The Mating(53)

“Elise, I can do that.” Kane began to walk away from the group, but Marla grabbed his arm.

“Kane, I need to talk to you—” The curvaceous blonde pressed herself closer to Kane, but he stepped away.

“Marla, I’m tired. Whatever you need to say, you can tell John.”

“Oh, but I was hoping you’d be able to drive me home tonight. One of my headlights isn’t working and...”

Kane cut her off. “Franz is heading into town, aren’t you Franz?” The man nodded. “I’m sure he’d be willing to give you a lift, or follow behind your car, to make sure you get home in one piece.” Pulling his arm free, Kane walked away and started to fold up chairs, failing to see the astonished look on Marla’s face, which then turned into a pout. Abruptly, the woman turned and stomped out of the room. John and Franz just shrugged and continued their conversation.

Elise had watched the whole incident with interest. Helen was right. Kane was upset and Marla would have to do some fancy footwork to get on his good side again. The thought pleased her and she was barely able to stifle her smile. Kane was her mate, and while she wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about him, she did know that she couldn’t tolerate the idea of Marla getting her claws into him.

Between the two of them, they had the chairs put away in no time. John carried the coffee urn upstairs and Helen declared that the room was ‘good enough’ for the night. “We can vacuum, wipe the tables, and deal with the presents tomorrow. I don’t know about you young people, but my old body doesn’t appreciate being up until midnight anymore.” With that, Helen took her leave and John headed upstairs as well. Turning off the lights, Kane put his arm around Elise’s waist and led her to their suite.

Once upstairs, he wearily began to pull his shirt off, stretching his neck as his tense muscles twinged. “What a day. I’m exhausted.” He dropped to the edge of the bed and pulled off his shoes and socks then rested his forearms on his knees. “I don’t know how it was for you, but the unease of the pack during that meeting was really noticeable to me. I’m not sure if John and I managed to reassure them sufficiently or not.” He exhaled gustily and rubbed the back of his neck.

Remembering her thoughts during dinner, Elise sat down beside him and began to rub his shoulders. “I think you did the best that you could, given the circumstances. It seems to me that with so much happening all at once, there’s really no way to completely soothe everyone’s concerns. You presented the facts, stated what you were doing to deal with the issues, and now they have to have faith that their Alpha will do his job.”

“Thanks. I know that the pack is behind me and some just needed to air their concerns, but it’s really wearing trying to remain calm and reasonable. The Alphas of old would have ripped the throat out of anyone who questioned them or gave them a hard time. It wasn’t the right way to do things, but in some ways it was easier.” Kane gave a rueful chuckle and smiled gratefully at Elise. “Mmm, that shoulder massage feels good.” He leaned appreciatively into her hands.

“Here, lie down.” Elise gave him a gentle push and Kane rolled onto his stomach. Straddling his hips, she began to work on the stiff muscles of his shoulders, neck, and back. “My goodness, I’ve felt concrete with more give than your back.”

“That’s where my stress always goes; right into my shoulders.” Kane closed his eyes and gave a moan of pleasure as her efforts began to meet with some success. “I can’t believe the mess I’m facing. When I was Beta, there were never this many problems, but since Zack’s death it’s just been one thing after another.”

“You do seem to have more than your fair share to deal with.” Elise agreed as she shifted a bit in order to apply more pressure to a particularly nasty knot in his shoulder.

“Problems with hunters and trappers are common every fall, but this business with Ryne is really getting me down. I never would have thought he’d turn on his pack like this, and despite what I’m saying to the others, I’m beginning to have my doubts as to his innocence. There are just too many coincidences.”

“What was Ryne like?”

“Well, he was always more impulsive than me. Quick to fly off the handle or jump to conclusions, but he was equally quick to apologize and admit he’d made a mistake. Ryne was hard-working and loyal to the pack, but he fit into the human world quite well, too. He had a promising career as a nature photographer and actually had a few exhibits of his work. They weren’t economically profitable, but there was quite a bit of critical praise for his pictures.”