Rise

by Heather MacKinnon

   “That’s a lie. We all came up with this idea together!”

   “No. I brought it up.”

   “You just think you did. You always think–”

   “Ladies!” I interrupted before things got more heated and I needed to send them to opposite sides of the room.

   Both women turned to me with sheepish smiles that I couldn’t help but laugh at. I swear, those four took any opportunity to argue.

   I crawled onto the bed and found a spot in the middle. “So, what do we have planned?”

   Callie picked up the laptop she’d brought with a smile. “We brought movies, and once we know what you want to snack on, Evey can run down to grab it.”

   “How come I have to go get the snacks?”

   “Because, like you said, this was your idea.”

   “That doesn’t mean I’m your errand boy!”

   “Ladies!” I said again but couldn’t get the smile off my face. “I just ate, so I don’t need a snack. Let’s just see what movies you brought.”

   They settled down again as Callie scrolled through her digital library. “Are you in the mood for comedy? Romance? Horror?”

   Romance was the absolute last thing I wanted to watch. I was trying to forget how much I missed Abraham, and the tears were still close to the surface.

   “You know what? Since we’re all sleeping in here together, let’s watch a scary movie.”

   “Yes,” Del hissed with a fist pump.

   Callie rolled her eyes and selected a relatively new paranormal thriller. She set the laptop up on some pillows at our feet while we all crawled beneath the blankets.

   An hour later, we had the sheets pulled up to our faces and our hands interlocked as we tried to make it to the end of the movie.

   “I’m gonna have nightmares,” Evey whispered.

   “You just better not wake me up with them,” Bea warned from my other side.

   “Would it kill you to console me, Beatrice?”

   “No, but would it kill you to keep your night terrors to yourself?”

   “Ladies!” I whisper-yelled as the main character unwittingly walked right into danger.

   The rest of the movie passed uneventfully, and soon we were all scared and thankful for the bedmates. A yawn fell from my lips and Callie set the laptop on the nightstand.

   “It’s late. We should try to get some sleep. Abey should be sending some enforcers our way tomorrow so we’ll all have a long day.”

   Almost as if he’d heard his name, my phone rang and Sexiest Man Alive scrolled across the top of the screen. Beatrice laughed at the display and handed it to me.

   “Hey, baby,” I said as I climbed from the bed.

   “El,” he breathed, and a shiver raced down my spine.

   How did he do that? How did he affect me like this with just a single word?

   “Did you make it to Boone?” I asked as I slipped into the sitting room. I knew the other women could still hear my conversation if they wanted to, but this felt like I had some privacy at least.

   He sighed through the phone line. “Yeah, I’m here. Grady’s already agreed to loan us five enforcers.”

   “That’s great!”

   “Yeah, it is. I don’t expect all the packs to be as generous, but Grady’s had problems with Conrad before. I think he’s hoping we knock him down a couple pegs.”

   “Yeah, Conrad seems to make friends everywhere he goes.”

   Abraham chuckled, and the deep husky sound sent another shiver down my spine.

   “What are you doin’, baby?”

   I smiled against the phone. “I’m having a sleepover.”

   “With who?” he asked, his voice stern.

   I laughed. It might have been fun to mess with him a little bit, but I was too tired to drag it out. “Down, boy. It’s just your sisters.”

   “My sisters?”

   I nodded even though I knew he couldn’t see me. “They all decided to sleep in the room with me tonight, so I wouldn’t miss you so bad.”

   He grunted softly. “Is it working?”

   I sighed. “It’s helped get my mind off you being gone, but nothing will make me stop missing you.”

   He let out a deep breath that rushed through the phone line. “I miss you too, El. It feels like I left a limb behind in Asheville.”

   The tears swam to the surface again, and I blinked them back. “Then hurry back to me.”

   He sighed again. “I will, baby. I promise.”

   “I love you.”

   “I love you more, El. Try to get some sleep and I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

   I hung up the phone feeling both better and worse. It was like just hearing the sound of his voice made my longing that much more real. I went to bed that night, stuffed between the McCoy sisters, wishing the next few days would pass as quickly as possible.

   We all woke up around the same time the next day, and it was actually kind of nice. I hadn’t had a proper sleepover in decades, and I’d forgotten what it was like to wake up to a bed full of my friends.

   “Are y’all ready for today?” Del murmured from one end of the mattress.

   Beatrice stretched her arms above her head and nodded. “Can’t wait.”

   “That’s just ‘cause you get to beat on the enforcers extra hard now,” Evey muttered.

   Bea shrugged. “Yeah, but it’s for a good reason at least.”

   I shook my head with a smile. “Maybe I’ll join you for a couple sessions.”

   “Yeah, if you can get away from the lodge.”

   I turned to the oldest McCoy sister and frowned. “What do you mean?”

   “Haven’t you checked Abey’s schedule yet?”

   My frown deepened. “I don’t even know how to do that.”

   She shrugged. “I’ll show you after breakfast. He’s got about a dozen appointments today and I’ll bet they’re all about the same thing.”

   “The coming conflict?” I guessed.

