I so wish I owned these wonderful characters but Patricia Briggs has the privilege of ownership. Hey wait a minute, owning a werewolf?
Chapter 10
Morning came and Sage could hear rustling as Nestor moved around in his room. She stood up and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. Despite her unease last night she had slept soundly. The chair had stayed locked firmly under the doorknob all night and Sage left it there until she was ready to leave the room.
She took her time and came down the stairs heading to the kitchen for something to drink. She would have liked a cup of tea but there had been no sign of that last night and she consoled herself that a bottle of water would suffice.
She was getting hungry and wondered whether she needed to find Nestor for permission to make some breakfast.
He was seated at a small table in the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand and the newspaper spread out in front of him. It looked like he had already had breakfast by the look of the empty dishes and he looked up as she walked in.
"My kitchen is well stocked. Make yourself whatever you would like for breakfast. I have a meeting and will be heading out shortly."
Sage nodded and headed for the fridge, hoping for some eggs and some bacon or ham. She saw a loaf of bread on the counter and decided on an omelet with toast.
She opened different cupboards looking for a bowl to whisk the eggs and a cutting board to cut up the onion and the ham. Nestor made no attempt to guide her to whatever bowls or pans she needed, letting her look in the different cupboards until she found what she wanted to use.
He continued to sit and read his paper but she could feel his eyes on her as she worked.
Finally, sitting down on the other chair she began to eat.
He folded the paper and putting it to the side stood up.
"I don't want you to leave the house while I'm away, Sage. I won't have an un-protected wolf running around my city, and certainly not a female wolf. If you need something or have a question, my number is by the phone along with my second's if I don't answer."
He left his dishes on the table and walked out.
Sage finished her breakfast and took all the dishes on the table to the dishwasher, placing them in as she would if it had been hers. She tidied up the kitchen and headed back to the living room. There was a tv on the wall and a remote placed on the coffee table within easy reach of the couch.
She picked up her phone and sent a text to Bran stating that they would be having a chat when Nestor returned from his meeting.
Bran returned her text with one of his own.
"Phone with developments."
She sat down, turned on the tv and started to flip through the channels. Nestor obviously didn't watch much tv because it looked like he had only a very basic package; news, weather and a few local channels. No sports, no movie channel, no documentaries. There were no racks of DVD's, or any kind of surround sound in view. She wondered how often he had the pack over for an evening. In her mind, this few channels and no movies in sight lent to the belief that whatever they did as a pack was more orchestrated than spontaneous.
She shook her head. Boy, he was just confirming her original opinion on how traditional he really was. She stilled her thoughts on checking the kitchen for a transistor radio on a counter.
She looked at the time on her phone noting it was nearly noon. She heard a car pull up on the driveway and turned off the tv, but continued to sit on the couch.
Nestor walked in and she could see him sniff the air. She wondered if he was checking for visitors or whether she had prepared lunch.
He walked down to his office and placed his briefcase on top of the desk before returning to the living room.
He walked in and sat in what looked like a modern throne and put his elbows onto the arms, steepling his fingers in front of him.
"Well, Sage. You've had some time to think about us. I'm curious to know what decisions you have made. I've tried to set out the expectations of our family here. We would be happy for you to join us as long as you fully understand about our pack structure and our feelings on certain matters."
Sage chose her words carefully.
"Last night I spoke to Bran after I retired for the night. He asked me what my gut feelings were. I'm not sure but you may have heard that he, or more specifically Charles rescued me from my last pack a while ago. I spent the last twenty years putting myself back together with some help from a number of friends."
Nestor nodded. He had heard about that bad business and the fallout that had ensued. Bran had ordered the entire pack dismantled and wolves were scattered over a number of states. His pack had received a couple of members who refused to discuss the situation but the simple fact that when they heard Charles was in the area they literally disappeared until he returned home.
Since the number of female wolves was always very low compared to male wolves, any female was treasured and protected, almost to a fault. Nestor had heard that two of the females in New Mexico had moved to the eastern seaboard in order to gain some independence.
Everyone knew Adam Hauptman had a number of females in his pack and he seemed to integrate them with little to no fuss.
She spoke again.
"I left my first pack because I was being abused and feared for my life. I left Bran's pack because I thought I needed to start a new chapter in my life, not because of danger," she added quickly.
