39. Piper
Piper
O nce the morning of the mediation arrived, I found myself sick with worry.
Unable to eat or drink, my stomach tied in knots and swirling with acid, I had paced back and forth in the kitchen, while Maisie ate her waffles and cut strawberries, chewing my nails down to the quick in lieu of having my own breakfast.
“Hey, pretty girl,” Dakota called to me from the other side of the kitchen island. I looked up to see him, already sharply dressed in a crisp pale blue dress shirt and a deep golden-yellow satin tie.
Without thinking, I launched myself into his arms, burying my face in his chest to keep myself from bursting into tears in front of Maisie.
“I’m so anxious, I feel like I’m going to puke. This might actually be worse than the morning sickness.” I groaned, wrapping my arms around Dakota’s chest.
“I know it’s going to be a tough day, but we got permission to stream any joint sessions by Zoom, so you’ll be able to watch, safe and sound, from home,” Dakota reasoned calmly, stroking my hair.
“That helps a little bit, actually,” I admitted, nuzzling Dakota’s chest, his fresh rain scent soothing my frayed nerves. “If something fucked up does happen, at least I won’t be in the dark about it.”
“Deep breaths, sunshine.” I heard Montana’s voice before he sauntered into view, adjusting the sleeves of his pale green button-down, his tie the same burnished gold satin as his twin brother’s. “We’re going to make the best of this shit show, one way or another.”
I sniffled back a few tears as Monty leaned forward to peck a kiss onto my lips.
“You boys about ready to go?” Clayton called as he appeared from the bottom of the stairwell in his well-cut gray suit, a white felt Stetson held carefully in his big hands, his black and silver hair slicked back with pomade, his strong jaw clean- shaven.
Even with all the stress, I couldn’t help but notice just how good all the boys, especially Clayton, looked with a bit of cleaning up.
His arms still around me, Dakota gave a loud sniff. “Phew! Smells like maybe we should get dressed up a little more often—Piper’s cranking out more perfume than a department store beauty counter!” Dakota razzed, giving my bottom a playful, sneaky squeeze.
Clay’s nostrils flared as he caught wind of my scent, a frisky smile curling the corners of his lips.
“I’m sure that there will be plenty of tension for us all to work off later.
” He gave a knowing wink before leaning in to kiss me.
“Just take it easy while we’re out, duchess.
” Clay reached forward to tuck a lock of my hair behind my ear before drifting over to lift Maisie up and out of her high chair to give her a big hug and kiss before he and the boys got on their way.
“Daddy, are you gonna be home soon?” Maisie asked innocently as Clay pressed a cluster of kisses to her chubby little cheek.
“Sure will, baby. We’re going to order pizzas and watch cartoons on the couch tonight, okay?
” He spun her through the air before passing her to Montana so that he could give her a goodbye hug and kiss.
“Did the guys tell you about the video conference link?” he asked in a lowered voice as Montana and Dakota covered Maisie’s face in loud smacking kisses while she squealed with delight.
“Yeah, I’m gonna watch with headphones once it gets started,” I confirmed quietly, nodding to the laptop charging on the kitchen counter.
“If I had to just sit here and wait until you came home, I’d probably lose my damn mind.
But after seeing Pack Adamar at Evelyn’s the other day…
I know that I couldn’t handle being in that room with them again, either. ” I shuddered.
“Don’t you waste another thought on those scumbags.” Clay dismissed the thought with the sweep of his thumb over the high curve of my cheekbone. “We’ll take care of everything.”
“Just kick back and try to relax with Maisie, and we’ll be home before you know it,” Montana reassured me as the boys began to shuffle for the door.
It dawned on me that I hadn’t gotten a comforting smooch from Zeke—nor had I been treated to the sight of him in his suit and tie.
“Where’s Zeke?” I asked as Montana, Dakota, and Clay shrugged into their suit jackets and helped one another adjust their ties.
Montana and Dakota looked to one another, then glanced around the kitchen.
Before either of them could answer, Clay cut in casually. “Zeke had a few things to take care of this morning real early. He’s already over at the conference room we rented at the Twin Pines hotel, laying out coffee and donuts for the meeting.”
I did my best to imagine Zeke—too tall, nearly bursting out of his suit, shaggy blond hair, his jaw shimmering with golden stubble—and allowed myself a little giggle.
