He flashed Morgan a triumphant look. "It's been a week. You failed to fulfill the contract," he said.
Nelda let out a sigh of relief. "It's okay, we'll find you someone much better suited for you, dear," she said, nodding at Morgan.
Valerie felt her heart sink. Of course she knew this mating was fake. Of course it was a torment to be around Morgan and pretend to be his mate when she knew she could never have him. She'd barely slept the night before, wrapped up in her flannel pajamas and listening to the sound of Morgan's breathing, so close to her and yet so far away. She should be relieved that this farce was over and she could go ahead and quit, like she'd told him, and … never see him again.
"Whoa, whoa, hold the phone," said Honoria. She looked at her watch. "It's 10:15 a.m. Morgan spoke to us at nine a.m. last week. You can check the phone records," she added to Boothe. "So technically, it hasn't been one full week yet. We've got an hour."
She smirked at him and high-fived her brother.
"You've just been lawyered," she said smugly to Boothe.
"Honoria," her mother said indignantly. "I am proud of your legal skills, but this is not the time or the place to use them."
"Breathe," Morgan said to Valerie. "You're turning blue."
Valerie realized she'd been holding her breath, and let it out again
Boothe and CoraBelle exchanged looks of dismay.
"But we live in California," Hud said quickly. "So we're on Eastern Time, not Mountain Time. An hour earlier. Time's up." He gave Boothe a dirty look. "You should have thought of that. Call yourself an Elder?"
"We've still got fifteen minutes." Honoria folded her arms across her chest. "You cannot out-argue me. Trust me on this."
Nelda nodded, with a look of annoyance on her face. "Unfortunately, true," she said.
"Well, have fun out in the snow, naked, with no shelter, trying to hunt your own food," Elmira said, with a smirk at Valerie.
A look of concern furrowed Morgan's brow. He glanced out the window; it was clear and sunny out, but it was also twenty degrees Fahrenheit and there was a foot of snow on the ground.
"She's human. Obviously she can't fulfill that part of the contract," Morgan said to Boothe.
"The law is the law. So you concede?" Boothe said, with just a little too much eagerness. "You can't fulfill the mating requirements?"
"With her," Nelda interjected quickly. "He can fulfill them with someone appropriate. I mean someone else."
Valerie stared at them, trying to hide her growing unease. How long could she last in this kind of weather, naked and barefoot in the snow, without succumbing to hypothermia? Minutes, probably. Morgan could carry her, she guessed, but that would just slow the hypothermia down a teeny bit.
She closed her eyes and tried not to picture herself naked, resting in Morgan's muscular arms.
"No, I do not concede. This is just a ridiculous requirement," Morgan said with irritation.
"Doesn't matter. It's pack law. "
"Wait a minute," Honoria said. "That law was passed when our pack first formed, and when it was illegal for humans and shifters to mate. Back when shifters were first created and nobody knew what would happen with a human-shifter mating. Those laws were biased and antiquated and based on scientific ignorance."
"Oh lord, she's climbing up on her soapbox," Nelda muttered. "There'll be no stopping her now. Unless her Alpha orders her to … " She glanced at Morgan, who shook his head.
"I'm enjoying this," he said. "Honoria, please continue."
"Therefore, if I recall my civics class correctly – and trust me, I do – the law is prejudicial and illegal and cannot be enforced. But we can take it up with the Council for Shifter Affairs, if you like." She looked Boothe straight in the eye. "It'll get national publicity. You won't come out looking good."
He cleared his throat. "All right," he muttered. "I will concede that she can wear appropriate clothing for the weather."
"And they can stay in a shelter," Honoria said quickly. "You can't require them to do something that would be physically impossible for a human."
Boothe's face was flushed with anger, and he looked from one of them to the other.
"There's an empty hunter's cabin three miles due north of here," Morgan said. "No electricity. It's a good compromise. We'll leave right now."
"Fine," Boothe bit out. "You won't be allowed to pack. And you're not supposed to cook any food that you catch-" He saw Honoria's challenging look. "Fine," he grumbled. "Morgan can cook the food for her. But he has to eat his raw."
"Wait!" Morgan's mother said, her voice ringing out imperiously. "Valerie. Admit this is ridiculous. Look at the problems you're running into already, trying to integrate into our lifestyle. I will pay you one million dollars to leave this mating right now."
"I'll pay you zero dollars to kiss my fat ass," Valerie said, grabbing her overcoat from the hallway closet. Honoria and Homer laughed behind their hands, and Nelda gasped in outrage, as Valerie pulled her overcoat on.
"I'll match it," CoraBelle said quickly. "And you will too, won't you, Elmira?" Elmira looked startled, hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Three million dollars, Valerie! Think of it!" She pasted a big, bright smile on her face.
"You could offer me infinity dollars and I'd say no." Valerie pulled her boots out of the closet and stepped into them. She pulled her wool cap and mittens from the shelf and put them on.
Nelda looked at the two women suspiciously. It was odd that they were trying to help her in this.
"You guys are up to something," Honoria said.
She snatched the contract from Boothe's hand and began frantically paging through it. He growled at her in anger; Homer stepped in front of his sister and growled back at him. "Don't you growl at my sister," he said, with a hint of fang showing.
"Morgan, be reasonable," his mother pleaded.
"Mother, unless you want to be on the next plane back to California, by order of the Alpha, you will never insult Valerie like that again," he snapped at her. He reached into the closet and quickly pulled on his overcoat.
"Aha!" Honoria yelled. She looked up at Morgan. "There's a clause in here that says that if the Alpha announces he's mated and then either party voluntarily chooses to end the mating, he can no longer be Alpha. So it's Valerie or nothing."
"What?" Nelda gasped in outrage. She looked at Morgan. "I had no idea. I thought Boothe would just be able to find some legal clause to get rid of her. I didn't realize it would disqualify you."
"You were the one who called him?" Morgan said furiously. "Why am I not surprised?"
His mother ignored him, swinging around and glaring murderously at CoraBelle and Elmira. "You knew about that clause and tried to disqualify him on purpose. How dare you? You lying, cheating little skanks."
"Can't blame a wolf for trying," CoraBelle said with a smirk.
"Bitch!" Nelda shifted and lunged at her, knocking her off her feet. Boothe shifted. Homer shifted. Hud shifted. Camden shifted. Festus shifted last, but hung back nervously as the rest of them lunged and snarled and snapped at each other.
Arthur and Honoria stayed human.
Honoria stepped out of the way of the howling, yelping wolves, looked up at the wall clock and then back at the two of them. "Go!" she yelled.
"Arthur, keep an eye on the business ‘til I get back," Morgan called out.
Then he grabbed Valerie's hand and pulled her out the door.
"But … your family! They'll hurt each other!" There were sounds of barking and snapping and yelping behind her.
"Welcome to the Rosemont Family Reunion . Happens at least once every holiday." He kept a firm grip on her hand and tugged her along behind him. "Don't worry, they heal fast."
They began trudging through the snow.
"I was supposed to finish decorating the Christmas Village this weekend!" Valerie groaned. "And Teddy! I like to check in on her. I mean, her aunt can watch her, I guess, but … Slow down, will you?" She struggled to keep up, her feet sinking into the thick, deep snow.
He scooped her up in his arms. With his shifter strength, she felt as light as a feather pillow, for the first time ever.