Not Alone Anymore

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Collin couldn't believe what he was hearing. Throughout the night- now morning, he thought- this girl had changed his entire worldview of every law and debate he had ever complied with or agreed to. How had this girl ever gone under his radar? He was so on top of everything that when he was done with his communications, the last thing he thought about was who was delivering them. But apparently that was the most important part.

The distraught male leaned back in his chair. He put an arm behind his head while the fraud sat in front of him, expectant but not nearly as anxious as he thought she should be. Didn't she consider the fact that he could expose her to every pack out there and they would inevitably maul her to death? She was only human, on the same prey level as a pig. She had no right to be so confident.

So why was he the one that was conflicted?

He should be the one holding all of the power here, not her. She had wronged all of these packs. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of werewolves were affected by her fraudulent activities. And yet he was the one that felt light headed. He was the one who was unsteady.

He was the one who was wrong.

She had saved them.

Hours of going through her work in a very detailed manner left him without a doubt that she had saved all of those werewolves who she lied to. She may have fiddled with documents and committed uncountable crimes to do so, but nevertheless, she had stopped anarchy from enveloping the entirety of the North American Pack Alliance, and all of those who are subsequently affected by their actions. Whatever had led to her saving so many lives, he had to overlook it.

She was still sitting, waiting. He was still sitting, thinking. None of them saying a word, but both of them knowing whatever happened next was going to be crucial to the continuation of peace in their secret world.

She cocked her head, and he was glad he didn't have to be the one breaking the silence. "I know it's late, but I hope you aren't falling asleep right now. It would be really awkward if I had to wake you up and ask you again."

Collin noticed that the little glitter in her eyes never quite dulled throughout their night pouring over papers, but now it was a full-on twinkle. It was like she was ready to pounce.

He scrubbed his hand through his hair and leaned back in towards her. He hoped that maybe his eyes also had some of that life inside.

His throat cleared and he plowed ahead, "I am not comfortable with all of the law breaking you have been doing. The rewriting of the letters stops when we do this, got it?"

Mabel balked at him and shook her head. "That's what you got from all this?" She waved her hands around her, encompassing the whirlwind of a night they had, "You're afraid of a little forgery? I just told you that I saved your pack from annihilation and you're telling me you don't want to get in trouble? You should be celebrating my hard work!"

He felt better now that she was thrown off. She had been much too calm all night.

"You told me I'm a respectable leader, and I don't plan on changing that. I understand what you had to do in order to avoid conflict between all our packs, but I won't stand for all of the lying. I admit you did something that I don't think anybody else could have pulled off, and I thank you for your service to all of us. But from here on out, if the offer still stands, I won't be condoning any more fake messages," he stated, watching her smile grow as he talked.

Collin looked at the fiery woman before him, wide awake at nearly three A.M. with fists clenched and a silly grin on her face. He couldn't tell, but he may just have grinned back at her.

Mabel chuckled, "I shouldn't have expected anything less from you. Such a stickler for the rules," she commented as she shook her head and looked up. She focused back on him.

"I'm assuming you're usually asleep by now, so I'll let you go. Sorry for my wild business hours. I can't really get anything done during the day- there's just too much to look at," she apologized. She stood from the chair and he quickly got up as well, not expecting such a sudden departure from her. She didn't seem like she would care about such things as others' bedtimes.

She reached her hand out and shook his, again with a strength that made him more confident in his choice to "partner" with her, whatever that meant.

Mabel nodded at him while grasping his hand, "I'll be staying at Lu Chellian's place, where you saw me run out of earlier. I'll come see you tomorrow to go over some of the ideas I have, but if you need anything, I'll be there."

They let go and she opened the door. Halfway out she looked back and ducked her head at him, declaring, "You won't regret this," and then leaving for good.

That night, Collin never slept.