Chapter 13
brONZE
Standing in front of Lincoln and Madison, our two schoolteachers that look after the pup’s educational needs, and Eve, I’m desperately trying to remain straight faced. The schoolteachers asked for my presence to discuss a serious disciplinary matter, and when I got here, they were struggling to remove what appeared to be paper towels from their hands. Eve stands there, wringing her hands in despair.
“Alpha Heir Bronze. Honestly…this can’t be allowed to continue. We insist that you take action immediately. He’s a monster! The spawn of everything evil!” They both look at me with such conviction that I know they believe what they are saying.
Eve can’t contain herself. “He is no such thing. He’s… high spirited and has an active imagination.”
Turning to look at the object of their outburst, it looks like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. The huge, wide, innocent eyes look back at me and I’m almost taken in.
“Coal, did you replace the soap in the dispensers with glue?”
Slapping his hand to his forehead so fast that it’s a wonder he doesn’t knock himself out, “No, sir. Wasn’t me, sir.”
I have to place my hand over my mouth and look as though I’m thinking hard as I force back the laughter that is trying to burst forth.
“Let’s try this again, Coal, without covering your forehead. Did you swap the soap for glue?” I look at him as he desperately wants to raise his hand to his head.
“Yes, sir. I done it. But it was just a joke. I didn’t mean for no one to get hurt or anything.” His enormous, now guilty eyes seem to get even bigger as he admits to his prank.
“Okay. That’s better. No one got hurt, but you mustn’t play pranks on the teachers. They are here to help you learn, and you need to respect that. And you should never lie. You know that you will get harsher punishment if you’re caught telling lies.”
“I do respect them, sir, but school is so boring. Maybe if it was more interesting to learn stuff, I wouldn’t want to get into so much trouble.”
He sounds so genuine and honest that I can’t help but turn to both schoolteachers. “And there from the mouths of babes, as they say. Perhaps the pup has a point that we all need to take on board. Learning should be fun. Look at the lessons and see what you need to bring some fun into their learning. I’ll authorize whatever we need to get them motivated to learn.” Turning to Eve, “Take Coal home for the rest of the day and see if you can think of anything that will help Lincoln and Madison with the pups’ learning.”
“Not calling them names might be a step in the right direction,” she mutters as she reaches out for Coal’s hand and gives both teachers her best stink-eyed sideways glance. You can see Coal doesn’t want to hold his momma’s hand, but when she turns to look down at him, he grabs it quick and gives her a nervous smile.
As Eve walks away with Coal, I turn to Lincoln and Madison. “I’m available at any hour, any day or any night, for the benefit of the pack. However, I don’t expect to be called to deal with something so trivial ever again, or that you insist on me taking action. If you cannot handle one strong-willed pup with an overactive and healthy mind, I’ll find someone who can, and you pair will be training fodder for the warriors. Am I perfectly clear?”
They look at me in horror. “Yes sir,” they both echo, imitating Coal’s reactions to my questions.
As I walk away, I just want to laugh loud and long. That pup gets into so much mischief you could write a book on it. He must drive Eve to distraction, but you can’t deny the love she has for him. I would not want to be the one that hurts him or tried to keep her from him.
Heading back to the office, I detour to the training area as I remember I need to arrange a meeting with Adaline. Arriving at the end of a female training session, I grin as I watch all the females picking up their backpacks and toy pups before heading off.
Adaline smiles as she sees me grinning. “You may well grin, but it worked better than either of us would ever have imagined. You know they’ve all given the toy pups names now, too? One of them happened to mention Pedro, and when they realized that she had named her toy, they all went mad at the idea. We had to hold a contest between two females because they wanted the same name and neither would yield. We had to do a ‘winner takes the name’ fight to settle it.”
“I was going to arrange a meeting with you in my office, as there are a couple of things I need to discuss. Nothing you need to be concerned about, but they are important. When are you free?”
“I can make myself available to suit you, Alpha Heir. I’m free for the rest of the day now.” Adaline looks at me and I think now’s as good a time as any.
“Okay. Let’s do it now then.”
Walking to the office, Adaline points to a few of the changes in the grounds that Herb has been making. Although I’ve noticed some, I’ve not noticed all of them. I’m impressed that Adaline has though, and her enthusiasm for them has me surprised too. She describes how the new flower beds and borders that have appeared have made an astonishing visual impact as you approach the packhouse. She’s quite right too. The whole place has taken on a colorful and vibrant feel. I need to speak to Herb and give him some praise for the work he’s doing.
