Burden (6 page)

Little did she
know that my need for her went leaps and bounds beyond stupid meetings. But for the time being, it would have to do. We walked into the office hand in hand. I offered her a seat beside me, behind the desk. Someone had put a chair next to mine, I glanced to River and he nodded. My Betas never failed me.

“We have several issues to discuss. Number one, I need to make a formal announcement about Echo being my mate.”

“She’s not even marked. Doubt will cloud their minds until they see the mark,” of course Chloe would put in her two cents first.

“That will be handled before the announcement.
Number two, River and Flint along with Echo and I are going to make some changes in regards to finances and security. Some things have to change around here.”

“Like the young being arrested at Justin’s bar.”

“What Chloe?”

“You heard me, Alpha, Barrett and Dylan were brought back to the
clan lands on Saturday night for trying to sneak into the back door of the bar. The police warned us to keep our cubs under wraps. And they took the moment to remind us about truancy.”

“Perfect.
River, handle those two, please.”

The
Betas grumbled amongst themselves.

“Alpha, the leas
t the female could do is listen,” Chloe chastised from her seat.

I turned to see Echo looking out the window, squinting at something.

“Echo, we need your input here.”

“Forgive me. What day of the week is it? I’ve lost track.”

“It’s Monday, Echo. Are you even listening?”

She snapped her head in my direction,
“Yes, of course, Alpha. Chloe was mentioning something about truancy at the same time I noticed two adolescent cubs with matches in their hands heading towards the trees—on a school day.”

We all stood to see that
, in fact, there were two cubs just breaking through the tree line when they should be in school.

“I’ll get them, Alpha.” Chloe barked, snapping to order.

I smiled at Echo. There were six of us sitting in a meeting and she, in five minutes acting as Alpha, had pinpointed a flaw in our system and made a dent in one of our main problems. We saw the forest and she saw the individual trees. That was why we needed her Coeur, her heart. She saw what I couldn’t.

Chloe came in minutes later with the two cubs, both males in tow.

“Evan, Elliot, why aren’t you in school,” River asked them.

They both shrugged.

“Where are your father and mother?”

“Working,” Elliot grunted back at the beta.

“And your job is to be in school. What happened?”

“We missed the bus. It comes too early.”

My turn, “What time does it come?”

“Five in the morning, Alpha. We miss it a lot, that’s why we don’t go. By the time we walk all the way back from the bus stop, Mom and Dad are already gone.”

“So why not come to another clan member and ask them to take you?”

They both looked to the floor, “We hate school.”

I blew out a frustrated puff of air and not so gently ran my hands through my hair.

“Look, why don’t we postpone this meeting until Saturday morning. It looks like I have two cubs to take to school. And I need to speak to Principal Landry anyway.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they answered and filed out.

River dropped
the cubs on the living room couch on his way out, and I went to retrieve my keys and wallet from my bedroom.

When I came back, both cubs were completely entranced in what Echo was saying to them in hushed whispers. I’d never seen young
ones so involved in a conversation which had nothing to do with candy or toys. She spoke to them with a cloud of seriousness but her tone was loving and motherly.

“Do you think you can do better next time?”

“Yes, Coeur. We promise.”

“Good boys. I will fulfill my part of the deal when I see those grades
and that attendance record.”

They nodded and ran from the house. “They’re going to get their back
packs. They will be back shortly. We struck a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“The secret kind. You will see in a few weeks.”

“I’m going to take them to school. Aren’t you coming?”

She looked towards the kitchen, “Actually, It thought I’d stay here and clean up. Besides, there are only three seatbelts in your truck. You wouldn’t want to give a bad impression to this principal right off the bat.”

I sighed, “You’
re a natural. I didn’t even think that far ahead.”

She blushed and
buried her face in my chest, “No, I’m just an outsider. Sometimes a stranger can see the real story before anyone else. It’s no big deal.”

“It is to me.”

I kissed her forehead on my way out. Next would be the cheek, inch by inch, closer and closer, I would get to her mouth eventually. I had to—it called to me.

Halfway to the school, I couldn’t stand it anymore, I had to pry the information from the cubs. “What did the Coeur say to you?”

“She said,” Evan started, “that if we want to grow up to be smart and strong like the Alpha, then we had to go to school. She said that we’d never make good strong males without school.”

“And,” Elliot’s turn, “she said if we didn’t miss one day of school for six weeks straight
and tried our best then she’d teach us how to make fire without matches.”

“Really?”

They nodded enthusiastically.

Fire—a
ll it took was the promise of fire and she’d convinced two strays to straighten up. She was brilliant.

We parked outside of the school and I signed them in. The secretary waved me into the Principal’s office while she escorted the boys to their classes.

“Mrs. Landry,” I greeted her.

“Mr. Turnclaw. Just who I wanted to see.”

“I caught Elliot and Evan this morning. I don’t think they’ll be missing any more school.”

