Blood of Eden

Chapter 11

The early morning flew by.

The smell of food from the kitchen had Katherine straying into the room several times only to be chased out by Ginnie, the family's longstanding cook. She was a big woman and an intimidating wolf who knew how to brandish a wooden cooking spoon like a weapon. Katherine escaped with her life and a sandwich, but barely.

The entire household was full of nerves and anticipation by the time Little Foot and his contingent arrived just before 9:00 a.m. Pierre didn't have to call his family to him in the foyer; they stood by his side without his request.

The first impression Katherine got of Little Foot was that he was, in no sense of the word, little.

Katherine stood back with her mother and Ronan while Pierre and Little Foot, who immediately requested that he be called Jacob, shook hands and greeted one another with a handshake.

Pierre was considered by most to be a big man. He stood at six foot and three inches tall, weighed approximately two hundred and forty pounds and was solid and lean. Jacob, on the other hand, was roughly twice the width of the Alpha with hands the size of pitcher's mitts and a face that was all angles. He wasn't a tall man but that didn't seem to be an issue since he somehow seemed to be made of pure granite. His ready smile softened his lines considerably but still left him with an air of command, much like Pierre.

Little Foot had arrived with a contingent of wolves, four men and three women, who stood at his back, surveying Pierre and his family as they were surveyed in turn.

Katherine turned her attention to them, sizing each up individually. They were all well-built, long and lean and apparently strong. The main difference between the two groups was in their coloring. All seven were a beautiful bronzed color that Katherine thought only existed in movies where makeup was applied liberally to enhance a person's glow. Katherine felt positively pale in comparison.

They were all of native blood but it was obvious that they weren't all from the same family or even the same tribe. She and her brothers had been taught the history of Canada's native peoples and she could identify the facial features of at least three different Canadian tribes within this group. She was pretty sure one of the women was Mi'kmaq, the largest of the men Algonquin, and, she thought, the rest were Cree like Little Foot.

It came as a bit of a surprise that these tribes would be joined together now in one group, backing Little Foot. The Mi'kmaq people lived mostly in the Atlantic Provinces, the Algonquin in and around Quebec, and the Cree were generally settled out in the Prairie Provinces. She wondered what influence Little Foot had over them to bring them all together like this and, more importantly, why her father hadn't known about it.

Katherine stopped her assessment of the group when her father turned to introduce his family to Jacob. His hand moved instinctively to the small of her mother's back, claiming her as his own.

"May I introduce my family? This is my wife, Sylvie, my eldest, Katherine, and my son Ronan. I have two other sons, Anthony and Teagan but, unfortunately, they are elsewhere dealing with pack issues." He looked proudly back at both Katherine and Ronan as he spoke.

Katherine waited for her mother to offer her hand and a brief word then moved forward boldly; her chin raised high as she took Little Foot's hand. His grip was strong so she squeezed back and noted the glint of respect in Jacob's eyes that resulted from her motion.

"Mr. Little Foot, welcome to our home. It's a pleasure to meet you." She kept her voice professional with a hint of warmth and studied his reaction. Courtroom training was ingrained in her and this was one man that she really wanted to pin down. If he was the type to counteract the council's decision and try to forcefully take control of Canada then she wanted to know. So far she hadn't seen enough to make a decision, though her initial instincts told her that he wasn't their enemy.