Seven mates for seven brothers

53- What is the matter?

Slowly order and renewed purpose surfaced and the process of deciding exactly who would be going to which new pack started up again and the line formed at the table again.  This time however, Cassy was the one doing the writing while the council members performed deeper scans of those persons being helped. 

As Alex paced along the table and line of waiting shifters, he kept only part of his mind focused on his surroundings.  On a different level he was aware that his mated brothers were also ‘walking the line’ while Ethan and Conrad had a stronger need to be closer to their unclaimed mates.  They were assembling the van again and as soon as the allocations were done, they would be leaving for home.  He sighed with his whole being.  This venture had a most unexpected outcome.  Conrad had found his mate; granted that there were still some obvious issues to be sorted out about the whole thing, but to him there was no doubt as to the outcome of the situation. 

When Grace shifted, she would… at least her wolf side would recognize her mate in Conrad and Grace would come to accept this.  Perhaps she would even manage to tame the insufferable jokester in him and give those around Conrad some measure of peace.  Then, on the flip side of the coin, Alex suspected that it would most likely be Conrad’s sense of the absurd that would keep him going until Grace came of age and shifted.

Ethan would most likely be fully mated before Conrad; Lucy was already showing some of the early signs of the approaching change that would finally make her a full member of the pack.  He smiled as he remembered his first impression of Lucy when she had defended herself against her older brother’s accusation.  She was a fitting mate to a Grey, they all are; he thought as his gaze swept over the activity at the van as they assisted in getting everything back in place.  Even Grace was working alongside the other girls as if she had been doing so for a long time.

Finally he turned to look at Cassy as she assisted the council to place the renegade pack members and he could not contain the fierce pride in her as he took in her gravid form.

Having the connection they had, Cassy was immediately aware when his thoughts turned to her and she took the time to send him a lingering glance before dropping her eyes demurely.  After all this time a mere glance still had her temperature rising.

“Ouch!”  Cassy exclaimed suddenly and she arched her back and breathed deeply.

In seconds Alex was by her side, his one hand on her tummy while the other rubbed circles on her back as his face searched hers.  “Did it hurl badly?”

“No.”  Cassy smiled at him apologetically.  “It was more a surprise than anything else.  They have been rather quiet up until now.”

“Let me take over for a while.”  Sam’s voice interrupted and she nudged Cassy to get up from the chair.  “Your sitting like this for such a long time is squishing the babies.  No wonder they decided to let you know they need more room to move in.”

Alex looked at her gratefully.  Sam might not be one of them but she definitely belonged with them.  Brian was a lucky guy.

[I know.]  Brian answered smugly as he walked up to them.  “Both of you can take a break now.  Sam and I will take over for a while.”

“That is a good idea.”  Stan agreed and nodded his approval at Brian.  “We are practically done here anyway and then we can all go back home.  We are contacting the new hosting alphas as soon as we are making the decisions.  Most of them are in town already.  That is why we only involved those specific packs in the first place.”

Alex looked at him with a question in his eyes and Stan chuckled softly.  “I did not expect you to be getting any new members at all.  There are a lot of packs out there that need the extra people to bring them back up to strength.  You were asked to come to help us resolve this situation because of your experience and the way that you and your brothers have proven that they can think on their feet.  Without your help this would have been a long and tedious process.”