“Yes?” She hesitated, her voice squeaky.
In the softest, calmest voice Mary could manage, she continued, “You can tell Pastor Edmund, his wife, Ada, and whoever else has organized this time to run our city into the ground that he can take his bigoted ideas and shove them up his pompous ass. Neither I nor my sister will bow down to his brand of racism and intolerance. I have already informed the sheriff of Edmund’s renewed interest in threatening the citizens of this town. If he even blinks wrong any time in the near future, he’ll find himself behind bars faster than he can finish his next breath.
“I’m so sorry to see you used as a pawn in his charade. I hope you can grow a spine in the near future so your children’s lives are not ruined by the brand of intolerance and hatred spewed from the pulpit of your hell-fire-and-damnation church. Have a nice day.” Mary smiled as widely as she could and then turned her face back toward her computer and pretended to focus on her next task as though everything she’d just said were of no particular consequence.
Rachel gasped. She stood rooted to her spot on the other side of Mary’s desk for several seconds before turning around and slipping out the door as quiet as a mouse without uttering another word.
Mary leaned back when the door shut and closed her eyes. She was exhausted, but she’d never been more proud of herself. Considering she had to pull that speech out of a hat on the spot, she felt rather smug.
As soon as she could pull herself together, she reached for her phone. She had several calls to make. Amanda, Trace Masters, and Jazmine to name a few. And then she could get back to her day job, teaching children. Good riddance to the pompous assholes who had their heads so far up their asses they couldn’t see the light of day.
»»•««
“My mom’s coming over today,” Sawyer casually informed Amanda over a late breakfast.
She rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms.
“What? You’ve only met my parents in passing Friday night. And that was before we knew we were destined to claim you. She wants to get to know you.”
Amanda narrowed her gaze at his innocent expression. “You know perfectly well I have nothing against your mom, and she’s welcome to spend as much time with me as she wants. I’m sure I will adore her, as long as she’s nothing like my own mother. But Sawyer, let’s call a spade a spade. You asked her to come over here to babysit me.”
He frowned. “That’s not true.”
Logan shoved his chair back and grabbed several plates without meeting her gaze.
Sawyer continued. “We just want you to be safe.”
“I’m perfectly safe. You taught me how to descend a mountain I have no intention of ever climbing, and we haven’t seen another warning spirit since then. I managed to walk into a building yesterday and come back out without it falling on me. I think we’re good.”
She hated lying to her mates, but she hated suffocating even more. She’d woken up in the middle of the night and spent over an hour pondering her dilemma.
No one in the family had ever been harmed by a black aura. In fact, no one outside of the family had, either. It meant no harm.
She wanted this job to work out. Not only was it her first professional experience where she would actually be paid a salary and be a grownup, but it sounded interesting, and she couldn’t wait to get started. The last thing she wanted was for Logan or Sawyer to follow her around—or worse, send someone else to—making her boss think she wasn’t mature enough to handle a research position on her own.
“Amanda…” Sawyer stretched his head back and forth.
Logan came back to the table and leaned over it. “Just humor us for this morning, okay? We aren’t comfortable leaving you alone. Besides our concerns about that totally whacked church and their indirect threats to your sister, there’s something unsettling about the logging site. I spoke to Trace earlier. Jackson called after he visited the site. He confirmed they appear to be over-logging and may have other violations as well. He didn’t give any indication to the owner they were under investigation, thank God. He simply acted like it was a routine visit and left.
“But I don’t like it. Even though it’s irrational, I still think someone at that site knows I’ve been there snooping. If they suspect I called the safety manager, they could retaliate.”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Don’t you think that’s a bit of a stretch? You’ve only been to the site in wolf form. You said no one there’s a shifter. And logging inspection must be a routine occurrence.” Logan was overreacting. She was certain of it.