The Council by Cooper (Jara & Mason)
Chapter 27
Jara
When I leave Mason, I go to find Brynn. I walk to the kitchen, looking for Stella to see if she knows where she is. When I walk in, I stop, trying to understand what I’m seeing.
Instead of seeing Stella, I see Brynn. She’s got her sleeves rolled up and she’s mixing something with her hands in a bowl. There is music playing in the
background and Melinda and Jace are sitting on the counter. Both of them are singing and the omegas helping in the kitchen are dancing around.
Brynn looks up, seeing me staring at them. “Oh, Luna.” She says, pulling her doughy hands out of whatever it is that she’s making.
“Hello, Luna Jara.” Melinda says, her legs swinging as she moves her body to the music.
“Hello, Luna.” Jace says.
The group in the kitchen stops, looking at me, wondering if I’m going to be angry. I walk in, coming up beside Brynn and looking in the bowl.
“What’s this?” I ask.
“A bread base, we’ll have some for tonight and some for-tomorrow morning.”
“Tonight, we’re making fresh garlic bread and tomorrow morning cinnamon raisin bread.” Melinda tells me.
I lean in, smelling the yeasty smell of the bread. “Smells good.” I say, turning to the rest of the room. “What else are we having?”
I watch the omegas relax before showing me that they are making chicken parmesan. I raise my eyebrows at them.
“That’s new.”
“It’s momma’s specialty.” Melinda says.
“When you’re done here, I’d like to speak to you.” I tell Brynn.
“Yes, Luna.”
I leave the kitchen and head to my room. I video dial Layan. It takes her a few rings to answer. I’m just starting to get worried when her face comes on the screen.
“Hello Jara.”
“Layan, how are you doing?”
“I’m good. I was just speaking to Annabel. She was checking on me too.”
“Good. Have you eaten yet today?” I ask.
She looks down. “Not yet.”
“You promised to try, Layan.”
She nods. “I will.”
Her head jerks up and a small smile graces her face. “Mignon’s calling, Jara. I better go.”
“Okay, I love you, Layan.”
“I love you too, Jara.” She says and disconnects.
I immediately call Hana and fill her in on what happened with the alliance call.
“Seth filled me in, so what are you thinking?” She asks me.
“We need to move up the timeframe for our call.” I say.
“I was thinking the same thing. We need to have a call in the next couple of days and we need to come up with a plan for getting the Gamma and her daughter out of Alpha Shawn’s pack.”
“I think we also need to come up with a plan for visiting Quinton’s pack. He wants us to a*s*sess his pack members and I know he’s got a couple of she-wolves too.”
“What about Alpha Luke?” She asks.
“I think he’s got a couple, and Seth said one of the Elders, Elder Colton lives in his pack.”
“That could work in our favor.” She says.
“Mason also suggested bringing in the retired Lunas. I’m not sure how many we have left. While I didn’t agree with the Alphas and Elders doing an inventory of the females and where they are living, I think we need to do it so we can be sure that no one is outside of our circle of protection.”
“Agreed. I’ll set up the meeting and we can get your mom, Luna Gia and Luna Tessa to join our call. I think that will be good. Then we can divide and conquer, and we need to train the other Lunas, on how to protect their pack members from feral-fever.” She says, and I can see her doing an mental checklist in her head to create the agenda for our call.
“Sounds good.” I say, ready to disconnect.
“Anything you want to tell me?” She asks, raising an eyebrow.
Even though I’m in my room, alone, I look around to make sure no one can hear. “I haven’t had a chance to test yet.” I whisper.
She nods. “And Seth said Mason had to leave the call quickly, something about an alarm going up?”
I look at her. “Typhon was here.”
“WHAT? Did they get him?”
I shake my head. “No, he escaped but it means he is hunting me. I’ll have to be even more careful than I was before.”
“When we meet with the Lunas, we’ll make sure that no Luna goes, into a pack alone. We’ll always go in groups of two or more and with our guards, regardless of if the Alphas like it or not.” She says seriously.
“That’s a great idea, especially since at least two of us are already pregnant and the other two are trying hard to get there.”
She smirks at me. “Take the test, Jara. We’ll talk soon.”
When we hang up, I look at the closet where I have the test hidden. I’m about to go get it when there’s a knock at the door. I open it to find Brynn.
“Brynn, come in.” I say, moving to find a place for us to talk.
“Luna, I hope I didn’t do anything to offend you.” She says, taking a seat.
“On the contrary, I wanted to know what happened over the weekend. Even Mason has noticed a change in you.” I say to her.
She folds her hands in her lap, looking at them as she rubs her thumbs together. “You know I was born to two Betas, so I’m true Beta blood?”
“I didn’t, but it makes sense. Melinda is very strong, even at such a young age.” She nods.
“Well, while you were gone, I tried to let the warriors play with Melinda. She isn’t fearful of them in the slightest, but I was worried. However, when we were attacked, the warriors grabbed both of us, putting us into the safe room. I stood by and watched my daughter act like a Beta female, while I stood by doing nothing.” She looks down again.
“I’m ashamed of my behavior and I had some time in that room to realize that this pack is worth fighting for. It is full of good men that don’t deserve the fate that is being handed to us. So, I decided that it was time for me to take my place in this pack. I know Gamma Stella was an omega at one time and the kitchen work isn’t really her strength. It is mine. I asked her if I could take it over and she agreed. So far, it’s working.”
I nod. This is a good thing for our pack.