She sighed again and leaned over to prop her head up in her hand. “It was that bad, huh?”
I shrugged. “Pretty much.”
She turned to place both hands on her face and took a deep breath. “We need to let him go. I’m not going to let some idiot come in and mess up all our hard work.”
“That would probably be for the best. He doesn’t seem very competent.”
She blew out a deep breath and turned to me. “I really appreciate all your help, Ellie.”
I smiled. “Anytime.”
It felt good to be useful. To stretch my intellectual muscles again. Honestly, even trudging through the research had been kind of fun. I guess I missed being a lawyer more than I thought.
Chapter 8
“You know, I’ve been thinking about something lately and I wanted to run it past you,” Callie said as she scanned through the document I’d written up.
We’d gone into the conference room to print it out and Callie had sat in the kitchen for the past fifteen minutes, reading what I wrote while I nervously watched her.
“Oh, yeah? What’s that?”
She peeked a pale blue eye above the page she was reading. “I was thinking you could work with us in a more permanent capacity.”
I frowned and shook my head. “Callie, I don’t know anything about what you do.”
She set the papers down. “You could learn though, couldn’t you?”
I opened my mouth but shut it again before I could say anything.
She was right. I could learn. And to be honest, the research I’d done for that document had been kind of fun.
But that was neither here nor there.
“I’m not an environmental lawyer. I’d be just as helpful as someone straight out of school. What you guys do is too important. You don’t want to work with me and have me screw it all up for you.”
Callie shook her head, her curly hair swishing around her pretty face. “You may be new to the world of environmental law, but you’re a phenomenal lawyer. I’ve heard Abey talk about your win ratio and I know you were successful practicing criminal law. There might be a learning curve, but what can it hurt?”
I sighed. “It could hurt everything you’re working towards. Why don’t you just find another lawyer? There’s got to be someone better than the last guy you worked with.”
Callie shrugged. “I could find another lawyer, but I want to work with you. I trust you and I know you’re super smart. I’d be crazy not to ask you to be a part of our team.”
My stomach was churning as her words flitted through my head.
Work as an environmental lawyer? I’d never imagined that. Not once had I stopped to think about a career down that path and it stumped me.
But hadn’t I enjoyed working with Callie that day when she was staying in Raleigh with me? We’d visited a bunch of lakes and streams to test the water quality near fracking sites. I’d learned more that day about the threats to our planet than I had in my entire life.
Did I want to make a career out of that?
It sure sounded a lot better than criminal law. And it wasn’t a secret that I’d been dragging my feet about selecting a new firm to work for. Maybe that was because it really wasn’t what I wanted to do anymore. Wasn’t what I was supposed to do.
Maybe my future was working with Callie. Maybe I could use my degree to actually help. To make a difference. To make a positive impact.
But I was still woefully unprepared.
“I really don’t know, Callie. I feel like my lack of knowledge would be more of a liability than anything else.”
She shook her head again. “I can teach you anything you need to know. The rest you can figure out through research.” I was sure the doubt was still clear on my face, so Callie took a breath and reached out to cover my hand with her own. “Just promise me you’ll think about it. That’s all I’m asking.”
I let out a deep breath and gave her a nod. “Okay. I’ll think about it.”
Callie pulled her hand away and clapped softly. “Yay!”
A smile tugged at my lips. “I only said I’d think about it.”
She waved my words away. “Yeah, but I know you’ll eventually realize what a great idea it is. And we’d get to work together! How much fun would that be?”
If I was being honest, that sounded like a hell of a lot of fun. Instead of being one of few women in a firm full of old, blustering men, I could work with my friend. My future sister. That alone made me want to just tell her yes.
But I’d think about it and talk to Abraham and we’d see. I didn’t want to jump into anything without being sure. I’d hate to let Callie down, but I needed to do what was right for me.
I wanted to work somewhere I felt appreciated, where I knew my efforts were for the greater good and not just to line someone’s pockets or help a criminal get away with something. I wanted to look myself in the eye at the end of the day and know I was doing something worthwhile with my time.
Callie’s offer sounded better by the minute.
“Plus!” she yelled, breaking me out of my thoughts. “We just rented some new office space downtown. Abey’s starting renovations on it this week and I know we can carve out space for another office for you.”
“That’s great, Callie! You’ve been working out of the lodge this whole time, right?”
She nodded with an exasperated roll of her eyes. “It’s been a real pain, but we were short on funding. We finally came up with enough to put down first and last on a spot in town and we’re dying to get in there.”
“Who’s we?”
Callie turned to face me, folding her knee onto the bench. “Well, there’s me and Katie, and we recently brought on Matt, too, but don’t worry, there’s enough space for all of us there.”
I hadn’t ever worked in such a small office before. I wondered what it would be like to work at a place that intimate. And with so many women. That would be a huge change for me, and I was starting to like the idea more as the minutes ticked by.
