MY HOME IS IN YOUR ARMS

Chapter 3

I woke to find myself held snugly in Gavin's arms. Goddess, but I love this man. Turning my head, I glanced at the time, then sat up in a panic. If we didn't hurry, Gavin and I would be late for the meeting with the town council.

Yes, town council. This past year has seen a lot of changes in how the pack was governed. The plans to emulate how human municipalities were run have been very successful. Elections for town councilors were held in mid-January after Pa and I had met with all the candidates. There had been twenty-five members that wanted to run, but after Pa and I had met them all, we actually weeded out four of them.

Those four had been related to, and supported, the actions of Emily McLeod and her parents. And when I say supported, I mean by knowing how they treated Emma, and didn't report it to the Alpha unit. They had turned a blind eye, and allowed an innocent person to be harmed, because they couldn't be arsed enough to do what was right. That in my books was as bad, if not worse than what Emily and her parents had done.

To me, that meant those four weren't fit to look after the good of our pack. If they were willing to turn a blind eye to harm being inflicted on a family member, how could I trust them to do right by the pack? Nope, not going to happen. Not on my watch.

Gavin stirred beneath me as I gently ran my hand over his chest. "My love, we have to get up. We have the council meeting in an hour, and we do not want to be late for it." I murmured softly. I really would prefer to stay here in bed with my handsome mate, but duty calls.

I rolled off of him, and stood to my feet, then headed to the bathroom. I adjusted the water temperature in the shower, then stepped in, allowing the hot water to stream down my back. Gavin soon followed me into the bathroom and joined me in the shower. I squirted a generous amount of body wash into my hand, then with a wicked grin I used it to soap his hard, muscled body. As always, he returned the favor.

"Goddess, love. If you keep that up, we are not going to make it to the council meeting," he groaned as my hands moved lower to wash his backside, then snuck around to the front to take the evidence of his arousal in hand. Swallowing hard, he reached out and fondled my breasts, tweaking my n*****s.

Just when I thought we would be enjoying some very hot shower s*x, Gavin swatted my butt, and grinned. "Much as I want to make love to you again, we have to go to the council meeting. We can't delay this matter any longer. Our packs' continued safety depends on this."

I sighed in disappointment as I finished my shower and stepped out to dry off. Since I had put my hair up into a messy bun before getting in the shower, I didn't have to spend time drying it. Thank goodness! My hair was now down below my butt, and since it was extremely thick, it took forever to dry. No time for that today.

Keeping an eye on the time, I brushed my teeth, then took a few minutes to comb my hair and style it into french braids. That way, my hair was off my face, and wouldn't tangle. I smiled to myself as I thought about how much Gavin loved my hair, loved running his hands through it, loved gently pulling it as we made love.

'Ellie, get your mind back to the matter at hand. You can daydream about Gavin and your hair later tonight. Honestly, you have become a very wanton woman since you mated!' Wolf Jade reprimanded me for my thoughts.

I grinned to myself before replying. "Yeah? And just who was shooting those naughty thoughts over to Jet yesterday? Hmmm?"

My Jades snickered in laughter. They enjoyed being mated to Gavin and Jet, just as much as I did. Hey, what can I say? That man is my stud muffin.

Gavin's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and back to the subject of the special council meeting. "After the presentation, the representatives from the surrounding human towns gave last meeting, it's important there be no dissension from our council at this vote. Have any of our pack members come to you with an opinion on this?

The matter on today's agenda was one that has plagued many packs, and human world landowners, over the past number of years. The matter of 'ramblers clubs' wanting access to land for the pleasure of walking, trekking, hiking, and all that manner of outdoor exercise. Many private landowners were against allowing just anyone to have access to their lands. Not all ramblers were respectful of the rights of the landowners, often leaving gates open, allowing livestock to escape, destroying property, tossing garbage around. The list of transgressions was long and frustrating for the landowners. When it came to the safety of supernatural packs, the issue was even more involved. Pack land, while providing areas for housing, schools, shops, and our hospital, was used for training. Supernaturals are trained in their supernatural forms, as well as their human forms. At any given time of the day, or night, we could be in our Were forms, either for training, or just for play, or a pack run.

Currently, the perimeter of our pack boundaries is enclosed with an eight foot stone wall, and protected by a witch's spelled shield. No one was allowed access to our pack lands unless specifically invited, and entrance was only through the well-guarded front gate. The humans in the surrounding towns, not realizing we were other than human, had petitioned our town council for permission to enter our lands at will.

As far as I was concerned, that was a big NO! Not going to happen. And I would say that the majority of our pack agreed with me. My only concern was the four individuals we had weeded out as candidates for election to our town council. I had made a decision that those four needed to be dealt with, once and for all.

Time and time again, over the past few months, those four tried to stir up trouble within the pack. At the last council meeting that included all adult pack members, they had created a ruckus and had to be removed by force. They had been warned that should that happen again, they would be punished accordingly.

"Gavin, I want to make sure we are on the same page regarding the four McLeod malcontents. Our investigators have found enough evidence of treason that we can have them convicted. I know that since we moved to a 'council' way of managing the pack, we have tried very hard not to come down as the 'omnipotent Alpha'. But I feel that if the McLeods try anything at this meeting, we have to show we haven't lost our power, and that we are not afraid to use that power. Do you agree with me on this?"

"Ellie, I more than agree with you. I think we should ensure our protection detail is there and ready to step in. I think we should also ask Paxton to assign some of his detail to assist. For some reason, I think there is going to be a showdown at this meeting."

"Mmmm, I agree. Let's get to the council chambers early. I want to put a spell on the venue that will shield us, and prevent the casting of any spell with evil intentions. I don't trust those four not to try something like that."

"Okay, let's head over there now, and I will mind-link Paxton and our protection team to get in place." Gavin's eyes clouded over as he sent out a group mind-link to our protection team, then one to Pa. I knew that Pa would have no problem with sending part of his team since he, I, and Gavin had discussed the possibility of a showdown with the McLeods. We were prepared for one, we had just hoped we wouldn't have to have one. But people with evil intentions abound in the world, whether supernatural or human. The best we could do was to spot them, and then deal with them appropriately.

Hand in hand, Gavin made our way to the venue for the pack-wide council meeting. If games were to be played, we would come out the winner!