Chapter 8

Anna

I was wide awake after only being asleep for a few hours. There was just too much on my mind for me to be able to sleep. I knew the twins would still be sleeping for a while so I decided to head downstairs and see if James was up. I wanted to harass him until he told me what was going on with Caleb. It was almost six in the morning, I’m sure he must have some idea of what was happening.

There was a little bit of a bite in the air since we had turned the heat off yesterday and never switched it back on. In typical Virginia fashion, it was going to only be forty degrees today after being seventy yesterday.

I quickly dressed in leggings and a hoodie that I had stolen from Caleb’s room. It was comforting to me to be wrapped in his scent while I was worried about him. I slipped a pair of Uggs on my feet since it was going to be chilly today.

I smirked to myself when I wondered what Reagan would think about my current outfit. If a pink sundress was a crime against fashion I could only imagine what she would say about me wearing a man’s hoodie and leggings.

I slipped out of my room and started to head for the office that James usually worked out of. I abruptly changed course when it occurred to me that I was probably more likely to get him in a talking mood if I brought him coffee and food.

I stopped in the kitchen and set the Keurig to brew a cup of coffee while I toasted a bagel. James had previously told me that he preferred his coffee ‘black like his heart’. I did smear a generous amount of cream cheese on the bagel before I put it on a plate and headed back to his office. The door was cracked open a little, so I peered inside. He wasn’t there.

I frowned. I knew him well enough that there was no way he was sleeping right now. He tended to work himself to exhaustion. I tapped my finger on the plate for a moment and then headed to what the guys called their ‘war room’. If there was ever a time that we were at war, I would think it would be now.

Sure enough, I found him in there with his head bowed over a map. I hesitated at the door, had he fallen asleep while he was working? Maybe I should let him be, I doubted that he would go to bed and rest if I woke him up.

If he was tired enough to fall asleep at the table, then he needed what little rest he would allow himself. Just as I was about to turn away he raised his head.

I greeted him with a smile. “Good morning! I brought you breakfast.”

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?”

“A little after six.” I told him enthusiastically.

He eyed me suspiciously. “You are much too chipper for this time of day.”

I tried to tone down my smile a little as I set my offering of food and coffee in front of him. He seemed a little unsure of how to react when I sat in the chair across from him and waited patiently for him to eat. He took a sip of his coffee and watched me over the rim.

I just smiled at him pleasantly and held my tongue. I knew I wouldn’t get anything out of him if I tried pestering him too quickly. I looked him over carefully as I waited. I could see that his eyes were red and tired, with dark circles below. His face looked drawn and worried.

I wish I could talk him into going upstairs and taking a nap, but I knew he would never agree. He also wouldn’t appreciate me pointing out what he would consider a weakness. I just sighed and waited. If he wouldn’t agree to rest, then I would keep him fed and caffeinated. I needed to make sure he was taken care of now that it was just me and the twins here.

James set down his coffee and picked up half of the bagel. He held out the plate for me to take the other half. I hesitated, he needed food if he was going to keep working all day.

He raised an eyebrow at me, “I would feel like an asshole if I sat here and ate in front of a female. Take the other half.”

I shrugged and took it. I could just bring him more food later. We ate in silence and I licked the last bit of cream cheese off my finger as he took another sip of the coffee.

“Have you spoken with Austin?” I asked James quietly.

James sighed. “He’s sticking close to Caleb. Trevor and a few of his guys are on their way there now to be there for the hearing.”

My ears perked up. “Can I go to the hearing? I want to be there to support Caleb.”

James shook his head. “We don’t want you anywhere near the council right now. They have already threatened to take you if we didn’t cooperate. The last thing we want to do is put you within easy reach of them.”

I paled. I did not like that the council was threatening me to get what they wanted out of the pack. Would Caleb be safe at home right now if it wasn’t for me?

“Don’t get that guilty look on your face.” James growled at me. “They are going to do whatever they want, it has nothing to do with you.”

I gave James a small smile. He already knew me too well. “When will we know what happened?” I asked him nervously.

“Nothing is going to happen until nine this morning, and Austin will let us know as soon as the proceedings are done.” James grumbled.

I felt a little better knowing what was going to happen, but I still wanted to be there for Caleb. “Do you think that I can call him this morning?” I asked softly. “I want him to know that we are all thinking about him and that we are with him in spirit, even if we can’t be there in the flesh.”

James watched me thoughtfully. “I planned on speaking to them around seven this morning. If you could find some more food for us, then I’m sure I could include you in the call.”

I gave him a huge grin. “I can do that,” I told him confidently. James was being too nice this morning, he must have been really worried about Caleb. I had expected him to just scowl at me and send me away.

“Any special requests?” I asked him, standing up to go make some more food.

“Eggs?” he asked hopefully.

I nodded and turned to go out the door. This had been a very domestic interaction. I was used to the silent and unflappable James, I was happy that he was warming up to me a little.

