to.”
“Great.” I say and gesture them toward our table. When we arrive, I introduce them to Elijah, Joe and Stella.
We get them some food, and I wait for Brynn to get Melinda settled before I ask the question that’s been on my mind since I saw Melinda step around her mother’s legs.
“You’re from a ranked blood line?” I ask. She looks up at me, startled before looking at Luke.
“You can trust her Bry. I told you, things will be different here.”
“I don’t know yet exactly what that means but based on my interactions with Alpha Shawn over the weekend, I’d say that your experience in this pack will be night and day compared to your experiences in that pack.”
Luke reaches over and squeezes Brynn’s hand. “I told you about Luna Jara. She won’t let anything happen to you or Melinda.”
She looks back at me. “I definitely won’t and maybe tomorrow, I can go over the petition that me and the other Lunas from this year’s claiming presented to the Council and had signed into law. I hope that you will be interested in being involved.” I tell her.
“Thank you, I look forward to it. And, I come from Beta blood, as does Luke.”
I nod, but before I can speak, Elijah turns to look at Luke. “You’re a true Beta?”
“I am.” Luke says proudly, but modestly.
“Younger son?” Elijah asks.
“How’d you guess?” He says smiling.
“But then, how is Shawn Alpha. I didn’t get he was a Beta from his scent, and he’s definitely no Alpha.” Mason asks.
Both Luke and Brynn have a look of disgust on their faces. “He promised his buddies that they could be his Beta and Gamma if they helped him defeat the others in the pack.”
“That’s against our laws.” Mason says.
Luke shrugs. “Because Elder Carson lives in our pack, he ruled it legal.”
Mason turns to me. “That is also against our laws.”
“Then I guess it’s good that we put them on notice that we’ll be enforcing the laws when they don’t.”
“What did Elder Carson get from the deal?” Mason asks, looking back at Luke.
“He got to retain his seat on the Elder Council.”
Mason looks at me. “Alphas Conrad and Emanual also have an Elder in their packs.” He tells me.
“So, three of the five Elders on the Council are in packs that we are now in opposition with?” I ask.
“Yeah. I’ll have to make sure I discuss this on our alliance call. This presents a problem.” He says, looking thoughtful. “I wonder if Seth is getting similar information from Hana’s guard and family?”
While he ponders that, Brynn gets my attention again. “Excuse me, Luna. But why were you asking about my blood line?”
“Your daughter. She took over like a ranked wolf. She’s going to be great for this pack. You both will be.”
“I’m not sure I understand.” And there is a bit of fear lingering in her eyes.
“I’ll explain it to you, but not here. It will be important for you to understand.” I smile at her. “They are things that I learned from my mother only recently, but they are important to ensuring the prosperity of our pack.” I look down at Melinda. “And I’m guessing that you, young lady, will be playing quite a large role.”
I see Luke instinctively reach out to take Brynn’s hand and I know that my words have scared her.
I reach across the table and take her other hand. “I don’t know what you’ve experienced in your old pack, but nothing like that will happen here. These men,” I say and gesture to the group of men alternating between eating and looking over at our table, “would give their lives for you and Melinda, even though they just met you.”
“She’s right.” Stella says. “They are warriors, and they are strong, but they value us as she-wolves and they are so happy to have us in their pack.”
“Momma, can I go say hi to our new pack?” Brynn looks up at me, wanting to know if it’s safe. “Why don’t we all go?” I say, knowing Brynn will feel better if she’s with us.
We spend the next hour walking around, talking to the warriors and omegas in our pack. As I expected, Melinda had the entire pack wrapped around her finger before she left the dining room that night.
When Luke comes to collect his mate and daughter to head back to their apartment, Melinda turns around to the group who was still hanging out, enjoying their proximity to so many she-wolves.
“Goodnight.” Melinda said, blowing the group a kiss. Several of my big strong warriors, catch her kiss in the air and pull it to their heart.
Princess of the Pack indeed…