A Dream Of You

Vanessa

Sit still and smile.

A piece of paper swayed back and forth in the air and then took a sharp turn right, sliding under the sofa on the other side of the office. A couple of plastic folders lost their balance and plummeted down, narrowly missing my foot. It crossed my mind that I should try to catch them, but the splash of red and yellow made the post-battle scene on the floor more vivid.

The strenght with which the drawers were opened and shut made the desk shake. I don't know why he went through them again since it really seems like he took everything out by now. Maybe I should just...

No.

Sit still and smile. It would only make things worse.

Another cold gust of wind swooshed through the window, rattling the papers. This time it brought a couple of damp leaves from last autumn.

I felt my fingers going stiff. As lovely as South Dakota is in early April, it's best to be enjoyed through a thick window or at least with several layers of clothing. I had neither. He had opened the window to get some fresh air in for a couple of minutes while he gathers his stuff. It was twenty minutes ago.

A cloud of lethargy was slowly claiming my body. It has been a long day. Wait, technically it's still morning. I think. Being up since 3:30 a. m. distorted my perception of time. I was yet to reach the food part of my day. The lack of meat on my bones did not help the temperature problem either. It was hard to stop my hands from shaking.

One more folder slid down from the stack, knocking over the pencil holder. Luckily, there wasn't much room on the desk for the pens to scatter far.

"Ali, if I may-"

"No no darling. I'm almost done. I know it's here. I swear I had it in the third drawer. But it's not there. It's supposed to be there. Maybe in the file cabinet?"

Goddess no!

The old Beta moved to a massive cabinet behind me. I heard him going through the new drawers, yet to be explored, murmuring to himself about things that are not where they're supposed to be.

Oh yes. Because things grow tiny feet and go on adventures all by themselves while we're sleeping.

The urge to slam my head down was curtailed only by the lack of space to do so. The desk was covered with enough sheets of paper, files and random knick knacks to jam a black hole.

So, I just sat there still, my back straight. I smiled, trying to keep my teeth from chattering. My hands discreetly ran through one another, attempting to warm up. The tremble of my fingers should have made me feel warmer, no?

After a minute or two, I felt someone pushing into my mind. It was Warren. He sounded frustrated.

"Vanessa..."

"We're still at the office."

"..."

"What do you want me to do? Drag him out by an ear like a five-year-old?"

Though I was close to considering that option. I mean, I could give him a stern look and then quickly grab his ear. I had enough practice with Inez when she was little. However, Ali was way bigger than me. Those pounds that he had gained during his purported "retirement" were not in my favor. But if I twisted the ear a little...

"Tell him that we're late."

"You tell him that we're late! Because he didn't care when I said that ten minutes ago."

Warren went quiet.

No more brilliant suggestions? He doesn't even dare to speak to him directly, - my wolf scoffed.

"Have you finished packing? I could take your bags to the car," - Warren said through the mindlink, sounding defeated.

"I think I've left all my luggage near the entrance. Just leave my coat outside of the office."

I sighed mentally. It's time to do something. We're already three hours behind schedule. We were supposed to be at Emerry by dinner, but that's not happening now. Great first impression. I hope that someone has warned the Whitewood Pack about our tardiness.

Ali was not showing any signs of slowing down. If I don't stop him, we won't leave until The Grand Assembly in July.

Here it goes.

"I in no way want to diminish the importance of the late Alpha Reoul's recognition of your efforts in drafting the original Alliance Conditions, but is it absolutely indispensable now? I'm sure that Alpha Robert and others are aware of his respect for you without written proof."

"My dear girl, that letter is so much more than mere flattery. In it, Alpha Reoul discusses the roots of The Alliance. The original intent! I have a feeling that it's something that will need to be reminded during the following weeks. Probably more than once."

He didn't name who will need a reminder. He didn't have to. Alpha Noah Mercer. He and his Crescent Moon Pack have been lusting for more land for years. He had a couple of neighbouring packs join his quest, attacking smaller packs and dividing the prize among themselves. It's only a matter of time till that barbarian turns for the throats of his own "friends", but they're too thick to foresee it. Blinded by greed and arrogance, they will be an easy target for a slimy, nefarious snake. Plus, there's a rumour that Mercer is getting help from some black witches. That opens up an entire treasure chest of twisted possibilities.

We won't be able to do anything to stop Alpha Noah if we are not at the negotiations' table, though.

"What if we leave the issue of the letter? Just for now, of course. The first few days will be mainly introductions and settling in, anyway. I don't think that the necessity for the letter will arrise as soon as we step in The Emerry Fortress. Mark can rigorously go through... umm... all this later and then send you the letter."

The old Beta was horrified by this suggestion. His dark skin flushed with red.

