Chapter Thirty-Seven
Isighed and slammed my head back against my chair, then I groaned. “Fuck.” I put everything away into my purse, then stood. I walked out and smiled. “Hey. I had a question.”
“Sure.” Ternen smiled at me but I could see the tension below the surface.
“My mom wants me to invite you all to dinner.” I checked my phone. “Has Rick left yet?”
Alannah shook her head. “No.” She smiled as she put her things in her purse. “And we would love to join you at dinner.”
I nodded and then walked to Rick’s office door. I knocked and swung the door open. I froze when I saw Vince holding Rick by the throat. “Ugh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.” I spun in a circle, facing away from them.
Vince grunted, and I heard Rick take a deep breath in. “Amy, what are you doing in here?”
I coughed. “My mom called me and asked me to invite Rick and Alannah to dinner.”
“Well, he’s busy.”
I turned around and grimaced. “While I appreciate that, this is my mom.” I forced an awkward smile to my face. “She won’t listen to me. Can you call her?”
Vince huffed out a breath. Then turned to me. “Of course.” He pulled out his phone and dialed my mom. There was a brief pause, and then her voice rang out. “Hello Ainsley. I called because Amy came in to take Rick to your house for dinner, but he is currently in a meeting with me.”
“He’s in a meeting with you?” My mother’s voice dropped an octave. “Are you sure? Is anyone else there?” Her voice took on a thread of anger.
Vince looked at the phone in confusion before he glanced at me. But I just shrugged. “Yes, I am sure. Why?” Vince was trying to make some ground and take back the power my mother so easily took.
“Well, Alpha Vince.” Vince winced. My mother only used the title if she was pissed or in a setting in front of others that she had to uphold titles.
“My dear husband said he was having dinner with you.” Her voice was now ice.
“He actually just texted me saying you two were elbow deep in reports and that he won’t be home for hours.
” She growled, and it was savage. “And here you’re telling me you are in a meeting with Amy’s boss.
So Alpha, where the fuck is my husband?”
You could hear a pin drop as Vince looked to me with wide eyes. He mouthed oh shit and then chuckled. “Ainsley.” He started, but you could tell he didn’t know where Morgan was. “Morgan is in my office right now. We were in a meeting, but I came to talk with Rick.”
“If you aren’t there, then why did he lie?”
Vince laughed. “He didn’t I just zipped down here to go over things with Rick?”
“You know Alpha. I think you are covering for Morgan. I don’t think you have been with him for hours.” The truth settled around us, and Vince paced. “If that is the case, then I can only assume that my husband is cheating.” Vince froze.
“That’s a crazy accusation, Ainsley.” He tried to counter, but she scoffed.
“Is it? We have been struggling for years because of the bullshit he pulled. And now I know he’s lying to me and you’re covering for him. I’ll be petitioning the king for a dissolution.”
“Ainsley, wait, you can’t.” Vince tried to convince her to hold on.
“Unless you can get my husband on the phone within five minutes, which, if he is in your office, should be easy. I’ll be calling the king in ten minutes. Better run.” She disconnected the call and Vince turned a pale face to me.
“What just happened?” He looked a little lost.
“I don’t know. She made dinner, and then Shannon and Morgan said they were busy. She called me and told me to invite Rick and Alannah and then, well, you heard.” I let my mouth flop open. “Alpha…you have been here since lunch. Morgan definitely lied to my mom.”
His eyes snapped to mine. “You can’t tell her that.”
I lifted my brow. “I don’t think it will matter. You only have four minutes to find him before she calls the king.”
“Oh fuck.” Vince turned and ran out of the room.
Rick turned to me with a blank face. “Do you think your mother will still want us to come to dinner?”
I nodded. “Of course, she will need a distraction. Why don’t you invite your wife and daughter? I’ll call my mom and tell her I’ll be bringing extra. That way, she will have to cook more and will work off some of her anger.”
“Will that work?” Rick typed a quick message on his phone.
“We can hope.”
