Chapter 20
***RYAN***
Some of the joy had been taken from the celebration after his mother’s visit, but everyone still enjoyed the meal and did their best to make it seem like a normal holiday.
After the table was cleared and the kitchen cleaned up, the group began to break up again, and it seemed like a good time for them to head for his sister’s house, even though they were both reluctant to leave their friends and family behind.
“Are you sure your sister won’t mind if we stay with her?” Paula asked as they got in the car. “I can’t imagine your mother is going to like it. I don’t want to get her in trouble before we’ve even met. It might be nice if at least one person from your family talked to us.”
“Don’t worry, Tami and my mother haven’t spoken in years. There’s no love lost between the two of them. My mother tried to rule my sister’s life, and she rebelled,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Tami cut ties with my parents as soon as she could; it’s been years since they’ve even spoken.”
“That must have been hard for you,” Paula said. “I guess it’s true what they say, money can’t buy happiness.”
“In my experience, it does the opposite, but we’ll never have to worry about that; teachers don’t make that much money,” he said, grinning at her. “Unless you’re going to make it big.”
She laughed, “I don’t know about that, we may have to be happy just being middle class,” she said. “Most journalists don’t make that much money either.”
“Another reason we’re a perfect match,” he said, starting up the car and pulling away from the fraternity house. “It’s a couple of hours to my sister’s house. Why don’t you take a little nap? I’m sure you’re exhausted.”
“Yeah, someone kept me up all night,” she said, grinning at him. “But you’re probably tired too, I should stay awake and keep you company.”
“I don’t need as much sleep as regular people, sweetheart, I’m fine,” he said, reaching over and brushing her hair behind her ear. “You’ve had a lot to process the last few days, and we still have the council to go. You’re going to need your strength.”
He could tell that she wanted to argue, but she yawned instead, then let out a long sigh. “Okay, maybe you’re right,” she admitted. “I just feel guilty sleeping while you’re driving.”
“I’m a big boy, I can handle driving on my own,” he reassured her. “Lay your seat back and get some sleep, you’re going to need it. That’s an order.”
“Oh, I see, now that we’re married, you think you can boss me around,” she said. “But since I know you’re just trying to take care of me, I’m going to let you get away with it.”
The drive to his sister’s house was uneventful.
Paula slept the whole time, giving him the quiet he needed to figure out what he was going to say to the council.
He’d broken the rules to save Paula, shifting in public like that, but Alex hadn’t given him much of a choice.
He was also worried about what his mother was going to do; on her own, she wouldn’t have much sway with the council.
Right or wrong, they didn’t listen to women, but if she got his father on her side, that could be a different story.
Deciding not to borrow trouble, he focused on the drive, telling himself it would be a simple matter of appearing before the council and declaring Paula his mate for life.
They’d have no choice but to accept her.
There wouldn’t be any drama; his mother wouldn’t embarrass them all by throwing a public fit.
In just a few days, they’d be free to start their lives together.
The porch light was on when he pulled up in front of his sister’s house. “We’re here, sweetheart,” he said, gently waking Paula up. “It looks like Tami rolled out the welcome mat.”
His sister threw open the front door before he could even knock.
“Ryan, it’s so good to see you,” she said, giving him a big hug, then pulled back.
“And this must be Paula. I’m so excited to meet you!
I always knew Ryan would come to his senses before he married that… well, we don’t need to talk about her.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too. Thank you for inviting us to stay with you. I’m sorry to interrupt your holiday,” Paula said, following his sister into the house. “You have a beautiful home, it’s very warm and inviting.”
“I was lucky, I not only married for love, but he’s a doctor to boot,” Tami said, with a shrug. “We’re not rolling in it, but we’re definitely comfortable. Let’s go into the den, I’ve got a nice warm fire going. Jeffery had to go into the hospital, so it will just be us tonight.”
Once they were settled with something to drink, Tami didn’t bother with small talk. “Fill me in on everything. I want all the juicy details,” she said, then saw Paula’s cheeks turning pink. “Well, maybe not all of them.”
They all laughed, and he gave her a quick summary of everything that had happened over the last few days. “Marcus was supposed to arrange for us to go before the council tomorrow,” he finished. “I haven’t heard from him yet. I guess I should give him a call.”
“He stopped by here earlier today on his way home,” Tami said. “He wanted me to tell you that the council will see you at two o’clock tomorrow afternoon, but he wanted me to warn you that it’s going to be a public session.”
“Great, the whole clan is going to be right in the middle of our business,” he said, scowling. “Marucs assured me that we’d be able to meet with them privately; this is really nobody else’s business but ours.”
“I got the feeling he wasn’t very happy about it either,” Tami said. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do about it now.”
“No, we’ll just have to hope not that many people show up,” he said, giving Paula’s hand a squeeze. “It won’t change anything having all those people there. I was just hoping to get this done a little more quickly.”
“It will be fine, Ryan, we knew this was a possibility,” Paula said, squeezing his hand back. “It doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as we get it done, and the longer it takes, the longer we get to stay.”
“That’s right, and you’re welcome for as long as it takes,” Tami said, smiling at Paula. “That will give us some time to get to know each other.”
***Paula***
The meeting house was nestled in a mountain valley a few miles from Tami’s house, and Paula quickly decided that it looked like a church without a steeple, but kept her opinion to herself.