“And the rest?”

“The rest?” She raised her eyebrows. It made me feel like a failure as an Alpha.

“Do you have a list, Mrs. Landry? I will make their attendance priority, I promise.”

She handed me a list of twelve children, Elliot and Evan at the top as the youngest.

“I will get this handled.”

“Please do. Your father was lack in that department, paying fines all the time.”

“I know. I apologize. I don’t intend—I will not be following that example.”

“See that you don’t.” She shooed me from her office.

On my half hour drive home I let my new reality really sink into me. I had a female waiting at home for me. Not just any female, my mate, my world and my sun. But I didn’t know the small details about her that I craved. Hell, I didn’t even know how old she was. In any case
, she belonged to me and I had a lifetime to learn about her details.

Chloe was right. I had to speak to Echo about the mate mark. They would look for it. And if they didn’t
see it, they would lose respect for me, doubt my ability to claim my mate properly.

I just hoped she didn’t run for the swamps when she found out. She was so naïve of even the simplest of black bear customs. I wondered if she even knew the story of where we came from.

Pulling into the driveway of my house, I sensed her there and—another male. It was Tarrow, but even so, I didn’t like it one bit and my bear was ready to tear his head off. Opening the door, I looked around, but didn’t find them. Following my sense of smell, I bounded straight for the office and found them there, on either side of the desk, but both hunched over it, their heads way too close.

“What’s going on in here?”

“Hawke, I’m sorry. I was just going to look through your window to see if I could spot any more cubs and Tarrow came back in to get some records. I noticed your financial documents and had some questions. I hope it’s okay that I saw them.”

I stalked over to my side of the desk and sat in the chair beside her and without permission dragged her onto my lap. I placed my hands just underneath her shirt, my bear needing to feel her skin, confirm she hadn’t been touched by anyone else.
She put her fist to her mouth to stifle a giggle.

“You may look at anything in this home, anytime. You are the Coeur.”

She patted my hands, like she was consoling a child.

“
I handled all of the finances for Horace. I saw some things that looked off on your books.”

“Ask away,” I was now cool and collected but I stared Tarrow down anyway until he got my drift and took the seat furthest from my female.

“Why don’t the clan members put into a main account for clan expenses?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well,” I watched her as she began to speak seriously and couldn’t take my eyes off of her mouth and the way she fidgeted under the table as she tried to make her point. “Horace forced his clan to give him or the Alpha, twenty percent of their paychecks in order to cover clan expenses such as security and upkeep. Of course, he only used about two percent for those means, the rest went into his pocket. Then he’d give them a stipend on paper, but he never really gave it to them. But if your clan members paid, say, five percent in, everything would be covered. You’re covering that stuff with your own personal money, yeah?”

I nodded in agreement.

“That’s wrong, Alpha or no Alpha, you shouldn’t bear the weight of everything. And school—“

“Go on.”

“I’m sorry, I hope I’m not stepping on toes here.”

“What did I tell you?”

“That my opinion is valuable.”

“Exactly, speak.”

“Well, there’s that huge van sitting out there behind the house, not being used. I saw it when I was washing dishes. Why not fix it up and transport all of the children at once to school and back home, ensuring their safety and attendance? That way, you know that every child who belongs in school leaves the clan lands on time and is accounted for. And they wouldn’t have to get up so early to catch the bus.”

After she finished speaking, she huffed out a sigh, obviously still tired.

“It’s a fantastic idea, Alpha. We’d have to hire a mechanic but it would work. I know Flint has groaned about his cubs having to rise so early in the morning. Especially on days after clan runs.”

I nodded, but it could be taken care of at another time. There were more important things to handle at that moment, specifically my mate who was losing steam by the second. Her sleepiness was even causing me to be tired.

“Ok, that’s enough clan business. Tarrow, please excuse us. I think my mate needs a nap.”

He chuckled and left the house, thinking I had some underlying meaning for the word nap. I wished I did.

“I’m not that tired. Besides, I have so many questions.”

“I know. How about we go sit on the couch and you can ask questions and I’ll answer until you fall asleep.”

“Only if you let me make you lunch.”

“Deal.”

She approached the couches and I held back, waiting to see how she’d proceed.  She finally planted herself stiffly in the corner of the full sized sofa.

“Are we getting shy now,” I goaded her. It was worth it for the blush that bloomed in her cheeks.

“If I let myself think about it, I over analyze everything. I don’t know how to do this.”

“How to do what?”

She spread her arms wide, “This. Alpha Female, mate, you, me, I mean, up until a couple of days ago I swear, I thought I was the only bear like me in the world.”

I sat next to her, but not too close—not nearly close enough for the impatient animal inside me.

“They didn’t teach you the histories of the bears?”

“No.”

“Well, maybe we should start there. Would you like to hear about the creation of the black bear?”