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 withthe 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 counciltomorrow,” 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 herhand 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.”
