Chapter 8
With Zack out of earshot, Cass rounded on Jasmine and asked the question that was burning in her mind for the last several minutes, "So is it a big deal that you called him Alpha?"
Jasmine smiled her gentle smile but before she could respond Bella jumped in and whisper-shouted "Yes! She's just proclaimed him as her Alpha, officially." She frowned deeply in her sisters' direction before raising an eyebrow and continuing, "You've made your choice then sis?"
Jasmine nodded and confirmed, "Yes. I am not comfortable moving forward until you've decided Bella, but yes, my preference is to stay and be mated with Isaac."
Cass grinned at Jasmine and threw her arm around her shoulder to stage-whisper in her ear, "One down, one to go!"
Bella would never admit to the blush that flushed her face at that.
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Isaac sat lounging on a deck chair under the grass roofed hut beside the pool with a cold glass of lemonade in hand, while watching Cass, Jasmine and Bella throw a ball back and forth in the pool.
It had been a long day, made longer by the incursion of Aerin, and his cuts and scrapes were healing nicely already. He was very much enjoying the warm afternoon weather and spending time watching the 'local wildlife', still he considered taking a nap as the sun crept toward the horizon.
'Mmm nah, too close to dinner time to get a decent nap in.'
The serenity was interrupted by a ping from his phone with a message from an unknown number.
Isaac levered himself out of the deck chair and rested his forearms on the edge of the glass pool fence to ask, "Hey Jaz, Peter wants to bring a "small delegation" to visit in the next day or two, is that normal?"
"Oh, yes," Jasmine answered, "any sort of border dispute is often followed by a formal visit, it's an opportunity to address any disagreement directly before being taken to the council if an agreement can't be reached. That's likely what he meant when he said he would see you soon."
"Alright," Isaac nodded while deep in thought "Well then, I suppose the day after tomorrow would be ideal so we can clean up the lodge a little?"
"Yes Alpha, that would be ideal."
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The phone call with the Ironclaw alpha was not what he was expecting.
The man was warm and jovial, he spoke kindly of Stella and her daughters and offered his apologies for, in his words, "my sons apocalyptic idiocy".
With that topic out of the way they briefly turned the discussion to the formal visit Peter mentioned.
"Alpha Whitepaw, Peter will lead the delegation visiting you in my stead as I will be travelling for some council business. I hope that's not a problem, and I assure you he has my full authority to make any agreements or arrangements on behalf of the Ironclaw pack."
"It's no problem at all Alpha Ironclaw, though I'm not sure what, if any, agreements might be needed."
Alpha Ironclaw chuckled, Isaac got the impression from his voice that the man was huge, based on his low voice and rumbling laugh. He just sounded larger than life.
"You may be surprised young Alpha. I'll leave the discussion for Peter and yourself, but I do want to assure you that you have the full support of my pack in reviving the Whitepaw. We always had close ties between our packs and I want to see that continue. I was lucky enough to call the former Alpha a close friend, anything less than my full support would shame his memory, I feel.
In spite of my son's poor decision making, I hope you can trust my sincerity when I say you can call on me if there is anything I can do to support you."
"Thank you Alpha, I will."
"Alright! Well. I will leave you to it. Don't be a stranger, and please in future call me Torren in private, yes?"
"Understood Torren. Good bye for now."
Isaac hung up the phone and let out a long slow breath. Jasmine had joined him during the conversation and sat nearby quietly as he talked, so he took a few moments to fill her in on the other side of the conversation that she wouldn't have picked up on all of. Shifter hearing was acute and she probably caught most of it, but still he felt it better to be clear.
"His pack is quite large, Isaac," Jasmine said from the deck chair to his right, "and he is a busy man with his council position. It's not unexpected for him to send a trusted Beta on his behalf.
Alpha Ironclaw was always respectful, and he tried his best to support and engage with us over the years. His reputation is positive, he's a good man and trusted well by the council, I don't think you need to be overly concerned about any political manoeuvring. I'm sure there will be some, but if he's offering support to Whitepaw then it will be genuine."
"Mmm okay. That's good then, thanks Jaz." He smiled at her.
"Of course, my Alpha."
"You don't have to call me that, you know."
