A Knight's Purpose (Book 1) ✔️

Chapter 3 - F*ck Business Casual

"You aren't wearing that." He decisively takes in my sweats. "Business casual." He growls.

With a snarl, I walk into my bedroom and pull out a pair of slacks and a green draped top. In the minute it takes me to change, Waters has appropriated one of my dining room seats.

"Better."

Why do men always seem to think they have control over what a woman wears? And if the stupid idiot had just told me to wear business casual in the first place it wouldn't have been an issue. The grey slacks and forest green top flow over my body but I'm irritated. I'm irritated at him, at having to change, my trip down memory lane earlier, and this whole Pack business.

And so I lash out at Waters. "Get out of my chair." My voice grows harsh and a snarl threatens but I beat it back. A chair is nothing to get territorial over but the voice inside me thinks it is. He took my space without asking permission.

Waters stands quickly and leads me down the stairs and out to his car, not his cruiser but his personal vehicle which is a small gold sedan. We ride in comfortable silence back to the house where he first took me, though I'm still tense. He hands me out of the vehicle when we arrive and I rise gracefully, allowing him to take my elbow and guide me inside. He seems reluctant to give me too much space but I can't blame him too much for the caution.

This time, we pass through the foyer to the stairs. I start to ascend but Waters tugs on my arm and moves me to the right where the stairs to the basement instead. I freeze looking down the well-lit stairway.

"Uh, is the entire meeting down there?"

"Yes. Will that be a problem?" His brow lowers as he thinks over my reaction to the squad car.

"I will be fine as long as there are no handcuffs involved." I try to joke and he gives a little huff before motioning me to go first. "Are there not more people coming?"

"The meeting started earlier so they are already here," He answers to my back as I descend the stairs.

I mutter my acknowledgement and take the hallway at the end of the stairs. He gestures me to the door at the end of the hall. A soft knock later and I'm walking into a room that spans the full length and farther than the width of the above ground structure that's full of chairs. Only the first few are filled and I approximate fifty people. Grey carpet and blue walls give the room a cold feeling that I always associate with basements, which isn't helped by all the eyes that turn to stare at me.

"Do all of your homes have enough space to fit your full Pack?" I ask in quiet awe.

"Yes. It's a precaution and we rotate which home hosts the full Pack meeting," Waters whispers back. We walk towards the front where Alpha Bluecreek stands at a lectern, flanked on either side by a tall man.

"Alpha," Waters gives a deep bow before claiming a seat in the second row. Rose raises her eyebrow at me.

"Alpha," I dip my head slightly. She narrows her eyes but lets it pass.

"Eve Rutledge, step forward," She intones. I do as asked and step forward to stand in front of the lectern.

"Raise you left hand and place it over your heart."

Uh oh. I know where this is going.

"Rose, this is not what we discussed," I snap softly so no one else can hear.

She ignores me and I have no choice but to go along and hope she has a plan before I have to embarrass her by refusing in front of this portion of the pack.

"Swear to keep the secrets of the Pack safe and to keep our best interests at heart when you are within our lands."

I heave a relieved sigh. "I so swear."

"Excellent. Please turn to face the Pack."

I turn on my heel and face those assembled before me though it raises my hackles to turn my back on all three of the powerful wolves.

"Introduce yourself," Max prompts from where he flanks Rose behind me. I don't know the man on Rose's other side but he stays silent.

"My name is Eve Rutledge. I write historical mystery novels and work mornings at Paint and Build. Mostly I just came for the quiet small town atmosphere." A tight smile ends my speech.

"Alright everyone, I've given her permissions to stay within our boarders. She'll be paying dues but is not a member of the Pack."

A hand goes up.

"If she's not Pack, how can you stand to have her here?" A teenage girl, clearly curious about how this whole thing works spoke up.

"It is true, generally if an unattached predatory species moves in on our land we, and the Alpha especially, feel the repulsive urge to move apart or to fight. However, because she has sworn to protect our interests I have no fear of this developing. Should any of you begin to feel these urges I expect you to come to me or one of the Betas." Rose gives her Pack a hard stare.

Another hand, this one a young boy.

"What is she?" His words slur together and I am impressed by the fact Rose could understand what he meant almost as much as I am by the fact that the kid knows I'm not a wolf.

"She refuses to tell us." Max glares at me as he answers.

"Nor will she shift." This from the unnamed man at Rose's other side.

"Why?" The boy again.

"I haven't shifted in three years." I answer quietly and everyone freezes. That's an absurd amount of time to go without shifting, but I simply can't find the will power to try again. My scars are worse in that form.

The boy shrugs and goes back to his lollipop.

"She's here so that if you come across her you don't attack her." Rose informs them. "She won't be coming to any more Pack meetings until the full Pack meeting so everyone can see her."

Everyone mutters their assent.

"Waters, please escort her back to her home." He stands as Rose bids and I walk to join him.

As we ascend the stairs back to the main floor I turn to Waters and smile. "Well, that wasn't that bad."

"It most certainly could have been worse."

"The adults don't like me but they're willing to go with what Rose says." I observe as we leave the house and get in his car.

"That's the way our Pack works. Most Packs would do it because of an Alpha's orders, but we do it because we trust her and she hasn't steered us wrong yet."

I nod and we settle in silence for the remaining drive through the forest.

When we finally park outside my building I turn to face him again.

"She did that so they would all be able to keep an eye on me didn't she."

Waters frowns but doesn't reply. I take that as an answer in itself. As I step out of the car, he leans over.

"Do you blame her?"

"No, not really." I sigh and walk back up to my apartment. Felix waits for me at the door as per usual and gracefully jumps into my arms as I reach for him. I cuddle him close as I settle onto the couch.

He head butts me and settles more firmly against me.

"It's tomorrow."

He purrs in a somewhat sympathetic tone and kneads me.

"I think I'll call in sick and go out for the day."

Standing, I carry him to my room and collapse on my bed.

****

Sorry for the short chapter, Loves! But if I don't make a break here, the chapter is like 4,000 words long which is a bit much (even for me!)

~M