The Unlikely Mate

Chapter 6

William, Jackson and Jennifer and the two other warriors were led to the table, at what was obviously an expensive restaurant. William pulled out Jennifer's chair for her once they reached the table, making a point of giving her special attention and sitting close to her. Ordinarily, she would have been flattered by the attention, and excited to have caught the eye of a prominent member of the Council, but as she had every intention of avoiding men and their opinions of her for a while, she wasn't very receptive to his notice of her.

Once everyone was seated and the meal served, they began to discuss William's plans for the Blood Moon Pack.

"First thing I'll need to do is establish my authority, and I'm not looking forward to that" William said as he took a bite of his rare steak. "Can you give me an idea of what to expect as far as resistance?"

"Luther was a nasty piece of work" Jackson said, "and I think his Beta was pretty like-minded, so he will probably be your biggest hindrance. But for the most part, I think the people of the pack were scared and will probably support a change in leadership, especially if you treat them right. Luther definitely led as a dictator, and used the people to meet his needs. He wasn't concerned with meeting theirs."

Jennifer sat quietly, eating her food and listening. She knew that Luther had been a terrible Alpha and he had broken her heart. But it still pained her to hear about him. Even though his brutal death was deserved, her wolf still ached at the loss.

"Why don't you come with me?" William said, turning to Jennifer. "I'm sure Dante wouldn't mind allowing you to assist me as I try to bring order to the Blood Moon Pack. It would be great to have some help with someone who has been there."

"Oh, I don't think I could" said Jennifer shaking her head, feeling very uncomfortable with the idea of helping to restructure Luther's pack, being around those he had abused, and continually being confronted with the effects of the kind of monster that she had been mated to.

"Why not, Jennifer?" Jackson asked, knowing that she had been looking for a change and wasn't planning to come back to the Black Shadows Pack for a while.

"No" she said firmly. "I have other plans."

"Is there any way I could get you to change those plans?" William asked her.

"I'm sorry, no" she replied, shaking her head and avoiding eye contact. It was all she could do to keep her emotions in check with so many eyes looking at her questioningly.

"Well, what are these unchangeable plans of yours?" he asked.

"I'm going to spend some time in town" she said.

"With humans?" William asked, his curiosity mounting.

"Yes" she said, without giving any further details.

"Have you ever lived in town, outside of a pack?" he asked her.

"No" she said simply.

"Do you have a specific city in mind?" he asked her.

"No, I guess not" Jennifer said, realizing she hadn't really even fully developed what her plans were going to be. She just knew that she needed to get away from pack life for a while and planned to live among the humans without being surrounded by happily paired mates.

"That's great!" William said decidedly. "There's a city about half an hour from the Blood Moon's territory. You should stay there, and then you'll be close at hand in case I need any outside help. I'd really appreciate having an ally nearby."

Jennifer wasn't convinced that it was a good idea, but she didn't have a different plan or city in mind, and being close to someone she knew seemed like it could be worthwhile. So with Jackson's encouragement of the idea, Jennifer somewhat reluctantly accepted the suggestion that she would adapt her plans to include staying in the city not far from the Blood Moon's territory.