"I know, but I want to." She said with her gentle smile beaming at him. Isaac's heart skipped a beat, traitorous lump of flesh that it was.
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Isaac was dressed in 'business casual' attire, slacks and a button down shirt with leather shoes, and waiting in the conference room on the ground floor of the lodge. It wasn't a huge space but the table could seat a dozen comfortably, and likely served double duty as a dining table based on the general wear on the aged timber surface.
He and the ladies had spent the last two days cleaning up and preparing the lodge for the Ironclaw visit, the space was transformed. Gone were the cloth covers and the windows were wide open allowing a gentle breeze and plenty of sunlight in, the furniture was cleaned and hardwood floors polished, there were even indoor plants and two large pitchers of ice cold lemonade and water sweating on the table in front of him, the preparations were complete and the delegation was expected any minute now.
The minutes dragged by now that there was nothing more to prepare but the seemingly interminable wait was eased somewhat by Cass's hand in his.
When they heard the crunching of tires on the driveway all four of them rose and headed out to the front porch to greet their guests.
Two large blacked out SUVs pulled up, with Peter stepping out of the lead vehicle closely followed by a handful of other shifters. Peter was quickly joined by an attractive middle aged woman with sandy blonde hair who, based on the way she linked arms with Peter, was likely his mate.
They approached the porch as several others disembarked the vehicles, Isaac was distracted by Peter stepping forward and introducing his mate Maria, but there was no missing the happy squeals as Bella stepped off the porch to meet two other young women who were rushing toward her. They came together in a group hug giggling and chatting, much to the amusement of Peter and Maria.
"I suppose it has been several months since the girls got together, but still," Peter exclaimed with a chuckle, "Girls, please come and greet Alpha Whitepaw."
The group hug was split up and Bella positively pranced along with the other two ladies that Peter shortly introduced as his granddaughter's, Tia and Alexis, children of his second and third son's respectively.
Tia was a fit blonde with an undeniable girl next door vibe who looked like she could be a gym instructor, similar height to Cass at just under six feet tall and showing plenty of toned muscle in jeans shorts and an orange sleeveless top that ended just high enough to give a flash of her defined abs with every bounce as she stepped forward to shake his hand. Alexis on the other hand was a chocolate skinned bombshell, several inches shorter than Tia, with curves for days. She was clearly fit as well, but Isaac couldn't help but appreciate her soft curves, her massive breasts were barely contained in a white crop top and her thick thighs were exposed in the gap between her mid-thigh length black skirt and her knee high socks.
The last of the delegation, aside from two men who were pointed out as their drivers and who would wait with the cars, was a young man who Isaac was ashamed to say he hadn't even noticed until he was introduced. To be fair he was pretty well distracted by Bella's two gorgeous friends.
"And this is my youngest son, William." Peter introduced him with a proud smile.
William was like a photocopy of his father, if that copy had been enlarged by about 20%, where his dad was right around six feet tall, broad shouldered and heavily muscled, William was an inch or two taller and built like a professional bodybuilder. His build reminded Isaac of a gorilla he'd seen in a zoo years ago, but William seemed a little stiff and uncomfortable, though he had an affable smile.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Alpha Whitepaw." William spoke softly while shaking Isaacs hand.
Isaac took a moment to introduce Cass before inviting everyone into the lodge and guiding them to the conference room.
They took their seats, Jasmine and Bella sitting clustered with Tia and Alexis, and helped themselves to drinks and snacks while chatting amiably for a short while before Peter cleared his throat and sat up straight, calling the attention of the room to himself.
"Alpha Whitepaw, thank you for the warm welcome. I would like to get some formalities out of the way, if I may?" Isaac nodded his assent.
"Excellent, to begin with, please once again accept my apologies on behalf of the Ironclaw pack for the trespass on your lands." He paused for a moment to retrieve a sheet of paper from a folder he removed from a messenger back and slid it across the table to Isaac.
"This document is a formal statement and apology that has been submitted to the council by Alpha Ironclaw. While you asked only for a verbal apology my Alpha felt that a formal and public accounting of the transgression was needed. Partially due to the nature of the transgression, but also as the Whitepaw are currently in something of a legal grey area given that the pack inauguration has not yet been signed."