“All right, well, don’t let me keep you.” I closed my bathrobe tighter around myself and accepted a kiss from each of the Blackwood boys before they headed off.
Setting Maisie up on the couch with a lineup of her favorite pink pony princess dolls with a double feature of Ice Princess playing on the big screen television had gone successfully, so I was able to dial into the video conference without any trouble.
I scooted myself deep into the far corner of the sectional sofa—one eye on the grainy video screen and an earbud in one ear, the other eye and ear open, ready to slam the laptop shut and jump into action should Maisie’s attention on her movies and dolls falter.
Montana and Clay’s faces dominated nearly the entire frame of the webcam as the pair struggled to make the proper adjustments, their muffled speech barely carrying over the microphone.
“All right gentlemen, Miss Ross, it looks like everything is up and running,” a high, nasally voice called from the background. Monty and Clay cleared from the camera’s view to show a large rectangular wooden table spread with donuts, napkins, and styrofoam cups of coffee.
The mediator, a tall woman with graying blond hair and tiny pink plastic reading glasses, appeared before the camera, sitting at the head of the table between the two parties.
On one side of the table, a slight blonde woman with cold and beautiful features and cornsilk blond curls, just like Maisie’s, sat beside Lance, Ralph, and Kyle, a chair still empty on either side of the mediator.
On the other side, Clay, Dakota, and Montana sat with their hands neatly folded, Zeke still nowhere to be found.
“There are a couple items to get out of the way before we can begin, so let’s take a look at the mediation guidelines sent prior to today’s session by your legal teams,” the mediator said patiently as two men in suits stepped into frame, passing out thin packets of paper to everyone in attendance.
The first man, tall and dark with olive skin and slicked-back espresso brown hair, spoke in hushed whispers as he passed papers to Caroline and the members of Pack Adamar.
“Thank you, Mr. Menucci.” The mediator bobbed a curt nod to their lawyer.
My eyes practically dropped out of my skull when Zeke entered the frame, nearly unrecognizable with his blond hair slicked back from his face, a pair of circular golden wire-frame glasses perched delicately on his nose, his designer suit tailored perfectly to his long, muscular form.
“Thank you, Mr. Hunter,” the mediator said.
“Anytime, Angela,” Zeke responded with a warm smile, all traces of his country accent missing.
“Does everyone have access to a copy? Great. Before we get started, I’d like to remind you of my role in this process.
I will serve as an impartial third party to facilitate your conversations, both in this joint session and in private meetings,” the mediator explained with the practiced ease of someone with many years of experience.
“Miss Ross and Pack Adamar, as well as Pack Blackwood, have brought their representatives, Antonio Menucci and Ezekiel Hunter, to serve as your advocates. Please remember that I won’t be acting in that capacity.”
I still couldn’t quite get over Zeke’s surprise turn as Pack Blackwood’s lawyer. I would be looking for an explanation of that long story later, of that much I was sure.
“I am not a judge, thus I will not be making any judgments on who is right or wrong. It will be up to you to make decisions on any type of settlement agreement at the end.” The mediator spread her hands wide, gesturing to everyone seated around the table before she continued.
“Are there any questions before we begin?”
After a beat of silence, she continued. “All right, Miss Ross, you may begin.”
Caroline looked to her lawyer and the members of Pack Adamar before she began her tale of woe.
“I was the executive chief of staff for Blackwood Ranch for a while,” Caroline said, her voice high and clear, her nose lifted into the air. “During most of that time, I was also romantically involved with Pack Blackwood.”
Though Zeke and the others weren’t permitted to speak or object during Caroline’s turn to speak, Clay clung to the edge of the table, his knuckles bloodless with the strength of his grip, and Zeke furiously jotted notes on his yellow legal pad.
“Because of the nature of my relationship with Clayton Blackwood, I had given up my entire life for the ranch,” Caroline continued dramatically, batting her flaxen lashes like a damsel in distress.
“I was forced to give up job opportunities and swayed away from investments in real estate while the market was more stable, due to my belief that Clayton and the rest of Pack Blackwood would make good on their promises to feed me, house me, and eventually bond me into their pack.”
Even though the webcam’s quality was poor, I could see all the muscles standing out on Dakota’s and Montana’s necks as they struggled to keep silent, knowing that an outburst, calling Caroline on her bullshit, wouldn’t go over well in the mediation.