   Bea nodded. “Yep. Get ready to field the same questions over and over again.”

   My stomach dropped as I realized how unprepared I was for this job. “You’ll help me prepare? At least for the first one.”

   “Of course, Ellie. We’re all here to help you.”

   I settled back down on the mass of pillows and sighed. Last night I’d been jabbed in the ribs by rogue elbows more times than I could count, but at least I’d gotten some decent sleep. And thoughts of Abraham had taken a backseat for a few hours. Now, I just needed to get through the day and hope I had the answers my pack was looking for.

  Chapter 35

   “I heard there’s ten packs that have declared war on us and I wanna know what you’re doing about it!”

   It had been like that all day. Each and every pack member was there to ask the same question, except with each one, the story got more ridiculous.

   “There aren’t ten packs who’ve declared war on us, Maggie.”

   “Well, that’s not what Monica said.”

   “Well, Monica is full of shit.”

   Maggie gasped and clutched her shirt over her chest. “Monica is my sister.”

   I sighed and let my head fall forward.

   This day was turning out to be a disaster.

   I felt sicker and sicker as the hours passed, and I’d had to deal with pack member after pack member demanding to know what was being done about the coming threat. I didn’t have much in the way of answers for them, but I did my best to placate.

   I took a deep breath and lifted my head so I could look in Maggie’s dark brown eyes. “We’ve received word that the Charlotte pack is preparing to move against us.”

   She gasped again. “So, we are at war!”

   I shook my head. “We aren’t at war. This is one pack with a grudge against our alpha, but we’re handling it.”

>    She scoffed. “It’s because of that Calvin, isn’t it? I always knew that boy was no good.”

   What could I say? She wasn’t wrong.

   “Yes, we believe it’s because of what happened with Calvin about a month ago. But like I said, Abraham is handling it.”

   “And how is he doing that?”

   I wanted to sigh again, but just barely held it in. “He’s out meeting with other North Carolina packs right now. He’s sending back extra enforcers to beef up our forces. We’re doing everything we can to make sure this threat is eliminated.”

   “So, we’re going to attack the Charlotte pack?!”

   I shook my head and this time just barely held back an eye roll. “No. We are not going to attack the Charlotte pack. We are going to continue to live our lives the way we always have, but we’re also preparing for the worst-case scenario. None of this affects your day-to-day life. Keep getting up in the morning, keep going to work, and keep cooking dinner at night. Abraham and I are working to make sure we can preserve our way of life here.”

   “And if we can’t? What if the Charlotte pack wins?”

   I swallowed harshly and did my best to hold her gaze. I knew I was being tested. My resolve was on the line and my leadership was in question.

   “The Charlotte pack will not win. We’ll make sure of that.”

   Maggie looked just the least bit mollified, but when she opened her mouth again, I cut her off.

   “Thanks for dropping by, Maggie, but I’ve got a ton more people to see. If you have any more concerns, feel free to stop by.”

   She gripped her purse by the strap and stood from her chair. “When is Abraham getting back?”

   A small lightning bolt of pain jolted through my heart because that was the question playing over and over through my head all day.

   I pulled my lips into a smile. “He should be back by the end of the week.”

   “What if something happens while he’s gone?”

   “We’ve got Beatrice and all our other enforcers, plus everyone Abraham sends our way. Five new enforcers showed up just this morning.” I wrapped an arm around Maggie’s shoulders and led her toward the door. “Trust me, Maggie, we have everything under control and there’s no reason for you to worry. We’ll keep everyone in this pack safe and that’s a promise.”

   She eyed me critically for a moment and I did my best to hold her gaze. I’d meant every word I’d said. I knew Abraham and every enforcer in the lodge would lay down their lives to protect his pack and I included myself in that. I’d come to love those people as if they were my family. I’d have done anything to protect them, anything to keep them safe and happy. I just hoped it didn’t come to that.

   I finally got Maggie through the door and closed it behind her. Slumping against the cool wood, I let my head fall back and my shoulders slump.

   I was feeling sicker than I’d ever felt and I knew it was only going to get worse. I’d been able to choke down the smallest amount of food that morning and decided to skip lunch all together. That might have explained why I was feeling lightheaded, but didn’t really account for the way my stomach churned with nausea.

   I figured I should grab something to eat in between appointments, even if it was only a granola bar.

   When I made it to the kitchen, it was blessedly, and surprisingly empty. I hustled across the room and grabbed a cereal bar before anyone could stop me. I’d just ripped open the wrapper and taken the first bite when someone called my name.

   I spun around slowly to find Austin standing on the other side of the kitchen with a serious look on his face. I swallowed the dry oats in my mouth and gave him a smile.

   “Hey, Austin. What’s going on?”

   He shrugged. “I think I’m your next appointment.”

   Holding in the sigh that wanted to release from my body, I hiked my smile up a notch and nodded toward the hall.

   “Sure. Let’s go to the conference room.”

   I was able to sneak a couple more bites of my granola bar as we made our way down the hall. When we got to the conference room, I gestured for him to take a seat while I took my own. I raised the bar to my mouth again when he started speaking.