"Send Reoul's letter? By mail?! Oh no no no no no. Darling, those words are way to precious to be just thrown to the post office."

"Alright. I am sure that Mark wouldn't mind delivering it in person."

Yes, I'm sure Mark would be delighted to have to travel about seven hundred miles just to pass on a couple of pages.

Alimayu went still for a moment, considering the plan. I turned to look at him and could see that he wasn't thrilled. But he was a reasonable man, most of the time.

"I would be more at ease if I had it now," - he didn't back down easily, but his determination was fleeting.

"We cannot spend any more time on this. Let's go, please. I will talk to Mark the moment we're in the car."

Come on! So close!

Ali closed the drawer. When he scrached his fuzzy light grey hair, it worried me. What utopian, delaying thoughts are flooding his head?

"Fine, let's go."

Thank you, Goddess. Thank you, thank you!

I quickly went to the sofa and grabbed both my purse and his briefcase. If he gets close to the papers all around, he might read some words and it might give him some ideas that we definitely don't need right now. I'll get Mark and Sue to clean this up after we have finally left.

The old Beta opened the door and let me through first. I gave him the brown leather briefcase when we were in the hallway and scooped my dark grey coat from a nearby chair. I hurried to get him as close to the main packhouse door as possible and, ideally, through it.

While we were descending the stairs, I heard voices. A group was chatting by the door, clearly waiting for us.

"Ah, Alimayu! Finally. I was about to send a search party for you two," - Alpha Gordon exclaimed.

"You must be more than prepared by now," - said Beta-to-be Tae-Min while handing Ali his coat.

The old Beta gave me back his briefcase while he took the coat from his grandson and started to put it on. I passed it to Warren, along with my purse. He can put all that muscle mass to use while I get dressed. I took a couple of steps to the side, so that I could see myself in the mirror to adjust my scarf. That wonderful fuzzy warm thing was something I really needed. I didn't care that Tae will make fun of me about the thickness of the scarf.

"You can never be overprepared for these things, my dear boy. It's the work before that determines your success."

Alpha Gordon proceeded to repeat the main points he wanted us to raise. Councilman Talbot stood by his side and nodded at everything. He was more of a talk-behind-the-back type of man. At the same time Tae, Warren and Gamma Logan discussed our upcoming route. Logan was not coming with us but he went above and beyond to ensure our safety. I have no doubt that the security guys at the Whitewood Pack loved all of his comprehensive inquiries. Logan backed off only after he made sure that Alpha Derek and his son Dan from the neighbouring Cherry Creek Pack were coming to Emerry. I will enjoy having Derek around, too.

I listened to the Alpha with one ear and at the same time contacted Mark through the mindlink. He was absolutely thrilled about having to scrutinise everything at the scattered paper mountain in Ali's office and then drive to Utah. I could imagine him mumbling under his breath.

"We're still strong on the Northeastern border line, yeah? Vanessa?" - Alpha asked.

"Yes."

"Excellent!" - he said cheerfully with a clap. "And the Crescent Moon Pack?"

Urgh, Mercer...

"It will be handled," - I smiled and nodded again. Bastion of grace and self-control.

I'm the one who was left to deal with that lunatic before, so why change things up. There should be others at Emerry that have a headache because of Mercer. And having him in one room with Edward Elgrett, Alpha Robert's brother, will be interesting. That won't be the only cause for a headache, though. As the negotiations were closing in, I was becoming more and more worried. It's going to be a blood bath. Hopefully, only figuratively

The main door slammed open and a bunch of folks came in.

"You're still here?" - Martha boomed.

"Alright, we're going already," - Ali chuckled.

Naturally, he had to say a couple of words to each and every one. I slipped outside, right after Warren. So cold! I nuzzled deeper into my scarf and went to the parking lot. I followed Warren to a white seven-seat van with darkened windows. I hurried to get in. After I opened the door, I jumped back with a little squeal.

"Whoops, sorry," - Daphne said and pulled her rabbit back on the lap. The black and white pet was growling and all upset about his routine being disrupted. - "We're finally leaving?"

"It looks like it. Ali had a foot on the treshold, he should be here in about two hours."

Daphne snorted.

"Marzipan, scoot," - I gestured to the rabbit.

She put the animal in his carrier and put it on the seat in the back, then sat next to it.

"I thought we could take the back," - the redhead said.

I joined her. Daphne took out a big green thermos flask.

"Coffee?"

"Yes," - I said eagerly and reached out towards the hot divine liquid.

When I was already holding a metal cup, Tae got in the front passenger seat.

"Ready or not..." - he said and turned to us. - "For fucks sake, take off that scarf, this is not Arctic".