Seven mates for seven brothers

51- Let me help

After dinner Stan told Alex that the council had decided that it was too late to sort anything out at all.  They were going to be sending the pack members home so that they could ‘think’ about their situation and how they would prefer for this matter to be resolved; but only after Stan would give them a little speech of how wonderful it is to be part of the other packs that have responsible leaders in place.  Hopefully that would encourage them to ‘make’ the right decision tomorrow.

When there was not even a crumb left on any of the tables; Stan addressed everybody and gave them some background about what they could expect if they were part of a different pack.  He took some questions and answered only those that would have a positive influence on their decision; the others he postponed; saying it would be better to discuss those issues privately as they only concerned a few people.  He skillfully steered the discussion to lighter topics and when the atmosphere was relaxed; he asked them to gather in the early morning so that they could have breakfast and then discuss together what their plan of action would be.

The mood had lightened considerably during the impromptu meeting and they all dispersed quietly.  Tess hung around to find out what Cassy had planned for their sleeping arrangements.  Cassy explained that they would be using the sleeping bags they had brought with.  The guys would be taking out the seats in the van and the girls would be sleeping on blow up mattresses inside while the men would be taking turns to keep watch during the night.

At first Tess tried to convince Cassy to sleep in the pack house; but before Tess could argue for too long; the men had already taken out the three rows of seats in the van and Ethan and Carter were using a foot pump to inflate the mattresses.  She stood chatting for a while and when she wanted to wish them all a pleasant evening; the men had all gone, taking a run in a close perimeter to make sure that nothing out of the ordinary was lurking in the woods.

Tess indicated for Grace to join her and immediately the six girls protested.

“Please can she stay over here for tonight?  It would be like a sleepover.”  Lucy pleaded.  She had started taking Grace under her wing and the two girls were getting along like a house on fire; at least in the short moments when Grace forgot to be self conscious about herself and remembered that she had no reason to be afraid.

Grace looked at Tess uncertainly.  She had never spent the night away from Tess before and even though she felt a bit uncertain as to how she should be behaving at a ‘sleepover’; she really wanted to stay with these brave women for a bit longer.

Tess agreed reluctantly when Grace looked at her with longing in her eyes.  “At least just come back and get something more comfortable to sleep in than that.”

“Don’t worry.”  Lucy added hastily; worried that Grace might change her mind when she was away.  “I have an extra set of warm track pants and a t-shirt that she can use for the night.”

Cassy saw Grace frown and before she could gather up enough steam to feel offended; she chipped in quickly.  “Good; then you two girls can get the sleeping bags all sorted out.  And try to figure out how to get the blasted mattresses into the van.”

Lucy giggled at Cassy and Grace managed a tentative smile.

Tess gave Grace a long hug before walking away; as she left, the guys passed her and she waved a good night at them.  They were all carrying wood for a fire and it surprised her that even their alpha was carrying his share of the load.

When the guys reached the girls Conrad was relieved to see that Grace was still there and he suppressed a bark of laughter as he saw how she and Lucy were struggling to get the blown up mattresses into the van.