She played with the small pillow that had been leaning on the couch but was now in her lap.
She seemed to come to a decision and raised her eyes to the Alpha then dropping them again.
"While I respect that your pack seems to be very well run and everyone is comfortable in this environment, I just cannot imagine myself living here. I think that in the years since I became a member of the Aspen Creek Pack I was allowed to shoulder more responsibility and conducive to male werewolves than your pack would ever feel comfortable with. I think I only came to that decision when faced with an entirely new way to run a pack, or in this case, an old way."
She tried to soften her next words.
"My personal opinion, if I can be so bold to state, is that I believe the reason why you haven't had any new members is that word has leaked out about your ideals and we as a species have moved on from that mentality. Saying that, I think that it would be in the best interests of all parties if I leave and return to Montana."
Nestor nodded his head. Deep down, he was feeling a sense of relief. In his heart he believed that there would never be a place in his pack that she would feel completely relaxed in.
He had lain awake most of the night worrying about how the pack would cope with this new development. He used to be more liberal in his views but so many of the wolves under his care had made it perfectly clear that they wanted to run their lives like their forefathers in the old country. Was it wrong, he wondered? He checked down the line feeling for impatience and irritation at last night's meal. While there had only been a few wolves for the supper, they included most of the upper echelon of the pack where the majority of the decisions were made.
He thought carefully before he spoke.
"In some ways I am sad that you see us as almost Amish in our lifestyle, but for us it works, and I guess that's what we have to acknowledge. I will contact Bran and figure out the parameters of you heading back."
He smiled.
"As you can probably guess, I too am completely unwilling to let a female werewolf travel alone. Unfortunately, I don't have any members who can take that much time off to escort you, unless you want to sell your car and fly home."
Sage pondered her options.
"Well, I really like my car and it has never given me any reason to sell it, yet."
She paused.
"I'm assuming that Bran gave you an order to call him with what is happening. If I may, I'd like to bounce something off him after you speak."
Nestor looked at her then pulled out his phone.
Bran answered on two rings.
"Hello Nestor. So, what do I need to know about this situation and how can I help?"
Nestor smiled. He had always enjoyed dealing with Bran. He was so very no-nonsense in his dealings at the yearly meetings with the Alphas.
"Sage and I have had a very good conversation and I think that we both agree that while she is certainly welcome to join our pack, I frankly don't think that she would be very happy here. As you know, we are very traditional and the pack seems to enjoy it that way. At the same time, I've come to realize that maybe we haven't had too many inquiries from other wolves to join us for that very same reason. Word must have gotten around about our philosophies."
He paused then spoke again.
"I have Sage here with me and I have also stated that I too am very uncomfortable with her travelling back to Montana alone. She wants to keep her car and that itself poses a problem since I cannot ask any of my men to travel with her for such a long distance. She has mentioned though, that she has an idea and wants to bounce it off you."
Bran spoke.
"Thank you for letting me know the situation. Sage has been a very valuable member of our pack for some time and there are a large number of residents who are really missing her. I'm not sure if she realizes how many friends she has in this town."
He paused.
"You say she has a plan."
Nestor looked at Sage gesturing if she was ready to talk to Bran and she nodded.
"Sage wants to speak with you and I'll just pass my phone to her."
He looked at her.
"Do you want me to leave the room?"
Sage just smiled. It was a polite question but since all werewolves had excellent hearing he could hear the conversation from the other room anyway.
"No thanks, Nestor. You can stay and hear what I propose."
Nestor handed his phone over to her and leaned back into the chair. He could feel his muscles relax and confirmed with himself that this was the right decision to let her return. He honestly believed that she would not have been happy with his pack. Not that she had the wrong attitude, but her ideas and his and his pack's ideas would never agree.
Sage spoke.
"Hi Bran. If I can, I would like to return to Aspen Creek."
Her face wrinkled.
"Unfortunately it took a long trip and issues along the way to realize that Aspen Creek is where I belong. I guess there is a saying that home is where the heart is, and Aspen Creek appears to be my home."
She took a breath.
"I realize that you are probably muttering about me travelling alone again will be totally out of your comfort zone, so, I was wondering if …"
And she stopped.
A/N – so you are sitting there thinking that this is ending quite complacently, eh? Mwahahaha.