More bark than bite
1422 Words
*Lillian*
I fold the blanket, place it in the box, and lift my gaze to the she-wolf standing on the other side of the bed who is doing the same thing. "I hope we haven't hurt your feelings."
Callie glances up. "Of course not. Why ever would you think that?"
I shrug. "You made me feel so welcome, and here we are, after only one night, moving out."
Callie smiles with understanding. "I'm glad that Briony and Wade offered to let you live in their vacant house. I know it's difficult to marry someone you have only known a short time. I didn't know Chase at all when I married him. If my family had been underfoot, I don't think I ever would have gotten to know him."
"I feel badly taking the furniture from this room." I admit.
"It's always been Blaise’s. I often thought of replacing it, but I wanted him to come home to something familiar. I was afraid all the other changes would overwhelm him." She says.
I pick at a loose thread on the blanket. "You must love him very much to accept what he did."
"I understand why he did it. I hated to see him go to prison, but the decision was his to make, and I respect that." She says.
Understanding, respect, acceptance. I wonder if Blaise would give those as easily to me if he knew the entire truth about my past. I suppose one has to build a foundation of love before one’s faults can be laid bare and accepted.
"Chase and Blaise should have the table moved out of the shed by now. Do you want to run outside and let them know that we’re almost finished here?" Callie asks.
I nod, walk to the doorway, and halt. "Callie?"
Callie glances over at me, and I nibble on my lower lip. "I appreciate that you don’t seem to be sitting in judgment of me."
Callie’s brown eyes widen. "Because of the baby?"
I jerk my head quickly.
A wealth of understanding and sympathy fills Callie’s brown eyes. "A child is a gift, Lillian, regardless of the circumstances. And Blaise's child at that. We will spoil the baby rotten, I promise you."
I don't doubt it. I have already seen evidence that every child in this family is considered precious.
I walk into the hallway and down the wide sweeping staircase. The discordant notes of a piano travel from the front parlor. I amble toward the room, the off-key chords grating on my nerves before they fall into silence. I peer into the room.
"Did you practice one hour every day like I told you?" a rotund she-wolf asks Cooper.
He shrugs.
"Stand up, young man," she orders.
Slower than ice melting in winter, he slides off the bench and stands.
"Hold out your hand."
I see Cooper tense as he extends his hand, palm up. The she-wolf picks up a thin wooden stick and raises it.
"Don’t you even think about striking him," I snarl as I storm into the room.
Cooper spins around so fast that he loses his balance and drops onto the bench. The she-wolf’s eyes protrude farther than her nose.
"How dare you interfere with this lesson?" She demands.
"I’m interfering with your cruelty, not the lesson." I growl.
She lets out a huff, "Alpha Moonshadow is paying me good money…"
"To teach his son, not to beat him." I cut her off.
"He is lazy and irresponsible… " she starts.
This time I huff, "Irresponsible? What time did you get out of bed this morning?"
"I don’t see that that’s any of your business." She says.
"This child was up before the sun tending to his chores, and he will sneak in a few more after everyone thinks he is in bed, so don’t tell me he is irresponsible. You are irresponsible." I snatch the stick out of the she-wolf's hand and snap it in two.
The she-wolf’s jowls shake. "How dare you! Wait until Alpha Moonshadow hears about this." She storms from the room.
I slide onto the bench beside Cooper, give him a warm smile, and begin to play "Greensleeves."
*Blaise*
“Alpha Moonshadow! Alpha Moonshadow!”
Standing in the wagon, holding one end of the heavy table, I glance over my shoulder to see something that looks like the beginnings of a dust storm hurling toward us.
"Drop it!" Chase orders, and I gladly oblige, hearing the wagon groan beneath the weight.
The banker’s mate staggers to a stop. "She broke my stick!"
"Who did?" Chase asks.
She points her finger at me. "I believe she’s his mate."
I settle my butt on the side of the wagon. "If Lillian broke your stick," I swallow my laughter, "I’m sure she had a good reason."
"I will not tolerate interference from that hoyden when I’m teaching," the she-wolf says.
"I will talk to her," Chase says.
"The hell you will," I say. I glare at the she-wolf. "And she is not a hoyden."
She huffs, "She’s married to a murderer!"
"My brother’s not a murderer." Chase growl.
"I was at the trial…" she starts.
"That will be enough, Mrs. Henderson. Why don’t you head on home, and we will take this up tomorrow?" Chase suggests.
She sticks her nose in the air. "I don’t think I can teach Cooper. That boy is as lazy as his father."
"I’m his father." Chase says in an icy tone.
"Not by blood." She huffs.
"By all that matters." Chase shoves on the table and sends it crashing against the back of the wagon. "Jackson!"
A tall lanky man hurries out of the barn. "Yes, my Alpha?"
"Escort Mrs. Henderson home." Chase says.
Leaving the she-wolf to huff and puff, Chase strides toward the house. I leap off the wagon and catch up to him. "You gotta pity poor Lester being married to that."
Chase just snorts.
"What are you aiming to do?" I ask as Chase stalks through the front door.
"Find out what really happened." He says.
I hear the music filtering out of the parlor. Chase grinds to a stop in the parlor doorway. Wanting to ensure that I can get between Chase and Lillian if the need arises, I slip past my brother and freeze.
Lillian is playing the piano with Cooper sitting beside her, watching as her hands move over the keys. She strikes the final chord and folds her hands in her lap.
"I could never play like that," Cooper says, his voice filled with awe.
"You could if you wanted," Lillian says. "But the secret is… do you want to?"
Cooper shakes his head. "I would rather be out tending cattle."
"Then that’s what you should do." Lillian says softly.
"But I don’t want to disappoint Alpha C. He ain’t gonna like what happened with Miz Henderson at all," Cooper says quietly.
"Of course, he won’t like it," Lillian says. "She is lucky I walked into this room and not your father. He would have snatched her baldheaded if he had seen that she was going to strike you."
Cooper looks at her with hopefull eyes, "You really think so?"
"I know so." She shifts on the bench. "Cooper, he loves you very much."
"I know he does, but I ain’t really his son. His son is buried out by the windmill. He died on account of me." Ducking his head, Cooper rubs his finger along the edge of the piano. "I ain’t never said that out loud, but I know it to be true."
"Cooper!"
Cooper comes off the bench at his father’s booming voice, and Lillian looks as though she is about to jump out of her skin.
"Yes, Alpha?" Cooper says.
"I need to talk to you, son," Chase says more quietly. "Outside."
Chase turns abruptly and heads down the hallway. Cooper hurries after him. I amble into the room and sprawl in a chair near the piano.
"What do you think he’s going to say to Cooper?" Lillian asks, worry etched deeply between her brows.
"Imagine he’s going to explain to the boy that he is indeed his son." I say.
She smiles softly, "How long were you there?"
"Long enough to know Cooper will be herding cattle instead of banging on a piano." I say, smiling proudly at her.
Lillian breathes a sigh of relief. "I’m beginning to think your brother is more bark than bite."
"Only where family is concerned. Make no mistake about that."
- Writer
