Willie and Loch both rushed to her side. “What is it?” Loch demanded.
“It’s my Alpha,” Ginger managed to sputter, weakly. “Aurora Sinclair told him that I’m offending everyone down here and –“
Loch grabbed the phone from her, his face like thunder.
“This is Loch Armstrong. What did you just say to my fated mate?”
Ginger’s eyes widened with surprise at his public declaration.
“Goodness, what took him so long to realize it?” Willie whispered.
Ginger could hear Reynaldo spluttering on the other end of the phone, stammering out apologies.
“Aurora Sinclair does not speak for my pack. Our pack has been delighted with Ginger’s company, and we are hopeful that she’ll consider our offer to permanently relocate down here. You may consider Ginger to be under my protection.”
More spluttering from Reynaldo.
“I don’t care that Aurora’s a member of the council. She is the only one who’s unhappy with Ginger’s presence here, and that’s because she’s trying to arrange a marriage between me and her niece. If you have any problem with what I’m saying, you may name the Challenge location of your choice.”
Reynaldo’s spluttered quickly changed to apologetic mewling.
Loch hung up, and turned to Ginger. “How did that man ever become Alpha?” he asked, amazed.
“It’s different in New York.”
“Obviously.”
Ginger managed a weak smile. “Thank you for defending me.”
Loch peered at her with concern. “What’s wrong?”
“Council members have a lot of power. She could cause you a lot of harm. For that matter, she could cause my family a lot of harm. I know she’s a member of the Florida Council, not New York, but still…”
Loch shook his head angrily. “She won’t ruin what we have. I won’t let her. Nobody is taking you from me.”
“But it doesn’t affect just you. Depending on what action she takes, it could affect the whole pack. And my parents. My father has worked for the Alpha for years, and if he were fired from that firm…my parents have a mortgage and three more kids to put through college.”
Willie laid her hand on Ginger’s arm. “Believe my grandson when he says that he won’t let her take you from us. Everything will work out fine.”
Hot tears of gratitude burned Ginger’s eyes. Willie had said “us”. As if Ginger belonged there.
Could it be true? Ginger had never really belonged anywhere before. Not all wolf, not all witch, with her large size always outing her as a genetic anomaly who straddled two worlds.
But the very fact that these people were so kind to her was the reason that she should leave town, she realized with a sinking heart. A vengeful council member could cause all kinds of grief for a pack.
“We should go,” Loch said, draping his arm protectively around Ginger’s shoulders. “We have work to do. Let’s concentrate on that.”
She nodded, and tried to force a smile on her face. When Loch had his arm around her, she felt so safe and protected. She felt as if she were exactly where she’d belonged. The thought of walking away from him made her feel small and cold and alone.
They headed over to the community center. Cletus was standing there talking to Elmore Bishop, the center director, while two little girls and a little boy played on the jungle gym. They were coyote shifters; clearly they were Cletus’ younger brother and sisters.
The sheriff frowned when he saw them. Ginger shot the sheriff an indignant look.
“There’s got to be an alternative to foster care,” she said. “Besides, you have enough on your plate as it is right now. Can you just give it some time? Their mother could come back.”
Privately she wished she could track down their mother and smack her upside the head for what she was doing to her family, but she put a big smile on her face, walked over to where Cletus stood, and handed him the plastic box of sandwiches.
“I’m practicing my sandwich making skills now,” she told him. “You need to test these out for me. Everything going okay?”
“It’s going great. Mr. Bishop here said I could stay on and help out with the maintenance. He said I did a real good job,” he said, with an undertone of defensiveness, as if he expected her to challenge him.
“Of course you did,” Ginger said soothingly, and he relaxed a little.
“Sheriff Armstrong doesn’t mind me bringing my brother and sisters here, does he?”
“Nope. It’s fine,” she said firmly, praying she was right.
The sheriff dropped her off back at the office. “I’m headed out to speak to Montgomery now,” he told Lola. “I’ll be back shortly.”
Jax stood up from his desk. The sheriff turned to him and shook his head. “You’re not coming with me,” he said. “You are not to speak to any of the panthers until you learn some diplomacy.”