Chapter 3
By the time they were up the following morning Isaacs dad had already left, he had left a hand written note on the kitchen counter informing them of his flight itinerary and another apology.
To Isaac the day was nothing less than domestic bliss. They ate breakfast together, he cooked pancakes this time, Cass put together a delicious Thai salad for lunch and they fill the rest of the day with a run, video games and several bouts of gentle lovemaking.
They had decided to join Cass' parents for Sunday dinner and come evening they had a plan of attack to share their happy news with her folks.
This time the reaction was much more like they expected, with Mrs Sherman shrieking and launching herself at her daughter for a tearful hug in true over-reacting fashion while her father Stuart just reached across the table to shake Isaacs hand with a gravelly "It's about time".
Of course the Shermans insisted on sharing a bottle of wine to celebrate, and they chatted amicably around the kitchen table after dinner.
Cass joked that she was basically ready to move in with him already and indeed packed a slightly larger overnight bag with necessities before they headed back to spend the night at Isaacs.
Their whispered conversation while cuddled up in bed that night revolved around plans for job hunting, house hunting for a place together, and what their shared future might look like.
Monday morning started early for Isaac, he woke to find Cass' fingers stroking his raging hard on, and after a passionate session of lovemaking he decided to go for a run while Cass opted to have a lay in.
She eyed him appreciatively as he threw some clothes on and trotted out the door.
A solid hour of running in wolf form later he rinsed off in the outdoor shower and headed into the kitchen to find Cass had put together a mixed breakfast, bacon and scrambled eggs, avocado on thickly sliced toast and sliced fruit, along with coffee and apple juice. As she plated up a heaping serving for him she gently pecked his lips and slid his phone onto the bench letting him know he had a missed call and a text message.
*Mr Isaac Greymane, Parker and Associates have been contracted as your legal counsel effective immediately relating to Whitepaw Pack business.
Your presence is required at our legal offices at your earliest convenience. Please do not worry, you are not in any legal trouble. Please call or message to confirm your availability as any further discussion must be in person.
Regards, Valerie Parker*
Cass nervously picked at her breakfast spread as Isaac stared at his phone. She had only seen the first line or so of the message when it popped up on his lock screen but that was enough to show it related to Parker and Associates which was obviously a law firm.
"Are you okay Zack? Is this what your dad meant to keep our Monday morning open for?"
"Yeah, it's from a law firm, short on details but something to do with my old pack. I'm not in any trouble apparently but they want to see me ASAP for some reason."
Isaac hadn't thought about his pack for years, in fact he had actively avoided thinking on that extremely painful and emotionally complex topic outside of therapy sessions that he hadn't needed in quite some time.
When he was five years old his entire pack had been wiped out by a group of traditionalist extremists who disagreed with his packs support of a plan to publicly disclose the demihuman society's existence. Their compound had been razed, his family and everyone he had ever known murdered in one fell swoop, with young Isaac left for dead amongst the rubble of his home.
He had been trapped in a basement nook for two days before being rescued by human emergency services workers.
Ironically enough it was the attacks against his family and others scattered around the world by those who didn't want to go public that blew the top off the demihuman secret. Those atrocities were the result of a shadow war waged by those traditionalists against the pro-public demihuman supporters who quickly attracted widespread human support thanks to men like his adoptive father publicly calling for the demihuman community to be supported and protected from extremist violence.
Isaac had been hospitalised after the attack, Ivan Steinbeck had been brought in to work with psychologists and doctors in his rehabilitation and subsequently took steps to bring him into his family and home when it became clear none of his pack was left and no other shifter packs came forward to claim him.
The Whitepaw pack had ceased to exist, so why was he being summoned to talk to a lawyer about Whitepaw business, some 17 years later?
After a brief discussion Cass and Isaac agreed to visit the lawyer immediately so he sent a quick message confirming his receipt of the text and estimated time of their arrival.
After finishing their breakfast they quickly dressed, Zack dropped a message to his father to update him on their movements, and they headed out in his car.
The lawyers offices were in a smart three story concrete and glass building near the town centre, with a large parking lot situated behind it.
When they presented to the receptionist Cass was asked to wait in the lobby while Isaac was immediately ushered into a meeting room. After a brief 10 minute wait a brunette woman entered the room, sharply dressed in a charcoal pant suit.
"Hello, I'm Valerie Parker, Isaac is it?"
"Yes Mrs Parker, I'm Isaac Greymane"
Valerie placed a folder of papers on the table and took a seat directly across from Isaac, "Okay, let's get started. You've been called in today as you are the sole surviving male member of the Whitepaw pack. You may not be aware, but you are not in fact the only pack member to have survived the tragic events that befell the whitepaw pack.
Three other members survived, a mother and her two daughters. The mother, Estella Wintergreen, in fact passed away recently due to natural causes and as part of her will included a large number of documents related to the legal holdings of the pack. In short the purpose of our meeting today is something like a reading of a will, but significantly more complicated as it includes a legal transferral of pack properties and some additional items that we will discuss separately on pack incorporation. This is all a bit of a legal quagmire, as I'm sure you can imagine, given this is not an everyday occurrence. Are you with me so far?"
Isaac was more than a little stunned. He had lived near two decades believing that he was the sole survivor of his pack, that the Whitepaws were no more. He was vaguely aware of the way that shifter packs became a pseudo incorporated business in the wake of the demihuman integration but the implication was that he was somehow inheriting the pack holdings, or at least part of it. That was entirely unexpected.
"I believe I understand what you're saying. The pack had some holdings that I may inherit a part of as the last male pack member, and there are two other pack members I've never met?"
"Yes, but to be clear you will not inherit a part of those holdings, you will inherit them in their entirety."
