Zeus

• XXXV •

My thoughts must have been too loud, because Zeus reaches for my twisting hands and gives them a reassuring squeeze.

"They're here," he states, right when his office door is knocked upon.

I stare at Zeus. Do I tell them to come in, I ask him from the link. Your meeting, he responds.

Before calling everyone into Zeus' office, Zeus lets go of my hands as I untangle my fingers from their nervous manner. Zeus leans back, his expression turning emotionless, but he quickly glances at me with reassuring eyes.

Clearing my throat, I announce, "Come in," in my most formal voice I can muster. To my ears, my voice sounds higher than normal; I internally cringe at the way I sound.

In comes Ryder, Rebecca and Josephine, and lastly Caitlyn. Caitlyn immediately locks eyes with me and smiles an encouraging smile. Rebecca has a confused expression, Josephine looks like this happens on the daily, and Ryder is serious—as he always seems, unless he's with Caitlyn.

The four adults sit down in the leather seats I had already set out five minutes ago. I find myself glancing at Zeus, for some reason. Probably to see if I should start talking now or let them ask—

No, I need to begin, I think, when I notice no one is planning on saying anything out loud.

I clear my throat as quietly as I can, without drawing too much attention, but my clearing sounds as if I have a microphone right in front of my mouth. I wet my lips before speaking.

"I have a plan," I announce, "A plan that will, hopefully, fix the pack's financial problems, and bring us closer together."

No once says anything. Great. "Um, the first area I would like to fix would be the training hours. Maybe the hours could be changed to late afternoon instead of the hours being early in the morning?" My voice fades to a softer tone.

"The hours are fine the way they are," Ryder states, a hint of arrogance in his voice.

My eyes, which were looking at the bullet point I made, snap up to Ryder's in confusion. "And why is that?"

"Because," Ryder sits up in his seat. "the sooner the training, the more time the members personally have until border patrol or anything else."

"You have a point, but maybe it's time for the trainees to have a morning to themselves with their children or mates. Too many members wake up in the morning to leave their warm bed without saying goodbye or sitting down for breakfast. Which brings me my next point—"

"That doesn't mean we enjoy waking up early." Ryder interrupts.

"Ryder," Zeus growls, a threat lurking beneath his growl.

Ryder's mouth snaps closed, and Caitlyn glares daggers at her mate.

I rub my sweaty palms on my jeans in a nervous manner before continuing. "If training were to change, then there's the option of each pack member getting a job in the neutral zone to help support themselves, family, or others. It would bring everyone closer (by meeting and socializing with members), put money in their pockets to pay for bills, and have food on the table. Most members, who don't eat at the pack house, go hungry at night. Which is never acceptable to any human-being or wolf."

"I see your point, Aurora. Please continue." Rebecca urges me, a proud smile growing on her face.

My heart expands and my face warms from her compliment. "I think having a day for the members to be medically checked would also open our eyes to see what we are working with in the pack. Age doesn't fully stop. Being a wolf doesn't stop gray hairs and feeble bones; it just takes longer to get the gray hair and feeble bones than a human."