I opened my mouth to ask her some more questions when Del strolled into the kitchen with a wide smile on her face.
“How’s it hangin’, ladies?”
Callie scoffed. “We don’t have anything hanging, Del.”
The spunky musician smirked and stepped up beside Callie. She reached out and gave one of Callie’s boobs a quick poke. “That’s not what it looks like from here.”
Callie slapped her hand away and turned to her with furious eyes. “My boobs do not hang, Delilah.”
Del rolled her eyes and took a seat on the bench behind us. “How would I know? You’re always all buttoned up. I don’t think I’ve seen your cleavage since we were teenagers. You’re such a prude.”
Callie straightened her modest top and glared at her sister. “Just because I don’t walk around with my tits spilling out of my shirt doesn’t make me a prude.”
Oh, jeez.
If this was what it would have been like growing up with sisters, maybe I was lucky I was an only child.
Del opened her mouth to argue back, but I cut in.
“Okay, ladies. Let’s break it up.”
I felt like a referee in that house sometimes, but I secretly adored it. I loved the banter, the arguments, the sibling quarrels. It was so different from the way I grew up. Such a contrast to the way I’d spent the last several years of my life. I’d had a pretty lonely existence before I tumbled into the McCoys lives and now everything was different.
“What are you two doin’ in here, anyway?”
“El was looking over a document for me that I’m supposed to submit to the courts in a couple days, and I was just trying to get her to agree to come work for me.”
Del’s eyes lit up. “Ellie, that’s a great idea!”
I shrugged. “I’m still thinking about it.”
Del waved a hand at me. “What’s to think about? Can you imagine a better boss than Callie?”
I really couldn’t.
“I just don’t know anything about environmental law. I don’t know how helpful I’ll be.”
Del scoffed. “You could learn, right?”
I sighed. They all had the same argument. They all believed it was just a matter of me doing a little studying and I’d be just as good as an environmental lawyer as I was a criminal one.
Maybe they were right. And I knew from experience that Callie was a patient and informative teacher. Maybe I could pick up a few textbooks and do some research. It would at least help me decide if this was the path I wanted to go down. And at the very least, it couldn’t hurt, right?
I sighed again. “I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it,” I repeated.
The sisters exchanged a conspiratorial look, and I knew I was outnumbered and about to be ganged up on. Living with those women for the past month had taught me a lot. And one thing I knew, you didn’t want to be on the other end of a McCoy shakedown. If they had their minds set on something, you’d better get out of the way or get run over.
Knowing I needed to change the subject before they started in on me, I blurted out the first thing I could think of. “Callie, did you find out anything having to do with what we were talking about earlier?”
Del scooted closer. “Ooh, what were you talkin’ about?”
I bit my lip and looked at Callie. I didn’t particularly want to air my dirty laundry, but I knew it was only a matter of time before she found out. There were no secrets in the McCoy family and very few in the pack. I could either tell her myself or have her hear from someone else.
With a quick look around the kitchen, I saw we were alone–a rare occurrence in the lodge. I slid closer to Del and lowered my voice, knowing that, even though it looked like we were the only ones around, that didn’t mean someone couldn’t overhear what we were talking about if I wasn’t careful.
“Callie was looking into this whole fated mates business.”
Del frowned. “What about it?”
I sighed. “She’s trying to find out if there’s been another instance of a bitten wolf being a born wolf’s fated mate.”
Del’s brows were still furrowed as I watched her put the pieces together. Finally, her eyes met mine. “You don’t think you’re Abey’s mate?”
I looked away from her, the floor between us suddenly very interesting. “I don’t know, Del. It doesn’t make sense, does it?”
She made a humming noise and leaned back against the table behind her. “You mean because you were bitten you shouldn’t have been fated to be with Abey.”
I finally met her eyes. “Exactly.”
Del nodded slowly. “But you two have all the signs.”
I sighed again and rubbed at my temples. It felt like there was a headache brewing. “I know we do, but that doesn’t explain how it’s possible that we were fated.”
“She’s afraid Abey’s real fated mate might show up one day,” Callie added.
I shot her a glare, but she just shrugged.
Del frowned again. “I guess that would bother me, too.” We were all quiet for a moment, letting the words settle around us. Finally, Del spoke back up, “So, what are we doin’ about it?”
I had to bite back a smile. There was that we word again. It felt nice knowing I wasn’t alone in this. I always knew I had Abraham on my side, but seeing I had his sisters too was amazingly comforting. For the first time in my life I had a support system. A framework of friends and family that would stand beside me through anything. I’d never felt more loved and accepted in my life.
“I’ve been doing some research but haven’t found much.”
I turned to look at Callie. “Really?”
There had to be something. Someone had to have heard of this before. We couldn’t be the first bitten and born wolf to be fated, right?
But what if we were?
What if this had never happened before?
My stomach clenched as the questions kept rolling through my head.
