For Melanie, the aftermath of the Blood Insult was that every feeling of comfort and fun had been sucked out of the Gathering. At every turn, she swore she could see whispering comments in the side conversations of every meeting, every event she attended. Contemptuous sideways glances and barely overheard remarks from one werewolf to another filled her days, and she could feel the tide shift against her, regardless of Keith's assurances.

Morrigan Thornblood was also visible more, standing in a secondary position behind her father's chair at almost every meeting, saying nothing, but glaring her deep hatred at Clan Lockwood constantly.

On the formal political side of the Gathering, Melanie also sensed the increasing problems Keith was having as well. With the disruption caused by the Blood Insult, the various Clans had polarized, with Clan Lockwood on one side and Clan Thornblood on the other. While there were quite a few Clans that stood next to Keith and still supported him, many of the others, seeing a chance to take down a strong rival, temporarily allied themselves with the Thornbloods.

Melanie watched as vote after vote was brought to the Council's attention, only for each of them to go against Keith's wishes. While Keith and his allies may have been the Alphas of the more powerful and respected Clans, the Thornbloods have greater numbers. All of the disgruntled, second tier clans that were ready to take down those they felt were above them allied themselves with the Thornbloods.

The first sign of the new alliance was a dispute on air rights. Previously, travel fees for werewolves going through another's air territory was paid directly to the Clans involved. Via a proposal by the Thornbloods and carried by their new alliance, the Council itself would collect the fees, equally distributing them to all Clans regardless of if the travel went over their territory or not. It was a clear disadvantage to the Clans with major airports in their territory, while Clans with minor territory or even no air routes would greatly benefit. As Clan Lockwood contained four of the busiest airports on the Eastern seaboard, they stood to lose the most in the new, "equal" redistribution.

"It's not a matter of the damn money," Keith grumbled to her and Kimberly via mental link, "But the fact that the minor clans can now literally sit back and do nothing and make money off of our Clan."

Melanie could see the tight lines of Keith and Kimberly's faces as decisions kept going against them, until after three more days, she didn't think Keith could stand anymore. They had lost on almost every vote: air rights, education rights, Council fees, whatever else she could think of, each decision whittling away at the Lockwood's finances and power while enriching the minor second tier Clans. Desperate to help Keith, Melanie knew she could do nothing except help him relax at least a little bit. Retreating to their quarters, she waited up, making sure she was awake when he came in from his latest side meeting, his face black with concern. "We have lost another ally," he said as he slumped down in the chair of the sitting room.

"What happened?" Melanie asked. She felt more out of touch than ever, as Keith's stress levels led to him cutting off their psychic link more and more often, sometimes not even by choice. She could still feel his emotions, and his presence was always there, but his actual thoughts were now often just blurry impressions. "I could only tell you were talking to the Blanc Loup Alpha."

"Mmmm, yes. Henri has been a good friend for a while, but he is in a difficult position. His territory is now surrounded by enemies, and he cannot survive if he continues to support us. He informed me tonight that while he will not vote against me, he will abstain from supporting our Clan for the rest of the Gathering."

Melanie could feel her shoulders slump. While the Blanc Loup were small, she had found the time she could talk with their Alpha Female, a softly French beauty named Cherise, enjoyable. She had hoped that they could develop a friendship and had expressed as much to the woman in their last conversation.

Now it looked like that chance would never present itself. "What of our other allies?" she asked, kneeling at his feet and rubbing her hands along his tense thighs. Keith looked at her through his fingers, sighing as she worked at his knotted muscles.

"The Mac Tíre are an old alliance, their support is still strong. Like us, they are on a seaboard, so they cannot be totally cut off from support, and they have plenty of power on their own. There are others, but after this Gathering, I do not know how many."

Melanie rubbed her hands harder over his thighs, not knowing what to say. She felt her presence at the Gathering was a mistake, and had weakened Keith and their Clan with her even being there. She knew she had to show her support to her Mate, and shifted her hands, taking her hand from his thighs to her right hand tenderly caressing his cock through his pants, smiling as she felt it swell under her touch.

"Well, I'm glad to see that at least your stresses haven't taken away your desire for me," she joked, as Keith swallowed thickly.

"Melanie, you know that...."

"That I don't have to do a damned thing other than what I want to," she finished for him. Giving him her sexiest gaze, she kissed the fabric covered hardness, while her hands reached up to unbuckle his pants. "And what I want to do is show my Mate that he is still the strongest, sexiest man I have ever known, the other fools be damned."

Unzipping his pants, Melanie carefully pulled Keith's erection out of his underpants, immediately swallowing it whole. This wasn't a time for tenderness and making love, she knew. This was a time to let her Mate feel how powerful he was, and how devoted she was to him. She sucked him greedily, slurping and licking him all the way from the fine hairs at the base of his cock to his shiny red tip, plunging herself over and over on him, burying him as deep in her throat as she could before hollowing out her cheeks and dragging herself off, her body's arousal growing as she felt his soft moans and growls grow in frequency and volume.

"Your cock is perfect," she whispered as she looked him in the eye, her hand pumping his wet shaft. "You know that every morning I wake up aching to feel you inside me, fucking me over and over again until I want to scream your name out loud?"

She felt a bit corny, with the clichéd porno dialogue, but the effect she had on Keith was obvious. His fingers bit deeply into the armrests of his chair, and she could see his eyes widen as she combined her sucking with a teasing of his balls, until he could control it no longer. Taking her head in his hands carefully, he began to thrust himself in and out of her willing lips, holding her still as he fucked her face. She could feel his arousal grow higher and higher, and she moaned around him, urging him on to give her everything he had. His thrusts grew stronger and faster, and she could feel him brushing into her throat with almost every plunge of his cock, until with another lupine growling howl, he came, filling her mouth with his sweet-salty come, Melanie swallowing every bit she could, with only a little seeping out the side. Sitting back, she wiped the last bit from the corner of her lips erotically, letting his wondering eyes watch as she sucked the last of his seed from her finger, relishing the taste, giving him one last erotic vision to savor.

"Delicious," she sighed, pushing herself up to her feet. Melanie smiled at her Mate and sat in his lap. "Now, did I at least take your mind off your stresses for a few minutes?"

"You're amazing," Keith whispered, capturing her mouth with his own in soft kisses. "But you didn't have to."

"I wanted to," Melanie replied, wrapping her arms around his neck while she dangled her legs over the side of the chair. "You're always the considerate lover, giving more than you get. Tonight was my turn. You don't need to do anything for me."

Keith relaxed into her embrace, sighing, and she watched his eyes flutter closed as the exhaustion of the meetings, the stress, and everything of the Gathering forced him into sleep. She kissed his forehead tenderly and whispered in his ear. "Sleep, my love. We can tackle these problems together tomorrow."