Once we’re in the office, we take a seat, and I dive right in. “Adaline, I want you to be part of my inner circle. One of my trusted advisors, a counselor. Someone to bounce ideas off and someone that will tell me how it is. I don’t want people that will tell me what they think I want to hear. I need people that will be truthful and straight. Are you in?” Looking at the shocked look on her face, I might have dived in at the deep end, I think to myself.
“Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. I don’t know what to say, Alpha Heir Bronze. It’s not long ago that I was just a female warrior trainee. Now I’m Warrior Trainer, and you’re proposing to make me Chief Warrior if I stack up. To be asked to be on your inner council is such an honor that I don’t know if I can live up to it.” She looks at me with huge owl eyes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if her head did a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree rotation.
“Being on my inner council has no bearing on anything else you’ve mentioned. The warrior achievement is completely separate. That is something you have earned with hard work and dedication. My request that you join my council is based on my own observations of your character and inner strengths.” Did I just say those words? I sound like my father.
“I would deem it my honor to be a member of your council, Alpha Heir Bronze. I hope I can live up to your expectations.” Adaline is beaming with pride.
“Talking of your Chief Warrior status. I have arranged for you to go to Wolfsfoot and spend a week with their trainer. He is an exceptional warrior and you will learn a lot from him. He is a hard taskmaster, but he will evaluate your capabilities and then report back to me. He will work with you for a week and be sure he will also work you hard. I have no doubt that you will return fully prepared for the role of Chief Warrior.” Even as I say it, I know Adaline will give it her all and will pass Drake’s assessment.
“When will this be? Do I have time to prepare?”
“Oh yes. You have two weeks to prepare mentally and physically, for probably the toughest assignment I’ll ever give you.” I have to laugh at the pained expression on her face.
“Two weeks? Seriously? Wow, that’s not long. I guess my meditation starts after I leave here then.” Adaline laughs too, then I thank her again for joining my council and she heads for the door. Just as she goes through the door, I call to her.
“Adaline?”
“Yes, Alpha Heir?”
“Just one last thing. Can you climb trees?” I smile at her shocked expression at my random question.
“I haven’t climbed a tree since I was a pup. Is that some kind of requirement?”
“Oh yes. You definitely need to do that for the next two weeks. Climb as many trees as you can and as fast as you can. Have a good day, Adaline.”
Frowning so hard that her eyes are almost closed, she states, “You too,” and closes the door behind her.
Taking a few moments to gather my thoughts, I then mind link with Ethan and ask him to join me. My dilemma here is do I tell him I know he is a Shadow Warrior, which I feel would betray Titan, or do I wait and see if he tells me?
I would not feel betrayed. I knew the consequences of my revelation and am happy to face Valor.
A knock at the door comes sooner than I expected and when Ethan enters, I stand and greet him. Deciding not to have the desk as a barrier between us, I gesture to the armchairs near the fireplace. I’ve never had any dealings with Ethan and even during warrior training, we never came against each other in the ring. Nothing unusual about that though. There are many males in the pack that I have not trained with or against.
Ethan sits quietly, waiting to see why I asked for him. He exudes a calm confidence that, if I had not known he was Shadow, I could easily have mistaken for arrogance.
“I would like you to join my inner council of advisors. How would you feel about that?” He doesn’t show any signs of surprise at my request.
“Yes, I can do that. I would like to be more involved with the well-being of the pack. When will you hold the first meeting?”
“Now that I have all the members that I feel I need, I will look at scheduling a meeting for next week. I will do formal introductions at that time so you all know each other.” That went easier than I anticipated.
“Alpha Heir Bronze. You are aware that I am a Shadow Warrior. Certain responsibilities come with that title. You should know also, that I will never do anything that would hurt or endanger the Eclipse pack. If I have knowledge that will affect the pack, I will share it with you, though it may at times appear that this information has come to you anonymously.” Ethan stands, tilts his head to the side and offers his hand. I take his hand and we both give a firm shake.
As he leaves the office, my desk phone rings so I return to the alpha's chair and take the call. “Alpha Heir Bronze speaking. How may I help?”
“Bronze, it’s Lyle here. How are you?” His voice sounds strained and I detect a level of weariness there too.