I pulled into the driveway and watched Ternen and Alannah park. Rick took off to grab his wife and daughter and said he would be here in five minutes. I got out as my mom walked out and we waited in the drive while the two got out of the car.
I snapped a barrier around us and waited for the pair to join us next to my car before I asked my mom. “How did you know I needed an excuse to get them to come over?”
My mom chuckled. “Nix is smarter than you give her credit for. She came to tell me when you all were at lunch, but I waited a bit when I knew I could maximize the effect.” I turned to her.
But before I could say anything, she turned to Alannah and Ternen.
“Hi. I’m Ainsley, Amy’s mom. You must be Alannah and Ternen. ”
They nodded. “We are.” Alannah bowed, but my mom stopped her.
“Sweet girl. I haven’t been a Luna for years now, and even when I was, absolutely no one had to bow to me.”
Alannah straightened and looked between my mom and me. “Our Luna demands it.”
My mom scoffed. “That’s because she is an insecure, chosen replacement. And the only reason she is Luna is because she got pregnant with Brandon and ran. She came back once Brandon was a pup and Vince couldn’t lie to his father any longer.”
We all dropped our mouths open. “Seriously?” I looked at my mom.
She nodded. “Vince was looking for an Alpha female to marry, but then our beloved Luna, who was actually a low ranked Gamma, showed up with a pup in her arms. The Alpha made them mate.” My mom looked at her nails.
“He’s only kept her around because she doesn’t care about the cheating or his plotting. ”
“Is there a reason we are waiting out here?” Ternen looked around, slightly confused.
My mom smiled. “I’m waiting for Rick and his family. And Amy here has made it impossible for anyone to overhear us out here. However, when we go inside, unless we are in her room, that won’t be the case.” My mom turned to me. “Are you planning on bringing them to the cabin?” His gaze was sharp.
“Yeah.” I nodded. “I know we won’t have enough bedrooms, but we have the bathrooms to support everyone, thankfully.”
“Plus, camping would be fun for a young girl who has never been allowed to do anything.” Referring to Rick's little girl my mom smiled..
“Hopefully. And I’m hoping she and my girl get along.” I smiled as I heard another car pull up. “We’ll have to make lists of everything we need.” My mom nodded.
“We’ll also need extra supplies…” My mom looked at me.
I bit my lip. This would be too much to slip through my closet.
Then I remembered the tunnel to dad’s pack house.
“I have an idea.” But I turned to see Rick, his mate, and his daughter coming up the driveway.
“Hey Rick.” I waved and walked down. “This must be Shelly.” I held out my hand, and she smiled, but I could see the shadow in her eyes.
“That’s me.” She shook my hand and then turned to her daughter. “This is Abby.” I looked down at the little girl with dull red hair, dark circles under her eyes and a missing tooth right up front.
I dropped down to her level and stuck out a hand. “Hi Abby, I’m Amy.” She smiled and shook my hand.
“Hi.” She looked at me with tired but curious eyes. “You’re beautiful.”
“So are you.” I grinned, but she looked down, sad. “What’s wrong darling?”
“I’m not beautiful. I’m sick.” She looked back up. “Sick people can’t be beautiful.”
“Who said that?” I tilted my head at her. “I think that some of the most beautiful people are sick. Do you want to know why?”
She looked at her mom. Shelly nodded and then turned back to me. “Why?” She dropped her head to stare at the ground before I could answer.
“I think some of the most beautiful people in the world are warriors.” I reached out and lifted her face.
“Because being sick, like you, is a battle. Getting out of bed can be a struggle, right?” She nodded.
“But you fight to do it every day. You get up, get dressed, and go about your day no matter how bad you feel. That is strength, true strength, and I think that makes you beautiful. Never let anyone make you feel bad about being sick. You can’t help it, and they don’t understand how something as simple as getting up can take your breath away. ”
“Do you really mean that?” She looked at me with wide, bright green eyes.
“Absolutely.” I smiled at her, and she smiled back. I stood up and realized that Rick and Shelly both had tears in their eyes.
“Well, now.” My mom sniffled. “Who's ready for dinner?”