the rest?”
“The rest?” She raised her eyebrows. It made me feel like a failure as an Alpha.
“Do you have a list, Mrs. Landry? I will make their attendance priority, I promise.”
She handed me a list of twelve children, Elliot and Evan at the top as the youngest.
“I will get this handled.”
“Please do. Your father was lack in that department, paying fines all the time.”
“I know. I apologize. I don’t intend—I will not be following that example.”
“See that you don’t.” She shooed me from her office.
On my half hour drive home I let my new reality really sink into me. I had a female waiting at home for me. Not just any female, my mate, my world and my sun. But I didn’t know the small details about her that I craved. Hell, I didn’t even know how old she was. In any case , she belonged to me and I had a lifetime to learn about her details.
Chloe was right. I had to speak to Echo about the mate mark. They would look for it. And if they didn’t see it, they would lose respect for me, doubt my ability to claim my mate properly.
I just hoped she didn’t run for the swamps when she found out. She was so naïve of even the simplest of black bear customs. I wondered if she even knew the story of where we came from.
Pulling into the driveway of my house, I sensed her there and—another male. It was Tarrow, but even so, I didn’t like it one bit and my bear was ready to tear his head off. Opening the door, I looked around, but didn’t find them. Following my sense of smell, I bounded straight for the office and found them there, on either side of the desk, but both hunched over it, their heads way too close.
“What’s going on in here?”
“Hawke, I’m sorry. I was just going to look through your window to see if I could spot any more cubs and Tarrow came back in to get some records. I noticed your financial documents and had some questions. I hope it’s okay that I saw them.”
I stalked over to my side of the desk and sat in the chair beside her and without permission dragged her onto my lap. I placed my hands just underneath her shirt, my bear needing to feel her skin, confirm she hadn’t been touched by anyone else. She put her fist to her mouth to stifle a giggle.
“You may look at anything in this home, anytime. You are the Coeur.”
She patted my hands, like she was consoling a child.
“ I handled all of the finances for Horace. I saw some things that looked off on your books.”
“Ask away,” I was now cool and collected but I stared Tarrow down anyway until he got my drift and took the seat furthest from my female.
“Why don’t the clan members put into a main account for clan expenses?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” I watched her as she began to speak seriously and couldn’t take my eyes off of her mouth and the way she fidgeted under the table as she tried to make her point. “Horace forced his clan to give him or the Alpha, twenty percent of their paychecks in order to cover clan expenses such as security and upkeep. Of course, he only used about two percent for those means, the rest went into his pocket. Then he’d give them a stipend on paper, but he never really gave it to them. But if your clan members paid, say, five percent in, everything would be covered. You’re covering that stuff with your own personal money, yeah?”
I nodded in agreement.
“That’s wrong, Alpha or no Alpha, you shouldn’t bear the weight of everything. And school—“
“Go on.”
“I’m sorry, I hope I’m not stepping on toes here.”
“What did I tell you?”
“That my opinion is valuable.”
“Exactly, speak.”
“Well, there’s that huge van sitting out there behind the house, not being used. I saw it when I was washing dishes. Why not fix it up and transport all of the children at once to school and back home, ensuring their safety and attendance? That way, you know that every child who belongs in school leaves the clan lands on time and is
“The rest?” She raised her eyebrows. It made me feel like a failure as an Alpha.
“Do you have a list, Mrs. Landry? I will make their attendance priority, I promise.”
She handed me a list of twelve children, Elliot and Evan at the top as the youngest.
“I will get this handled.”
“Please do. Your father was lack in that department, paying fines all the time.”
“I know. I apologize. I don’t intend—I will not be following that example.”
“See that you don’t.” She shooed me from her office.
On my half hour drive home I let my new reality really sink into me. I had a female waiting at home for me. Not just any female, my mate, my world and my sun. But I didn’t know the small details about her that I craved. Hell, I didn’t even know how old she was. In any case , she belonged to me and I had a lifetime to learn about her details.
Chloe was right. I had to speak to Echo about the mate mark. They would look for it. And if they didn’t see it, they would lose respect for me, doubt my ability to claim my mate properly.
I just hoped she didn’t run for the swamps when she found out. She was so naïve of even the simplest of black bear customs. I wondered if she even knew the story of where we came from.
Pulling into the driveway of my house, I sensed her there and—another male. It was Tarrow, but even so, I didn’t like it one bit and my bear was ready to tear his head off. Opening the door, I looked around, but didn’t find them. Following my sense of smell, I bounded straight for the office and found them there, on either side of the desk, but both hunched over it, their heads way too close.
“What’s going on in here?”
“Hawke, I’m sorry. I was just going to look through your window to see if I could spot any more cubs and Tarrow came back in to get some records. I noticed your financial documents and had some questions. I hope it’s okay that I saw them.”
I stalked over to my side of the desk and sat in the chair beside her and without permission dragged her onto my lap. I placed my hands just underneath her shirt, my bear needing to feel her skin, confirm she hadn’t been touched by anyone else. She put her fist to her mouth to stifle a giggle.
“You may look at anything in this home, anytime. You are the Coeur.”
She patted my hands, like she was consoling a child.
“ I handled all of the finances for Horace. I saw some things that looked off on your books.”
“Ask away,” I was now cool and collected but I stared Tarrow down anyway until he got my drift and took the seat furthest from my female.
“Why don’t the clan members put into a main account for clan expenses?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” I watched her as she began to speak seriously and couldn’t take my eyes off of her mouth and the way she fidgeted under the table as she tried to make her point. “Horace forced his clan to give him or the Alpha, twenty percent of their paychecks in order to cover clan expenses such as security and upkeep. Of course, he only used about two percent for those means, the rest went into his pocket. Then he’d give them a stipend on paper, but he never really gave it to them. But if your clan members paid, say, five percent in, everything would be covered. You’re covering that stuff with your own personal money, yeah?”
I nodded in agreement.
“That’s wrong, Alpha or no Alpha, you shouldn’t bear the weight of everything. And school—“
“Go on.”
“I’m sorry, I hope I’m not stepping on toes here.”
“What did I tell you?”
“That my opinion is valuable.”
“Exactly, speak.”
“Well, there’s that huge van sitting out there behind the house, not being used. I saw it when I was washing dishes. Why not fix it up and transport all of the children at once to school and back home, ensuring their safety and attendance? That way, you know that every child who belongs in school leaves the clan lands on time and is
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