“I’m good, thank you. More importantly, how are you? You sound tired.”
“Definitely tired but good otherwise. Have you spoken to Taria recently?” Now that’s a question I wasn’t expecting.
“No. Why? Should I have? Or should I be worried about something?”
“No, not at all. She kindly offered to come here and help me out, which I said I had quite a backlog of things she could do for me, if she spoke with you first. It would only be for a couple of days and she would be at the packhouse the whole time, so safe. I’ve tried to call her but she hasn’t picked up.” Lyle is speaking fast but I don’t think it’s nervousness.
“It’s the first I’ve heard of it, but if she can help and be safe, why not?” I’m a little surprised that she has made that offer, but I’m also proud of her.
“Well, that’s just the thing. We caught a rogue spy trying to make his way across our border, and when we interrogated him, he was supposed to be observing our packhouse defenses. As I said, we got him at the border, so no worries there, but he may not be the only one. If you speak to Taria, can you explain and thank her again for the offer, but I can’t risk her being here at the moment.”
“I’ll contact her immediately and thank you for your concern. What if I were to send you our Beta for a few days? Would that help you?” I’m thinking of ways to support Lyle in any way I can.
“Thank you, but there’s nothing that can’t wait. It’s mainly admin stuff. I can get one of my inner council to step up if it gets too much. Please express my thanks to Taria though for the offer.” Lyle sounds like he needs to get off the phone, so I quickly say bye and cut him loose, as it were.
Sitting back in the chair, I steeple my fingers and think about my future Luna. That was a good offer to help another pack leader, and that’s the sort of thing that would sit well with the Eclipse pack. I think I’m going to leak that bit of information out while I’m at lunch.
Rising from the chair, the phone rings again. Picking it up and answering as always, I hear Alpha Gerry on the line. “Hello Bronze, how are you? Is this a good time for you to chat?”
“To chat? Gerry, I don’t remember the last time I had a chat! What would you like to chat about?” I genuinely don’t remember having a chat, let alone with an alpha. I’m not sure I’d call the times I’ve spoken to Taria chatting.
“How about Taria and when we can call it a day on her training period? That sounds like a fit topic.” Gerry sounds very upbeat and in a positive mood, so I wonder where this has come from. And I mean the topic, not the good mood.
“Fine by me. I was just talking to Lyle and Taria was the topic of that conversation, so I can roll with this.”
“Why were you discussing Taria with Lyle?” Ouch. That soon cooled his mood to frosty.
“Lyle was explaining that Taria had offered to go to Spirit Walker Pack and give him some help. He’s tried to ring her but she didn’t pick up, so he called me and asked me to pass a message on.”
“Yes, I was aware that she had.”
“It seems then, Gerry, I was not on the memo, because I knew nothing of it.” I’m getting a little touchy with this now, and I feel it could be a tinge of jealousy. I’m not liking being the last to know, so to speak.
“Bronze, can I be frank with you?” Gerry has that tone of voice that my father uses when he wants to give me advice, without it sounding like advice.
“I’d prefer that to beating around the bush, any day, Gerry. What’s on your mind?” Well, here goes. I asked for it.
“How much do you know about Taria’s journey so far?” That took me by surprise, I wasn’t expecting that.
“I have checked on her progress on a regular basis.” That sounds all wrong. “No. Wait. I haven’t checked. I have followed her progress, to be more accurate. There have only been good things said about her, and it seems to me that rather than learning new skills, she has awakened skills she hasn’t used before. Does that make sense?” As I try to explain, that feeling of pride comes over me again.
“I understand exactly what you’re saying, and I feel the same way. I’ve only been her Pops for a short time, but I’ve seen the change come over her. Her level of maturity is far beyond where she was when I became Alpha of Blood Pearl, yet she still retains all the things that make her who she is,” He takes a deep breath at this point. “So, don’t you think she could awaken these things as your Luna, now, rather than in a few months' time? I haven’t spoken of this with Taria or anyone else. Not even her momma. I do believe, wholeheartedly, that this is a journey that you should now be making together.”
Oh, wow. Gerry’s last statement hits me like a sledgehammer. I think he’s right. No. I don’t think, I know what he’s saying is right.
“Gerry, I need to speak to my parents. Thank you for the call and, more importantly, thank you for being frank.” Closing the call with the usual byes, I go in search of my parents.