What if that meant we weren’t really fated? What if that meant we’d been wrong? What if that meant I wasn’t really Abraham’s, and he wasn’t really mine?
I felt like I was going to be sick.
“Why don’t y’all ask Will?”
My eyes snapped to Del. “What?”
She shrugged. “He’s old as dirt. He’s probably the best resource we’ve got.”
“Delilah,” Callie chastised. “Don’t talk about him that way.”
Del’s eyes widened slightly. “What? He is. You think it’s news to him how many rings he’s got around his stump?” She rolled her eyes.
Callie shook her head in exasperation. “Yes, but we don’t say things like that.”
Del snorted. “You might not, but I do.”
The girls continued to squabble while I thought through what she’d said. Why hadn’t I thought to ask Will before? He was the original werewolf, the man who first harnessed the power of the wolf. He’d been alive for thousands of years, and if there was anyone who could help us, it would be him.
“Del, that’s a great idea,” I said, cutting into the middle of their argument.
She turned to me, her pink-streaked hair flying. “Of course it’s a good idea.”
I rolled my eyes but smiled. Del really was a trip. “Does anybody know where he is?”
“He spends a lot of time in the theater room,” Callie offered.
I wouldn’t have pegged the original werewolf as a movie lover, but what did I know?
I closed my laptop and stood up.
“Where are you goin’?” Del asked.
I shrugged. “I might as well go talk to Will now. I’m sick of having this black cloud of indecision hanging over my head. I want to get this fated mates stuff sorted as soon as possible.”
Both women nodded in approval. “Let me know what he says,” Callie called after me. I gave them a little wave and made my way through the lodge and down into the basement.
It was fully furnished and had a few different rooms dedicated to leisure activities. The theater room was at the end of the hall, but voices coming from the pool room made me slow my steps.
Just as I got closer, the door swung open and Beatrice came storming out.
“Hey, Bea.”
She stopped short and spun to face me. Her eyes were icy and, for a moment, it felt like we’d taken a hundred steps backward and she still hated me. Bea closed her eyes and shook her head. When she opened them again, they were slightly warmer than they had been.
“Hey, Ellie. What’s going on?”
I shrugged. “Just looking for Will.”
Bea’s eyes frosted over again as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder. “He’s in there.”
I took a hesitant step forward. “Is everything okay?”
She sighed and shook her head, short, dark hair whipping around her face. “Yeah, I’m good. Just heading out. Did you want to get a session in tonight? Maybe we could spar after dinner.”
Abraham’s promises floated through my head and I gave her a wary smile. “I’ve got plans after dinner but I’m free tomorrow.”
Bea sighed. “I kinda felt like fighting someone tonight.”
I laughed. “I’m sure Huxley would be willing.”
The corners of Bea’s lips twitched. “Yeah, but then he whines like a bitch for the whole next day.” She rolled her eyes. “You break a guy’s leg once and you never hear the end of it.”
I shook my head, biting my lips to hold back my smile. Beatrice was absolutely terrifying.
“Well, I’m not in the mood to mend any more broken limbs either, so I guess it’s a good thing I can’t train with you tonight.”
�
�One side of her mouth curled into a grin. “I wouldn’t break your leg, Ellie. I save that shit for the guys.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”
Bea’s eyes wandered back to the door she’d just walked out of and I tried to identify the look in them. Was that wistfulness? Irritation? Or was I just imagining things?
“Anyway, I’m going for a run in the woods. I’ll see you at dinner.”
I watched her walk away, shoulders stiff and steps heavy. Whatever Will said or did to Beatrice, I hoped he knew what he was doing. I had real-life experience with being on her bad side and I knew it was not a fun place to be.
Chapter 9
I slipped into the billiards room and found Will at one of the tables, a stick between his fingers. As I watched, he drew the pool stick back and jabbed it forward, shooting the cue ball against a wall and into a striped one before it went rolling into a pocket.
“You’re pretty good at that,” I said as I crossed the distance between us.
Will looked up and smiled. “Granddaughter. How are you?”
My steps slowed as I made my way toward him. I hadn’t had many interactions with Will in the month he’d been here. He always seemed to be surrounded by other pack members. I figured since I was the newest werewolf here, my questions for him were the least important. But in the few conversations I managed to have with him, he’d always called me granddaughter, which was strange because I usually heard him call everyone else daughter or son. Why was I different?
I finally made it to the pool table Will was playing on and leaned a hip against the edge. “I’m okay. I was wondering if I could talk to you about something, though.”
Will shrugged and lined up another shot. “Of course you can. What is it?”
I took a deep breath and tried to figure out where to begin. “What do you know about fated mates?”
His eyes slowly rose from the table to meet mine, and when they did, I regretted my question. There was such a look of sadness and longing in them, it broke my heart. But then he blinked, and it was gone, and I wondered if I’d imagined it.
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