Seven mates for seven brothers

48- Nobody else was

“What do you mean; when are we going?”  Alex thundered.

Sam snorted and the other girls smiled broadly at her.  “Exactly what she said.  When are we going?”  She directed her question to Stan.

Stan was smart enough to realize when he was stuck in the crossfire.  “Eh…”

Pandemonium broke loose as the guys all got into heated arguments with their mates; Conrad and Stan watching from the sidelines as the two sides battled it out.  When things got really heated, Conrad whistled loudly for attention.  When things calmed down; he looked at Alex apologetically.  “As much as I hate to say so; Cassy is right on this one.”

Even Stan stared at him but when his brothers were ready to confront him, he held up his hand to silence them.  “Do you remember the way Tina and Liz and the rest of the girls reacted the first time we met?”  He waited a while for them to consider his words before continuing.  “Then, how do you think the females of this pack we’re going to is going to react if an all male army steps in?  To them it would seem as if they were passing from one bad situation to the next.  The presence of the girls will smooth things over.  Believe me.”

Alex looked at Conrad strangely.  Conrad had never acted this way before; what had happened to his brother?

Conrad could feel the uncertainty and confusion as well as rebellion his brothers were experiencing.  Gritting his teeth he squared his shoulders.  [What if she is there Alex?  How would she feel about us invading her home like that?]

For a long moment the entire room held its breath; then Alex exhaled heavily, the battle lost.  There was no way he would not allow the girls to come along after hearing what Conrad had said.

Liz was the closest to Conrad and she hugged him tightly.  [She will be fine Conrad; we will make sure of that.]

Thankfully Conrad hugged her back lightly, thanking his brothers silently for their willingness to take the risk.

“So, now that that is settled,” Tina said breezily, “when will we be leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning as early as possible.”  Stan said; still a bit stunned at how events had turned out.  He wondered if there were any other females that were insisting in accompany their men like this.  In all honesty, he doubted that very much.  The Grey brothers seem to have found themselves the most frustratingly strong minded woman they possibly could.

*****

By late Saturday afternoon they were close to their destination and the conversation in the minivan had dried up as soon as they left the last little town on their way to the pack grounds they were visiting.  Alex and Cassy were driving with Stan in the sedan and the rest of them were all in the minivan.  The road leading to the pack grounds was dusty as the convoy of vehicles left a trail of dust clouds as they hurried along; eager to get all the unpleasantness over and done with.  As they reached the clearing they could see the poorly attended houses and little side roads.

Cassy shook her head at the neglect.  This place looked a hundred times worse than Yellow Stone had when she first saw it.  The paint was peeling off of the walls and was so discolored by the sun; she could not even guess the original color.  There was no sign of the normal pack activities; no children playing around; no woman gossiping with each other and certainly there was no sign of any patrols being run.  The place was ominously empty of any sign of life.  As they got closer to the centre of the clearing; she could see why.

It seemed as if every single member of the pack had been squeezed into the empty spaces between the houses and the larger building that was most likely the pack house.