Chapter 114

Ashlynn POV

The pack was bustling with activity when I awoke this morning. The rumors were flying that Carl, our lead warrior had met his mate last night. It was also circulating that a certain she-wolf had tried to interfere. The Alpha was up early dealing with that, along with some other issues that I knew a bit about. I was informed that the council would be arriving today and so our Beta Cody, would be unavailable to help with ranch operations. This meant that Dawson was going to be doing extra work. My mate was exhausted from working the patrol last night and I was up early to get to work. I left him sleeping and figured I'd go back up to the apartment and wake him up as soon as my Uncle called for Cody to come to the Alpha's office.

I was sitting in the clinic looking over some test results for a heifer we were trying to breed, when the door chime dinged. I set down the papers and stood up, walking around to the front lobby. There stood Shawna, smiling and flushed. I could already guess why, but wanted to hear it from her. "Hi! How did it go last night?"

Shawna walked further in and smiled wider, "He's my mate!" she exclaimed.

"Well of course he is," I stated. "I never doubted that. What happened? Did you find each other right away?"

"No, actually I thought he decided not to come because it was getting late. I waited at the water fall. He was actually held back because of something with Alpha James. That doesn't matter though," she waved her hand in the air. "He is my mate and last night was amazing. He stayed the night in my room and it was incredible. Oh and Natalie met her mate too!" she barely took a breath between sentences.

"Seriously? That's amazing. Who is it?" I asked.

"Carl", she beamed. "Isn't that truly amazing?" I nodded. "Oh but that crazy she-wolf tried to interfere, and I guess the Alpha got wind of that because she's being charged with misconduct and the rumor is that he wants to send her to another pack."

"I'm not surprised. My Uncle doesn't deal with nonsense well, he gets pretty frustrated and over those types of incidents rather quickly. So are you leaving today?" I asked as I sat in one of the chairs and motioned for her to do the same.

"Not exactly. Michael has to stay because Alpha James is staying longer. The council is coming today. He told me I could go home to Idaho Falls if I wanted too but there is no way I would leave my mate here when we just found out we are fated mates."

"I get that. I suppose that Natalie being mated to Carl is going to be an issue for Alpha James? He wont' be happy."

"Natalie will be staying here, that's what she said. She had decided that even before she confirmed Carl was her mate. She said if he was, she would stay here with him. I'm not sure the Alpha knows any of this yet, what with everything else happening. Which brings me to one of the reasons I'm here," she leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Do you know why the council is coming?"

"I know a little but not all of the details. It has to do with our findings in the dungeon. Cody is going to be with the Alpha all day so Dawson has to pick up some extra work. My poor mate is exhausted after running patrols all night," just then the phone on the desk rang. "Let me get that really quick," I told Shawna.

I answered the phone and it was Cody, telling me he had been summoned to the Alpha's office. He told me to let Dawson sleep another hour and then get him up. He had a list on his desk of things that absolutely needed to be done today. I hung up and called Garrett and then Mike. I would need them to work extra today, to help pick up the slack. They may be vet techs, but they were also cowboys and good ranch hands if they were needed. They could at least help feed, which is what I told them when I called them. They never shied away from hard work, which I was grateful for. I was going to need them when I got further along in my pregnancy.

"So," I said as I sat down with Shawna, "I can't tell you a lot, but you may want to consider staying here for longer than another day or two. I have a feeling that the council isn't coming for just one day."

"Why?" she asked.

"I think there were findings in the log books from that lab that could implicate Alpha James and maybe a few other important figures. It's going to get sticky and, unfortunately, it's going to have to happen here in our pack, yet again." Just the thought of all of those councilmen and their protectors wandering around here and watching everyone had me on edge. Not that we had anything to hide, but now it seemed like we had to be suspicious of everyone. The councilmen included.