I returned to the war room with plenty of time before seven and my arms loaded with food. I had brought sausage and omelets for both of us, now that I knew James wouldn’t eat unless I also had food in front of me. I had also brought him a carafe of coffee to keep in the room. I had no doubt that he was going to need it to get through the day.

We ate companionably in silence. James checked the time mid-meal and called Austin on speakerphone. It looked like he was really going through with this.

I heard Austin pick up the call. “Hey, James,” he answered tiredly.

“I have Anna here with me.” James told him, taking another bite of his eggs.

“Hey Austin.” I greeted him.

“Anna?” I could hear the surprise in his voice.

“Hey,” I said hesitantly. “James said it would be okay if I was on the call so that I could give you guys some moral support since I can’t be there?” I tried to stop myself from talking, otherwise that run on sentence would have become even longer.

“Of course,” Austin said, still sounding a little surprised. “Caleb, Cody, and I are here now, preparing for the council hearing in a few hours.”

I heard murmuring in the background that sounded like Cody, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

Austin cleared his throat. “James, we have the evidence that the council wants to use against Caleb. The problem is that Caleb is our tech expert, so we can’t use him to rebut the council’s claims.”

James set down his fork and rubbed his face wearily. “We’re not going to find another wolf like Caleb in any of the packs we are friendly with. You know how they feel about technology.”

“I know.” Austin said quietly. “I wasn’t thinking about the wolves.”

James tapped his finger on the desk. “You want me to contact the German?”

“I already have.” Austin replied in a clipped voice. “And you know he does not appreciate being called that.”

James snorted. “And? He’s willing to lend us some resources?”

“He’s sending someone to the house now.” Austin told him. “I want you to let him examine Caleb’s equipment and do what he needs to do.”

“You trust him?” James asked incredulously. “Caleb has all of our pack information, information on all of our jobs-“

“A lot of the jobs we do are for them,” Austin interrupted. “And we would be stupid to think that they don’t keep close tabs on everything we do because of the access they have given us to their world.”

James grumbled an agreement. “I don’t like this.”

Austin sighed. “I don’t either. But the council won’t risk their alliance with the lamia if they provide evidence that Caleb is innocent. They would never risk calling a lamia a liar. I think we all know what would happen if there was a war between the wolves and lamia.”

There was a moment of silence. I tried to process everything that I just heard. So, we had an alliance with the lamia and one of them was coming here? It looks like I was going to meet a real vampire! There were so many questions that I wanted to ask but I was hoping they forgot I was listening and drop some more juicy tidbits of info for me to soak up.

 “So, who was it?” James asked. “Who is targeting Caleb?”

“The council is providing a unified front right now.” Austin answered grimly. “Not even my father was willing to provide names or produce an accuser.”

James cursed. “None of my sources know anything.” He told Austin. “Believe me, I pushed hard and still got nothing.”

“I believe it.” Austin said quietly.

I must have made a noise because James looked over in my direction. “Anna wanted to have a moment to speak with Caleb,” he told Austin quietly.

“He’s right here,” Austin answered. There were some muffled noises as the phone was passed around and then I heard Caleb on the line.

“Caleb! Are you okay? I’ve been so worried about you!” I took a breath to give him time to answer.

He gave a sad laugh. “Yeah, Anna. I’m okay.” He paused for a moment. “Austin and Cody haven’t left my side, nothing has really happened yet.”

I could tell that he was trying to be strong, but I could hear an undercurrent of worry in his voice.

“I just wanted to let you know that I’m thinking about you. I wish I could be there to support you.” I told him somberly.

“Thanks, Anna.” He told me quietly. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. “Anna, I-“

It sounded like he wanted to tell me something but stopped. Was there something going on where he was? Did someone interrupt? I listened carefully but I couldn’t hear anything but Caleb’s breathing.

“I miss you.” Caleb finally said. I felt a wave of sadness come over me. This sounded too much like a goodbye, Caleb was going to be fine and he would probably be home by this afternoon. I tried to convince myself of that, but I knew Caleb needed a little cheering up.

“I miss you, too.” I told him. “When you get home tonight, we will have to have a movie night. You can pick since you got arrested and were on trial and everything.” I teased him.

I heard him chuckle. “It takes a lot to get movie selection privileges in this pack.”

I laughed. “Just make it a good pick.”

“I won’t disappoint you.” He told me seriously. I had the feeling that he was talking about more than just picking out a movie but we were interrupted before he could say anything else.

I heard a little commotion in the background and Caleb gave us a quick goodbye before handing the phone back to Austin.

“Anna, would you mind going up to Caleb’s room and getting things ready for our guest?” Austin asked.

I had the feeling that he was just trying to get rid of me so that he could talk to James about secrets, but I wasn’t going to convince him that I was trustworthy by arguing. If he and James needed to talk strategy about saving Caleb, then I wasn’t going to stand in the way.

“Sure, Austin.”

I stood and gathered up the plates to bring back to the kitchen before leaving the war room. With the door closed I could not hear a word that was being said in there. It wouldn’t have surprised me to find out that they sound-proofed it against sensitive wolf hearing.