She was more nervous than she’d ever been in her life, even marrying Ryan hadn’t given her butterflies as much as appearing before the clan council was, but Ryan had her hand firmly in his as they walked toward the doors, giving her some confidence.
Forcing herself to take deep breaths to hold the nerves at bay, she walked with him through the big double wooden doors into the meeting house, the paused to let her eyes adjust to the dark interior.
The inside of the building did resemble a church with rows of benches, but there was a long table on the raised platform in the front of the room instead of an altar.
“That’s where the council sits,” Ryan said.
“We’ll have to stand up in front of them when it’s our turn, it won’t take long though, and then we can get out of here. ”
“Whatever it takes,” she said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “Just tell me what to do.”
“For now, you don’t have to do anything,” he said. “I’ll do all the talking when they call us up.”
She felt the weight of curious stares as they made their way to the front, to the section reserved for those who wanted to address the council. Ryan let her slide in first, then sat next to her. “It won’t be long,” he whispered. “They always start on time.”
Only a few minutes later, a door in the wall behind the table opened up and a procession of older men walked out and took seats at the table.
She recognized Marcus, but it was clear from his position at the far end of the table that he wasn’t very powerful.
She took a deep breath, searching each face, hoping to see some softness in one of them.
She looked over at Ryan, hoping for some encouragement, but he was studying them just as intently, a frown on his face.
“We need to impress the two men in the middle,” Ryan leaned over and whispered. “Zachary and Zane Barrington are twins and share the alpha role in the clan; they’re descendants of the original alpha. If they take our side, the other councilmen will follow.”
She nodded, “Got it,” she whispered, then took a deep breath to chase away the butterflies once more. “Tell me again that it’s going to be fine.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Ryan said, giving her an encouraging smile. “I promise, fate wouldn’t tear us apart now, it was too hard to put us together.”
Before she could answer, Zachary banged a gavel on the table, “I call this meeting to order,” he shouted, then waited for silence. “We have a lot on the agenda today, so let’s get right to it.”
“Let’s open the meeting with Ryan Bellamy and his loyalty pledge to a regular human,” Zane said, an unhappy look on his face. “We seem to be doing this a lot lately. I thought we advised against this at the last meeting.”
“You can’t control love, Zane,” Zachary said. “I told you that at the last meeting. Plus, outsiders strengthen the clan.”
“So, you say,” Zane said. “We don’t agree on that point and I don’t think we ever will, but let’s get on with it.”
Ryan got to his feet and she jumped up, slipped out of the row, then followed him up to the front, her mouth dry, her heart pounding.
“We’re here today to ask the council to recognize our marriage,” Ryan addressed the council when Zachary nodded to him.
“I’m here to pledge my life to Paula, I swear to protect her as my one true mate.
She comes to the clan willingly and with full knowledge of the customs and laws of our people.
I ask that you grant her membership in the clan with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities available to all clan members. ”
There was a brief silence. “Marcus has spoken to us in support of this union. He claims you have bonded with this human,” Zane said. “Do you support this claim?”
Ryan looked over at Paula and smiled. “Yes, sir, Paula is the only woman for me,” he said, then looked back up at the council. “My life would not be complete without her.”
“Is she willing to pledge her loyalty to the clan?” Zachary asked. “Does she understand what that pledge means?”
Ryan looked over at her and nodded his head. “I understand what it means, sir,” she said, hating the way her voice was shaking. “The clan’s secrets are my secrets and I’ll carry them to my grave or pay the price for telling the world about them with my life.”
There were nods of approval around the table, and even Zane seemed to relax. “I believe we are all satisfied with your answers,” Zachary said. “We will grant your…”
Before he could finish, the door burst open and Ryan’s mother came rushing inside, followed by a man she assumed was his father.
“I demand you stop this farce right this second. I challenge the claims of my son and his so-called wife,” his mother called, striding up to the front.
“Hurry up, Walter, we were almost too late, and it’s all your fault. ”
“What is going on?” Zane asked. “How dare you interrupt…”
“I’m sorry, sir, my wife…” Ryan’s father started, then shook his head. “I would like to issue a formal protest. My son has been taken in by a human. We challenge the marriage, we challenge the bond they claim to have, and demand proof they have any sort of magical connection.”
There was a stunned silence in the room, then everyone began to whisper at once, and she felt the first ripple of alarm. “Ryan, what’s going on?” she asked, noticing several of the council members nodding their heads. “How can we prove that we’re bonded?”
“Your demands will be answered,” Zane said, before Ryan could answer, and she felt hands grabbing her. “Take her away and let the challenge begin.”
She called out for Ryan, but he was being restrained. “Don’t worry, I’ll come for you,” he called just as she was shoved out the door.
A second later, she was being lifted into the air by a dragon.
It took everything in her not to scream as they soared higher and higher into the night sky.
What felt like a lifetime later, the dragon dove for the Earth, then released her only seconds before they hit the ground, leaving her in a heap on the frozen ground.
Another dragon came swooping down from above her head a second later, and a backpack plopped down beside her before it flew off as well.
She sat there stunned for a few seconds, looking around her, wondering what had just happened, then realized her butt was slowly freezing and climbed to her feet.
After looking around the clearing, she grabbed the backpack and retreated to the trees to catch her breath and figure out what she was supposed to do, keeping the fear and panic at bay by thinking about Ryan.
He would come after her; there was no doubt in her mind.
She just needed to figure out how to survive until he found her.