   “I wanna help.”

   I paused with the granola inches from my lips before lowering it slowly. “Help with what?”

   He looked down at the hands he had fisted together on the table in front of him. “I wanna protect this pack. I wanna be an enforcer.”

   I set my granola bar down and folded my own hands. “Why is that?”

   He raised an unimpressed brow at me. “I’ve heard the rumors, Ellie. I know the Charlotte pack is going to attack us any day now.”

   I shook my head. “We really don’t know that.”

   “We don’t know when they’ll strike, do we? It could be tomorrow, right?”

   I tilted my head to the side and shrugged a shoulder. “I guess it could be. It’s not very likely, though.”

   “Why do you say that?”

   I blew out a big breath and sat forward in my chair. “Conrad has had more than a month to retaliate against us and he hasn’t. I’m sure it’s coming, but I don’t think it’s any time soon.”

   He leaned back in his chair and stared at me. “But it could be.”

   I sighed. “Yeah, it could be tomorrow. That’s why we’re doing everything we can to prepare now.”

   He nodded. “I wanna help,” he said again. “Me and a couple other guys were talking about it and we wanna join the enforcers.”

   “Why now? Why not join them before?”

   He sighed and reached up to scratch the side of his neck. “I’m not much of a joiner. I like to be by myself. To do my own thing.” His features hardened as his eyes turned back to mine. “But this is my home and I wanna protect it. Let me do my part.”

   My chest filled with warmth as tears swam to my eyes.

   What was wrong with me?

   I took a deep breath and willed the moisture away before giving him a nod. “Okay, I can talk to Beatrice, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem. What about your duties as groundskeeper?”

   He shrugged. “That’s only a couple days a week. I can fit training in between that.”

   I picked up a pen and pulled my notepad toward me. “And who else was it that wanted to join the enforcers with you?”

   “It’s me, Marco, and Brad.”

   I wrote the names down before shooting him a look. “They’ve all got important jobs here on the pack lands.”

   Austin shrugged. “They said they’d work around their hours.”

   Well, I guess they had it all figured out, huh?

   I shrugged and gave him a smile. “I’ll talk to Beatrice and have her get in touch with you about training, okay?”

   Austin’s lips pulled up into the first smile I’d seen from him today. “Thanks, Ellie.”

   He rose from his seat and held out a hand for me to shake. I got up too and a wave of dizziness hit me, but I ignored it and took Austin’s offering.

  His smile widened, and he nodded. “I’ll see you around.”

  “Bye, Austin.” He was just pulling the door open when I realized I had more to say. “And thanks for this. It means a lot that you’re willing to take on extra work to defend the pack.”

  He shrugged. “This is my home. I’ll do whatever it takes to protect it.”

  Those damn tears swam to the surface again, and I was glad he hadn’t waited for a response from me. I plopped back into my chair and choked down the rest of my granola bar. I really needed to get myself under control.

   And I needed to go find Beatrice.

   I checked the laptop I’d set up in the conference room and saw that, thankfully, Austin was my last appointment for the day. I quickly logged off and shut down the computer before leaving my makeshift office to go find Beatrice.

   I didn’
t need to look long or far. She’d been out back running drills with the enforcers all day. Problem was, if I wanted to talk to her, I’d have to shift because she’d been in her wolf form since she got out there.

   I walked through the back door and checked my surroundings before quickly disrobing and shifting right there on the balcony. It wasn’t easy getting down the stairs on my four clumsy legs, but I managed.

   I rounded the house at a trot, thankful to have the grass under my paws and the wind in my fur as I went searching for Bea and the other enforcers. They were in the grassy field we always used for practice, and it looked like they were sparring.

   “Huxley, you just left yourself open for Mathias to attack your flank! If he didn’t suck as much as you do, this fight would be over!”

   I shook my head and did my best to stifle my chuckle. Beatrice could really be a tyrant when she wanted to be.

   I trotted over and nudged her with my shoulder. She turned and gave me a wolfy smile.

   “Hey, Ellie. You here to practice?”

   I tilted my head. “Yeah, I could go a few rounds after the morning I had.”

   She chortled. “That bad, huh?”

   I shook my head. “Each one had a wilder story than the one before them.”

   “That’s what happens in a pack. It’s like a giant game of telephone, and the farther down the line you go, the more wrong they are.”

   “That pretty much sums up my morning. But my last appointment was what I’m here to talk to you about.”

   She was watching the two wolves fighting in front of us and shot me a look. “One sec, Ellie.” She turned back to the fight and yelled, “Mathias? What the hell was that? Are you salsa dancing or fighting a werewolf?!” She growled, and I was thankful I wasn’t on the other end of her ire for a change. “You know what? Why don’t you all take five and work on removing your heads from your asses! Come back ready to actually fight and not just tap dance around your partner!”

   The rest of the enforcers trotted away grumbling just softly enough that we couldn’t make out their words while I did my best not to laugh. When Beatrice finally turned to me, I could see the mirth in her eyes.

   “You have to speak their language, or you’ll get nowhere with these idiots.”