Quiver

24

Roman

Dinner wasn't being eaten raw tonight which worked in Rori's favor. If it had been raw, she wouldn't have been able to ask for a vote and discuss the matter of the Jaecars at all. She had talked with Bree and cleared everything up which was good. Damion hadn't said much when I'd tried to talk him and I had noticed his reactions when Rori brought up Bree so I wondered if he finally told her how he felt and things went bad. I decided not to ask if Rori knew anything, not wanting to bring more stress to what she already had to do and planned to talk with her tonight after dinner if things went well.

I squeezed Rori's hand as she tugged me downstairs towards the gaming room. "Are we sneaking in a few rounds of Smash before dinner?"

She looked up at me with her sea green eyes twinkling. "Which smash are you referring to?"

My lips pulled into a grin as I tugged her to a halt. "Either or."

Rori smiled then and I kissed her, pushing her against the wall as we stood on the stairs still. She broke the kiss much too early for my liking, but I knew she was up to something.

"I need to find Cole and ask about his training," she said, breathless. "Maybe we can do those rounds later."

"Counting on it," I teased as we continued down the steps.

Cole was indeed down with the Trevor and Cody playing a competitive game of Smash Bros. Rori waited patiently for the match to end and then called Cole over. The eight year old bounced up happily and came over.

"Yes?" He asked, eyeing us curiously.

"How's your training with Luke been going?" Rori asked, just barely masking the concern, but I could spot it easily on her face.

"Fine. He's taught me a lot actually! I think I'm doing really well," Cole said, smiling.

"Hmm. That's good. How about I come see you train tomorrow morning, eh?" Rori asked, smiling at her brother.

Cole nodded his head vigorously. "Yes. I'd like that."

"All settled then," Rori chuckled and then sent her brother back to his games and the guys.

**

Dinner came rapidly as Rori and I did little after talking to Cole, we watched them all play Smash and enjoyed the frustration they all displayed at being a loser at least once. It was the most relaxed I'd seen my beautiful mate in awhile as she laughed and teased the guys. It was the most relaxed I'd been too.

All too soon though that relaxation died away as the howl went up for dinner, gathering us all into the dining room rapidly. We all took our seats, drooling over Annalise's cooking, but before anyone ate Yorik made sure to bring attention to Rori.

"Before we eat, Rori has something to bring up for discussion," he boomed, making many groan at the fact their dinner was being paused.

Rori squirmed in her seat, but I gripped her hand tightly and made sure to offer the support she needed.

"Hello everyone. As you know the Jaecars are the ones who took me and turned me into...what I am now. You also know that they unwillingly changed Cole into a Lupus, though he doesn't mind, he still had the risk of dying like all humans. What I want to ask of you all is, will you help me take down the Jaecars in this area?"

As Rori spoke everyone fell silent and with their silence she gained more courage to keep going. When she finished her speech, everyone began talking at once.

"What?"

"Why?"

"We'll risk our members! We'll die!"

"Rori..."

"Silence!" Yorik growled over everyone. "Let her speak."

"Thank you," Rori blushed slightly before maintaining her composure. "I know you're all worried, but unlike before we have Bree who can cast healing spells and make sure we're up to par. Not only that we have someone else who knows the interior well, Elliere Braim, the Lone Wolf who saved me and Cole."

Everyone then directed their attention to Bree, double checking that she could indeed heal them. She quickly put their fears to rest and reassured each and every one of them. The pack seemed to relax somewhat then, but they still didn't seem sure.

"What I want to do is have a vote," Rori continued. "Those in favor of bringing justice and making sure no more supernatural get experimented on like myself, raise your hand."

I watched as Lupus mulled things over and as the majority raised their hands, I knew it was just the beginning then. We were going to war and there would be no stopping us.

"Very well then," Yorik mumbled. "We have a vote. We'll be putting all that training to use afterall. Now let's eat and worry about beginning tomorrow."