Caspian was deeply aware of the stakes right now. There was tension in the air Hannah wasn't aware of. He didn't want her to know how many were prejudiced against her because she was human and mated to Max. Hannah was smiling, and being so polite to anyone who approached her. She was amazing, as she managed a particularly sharp old woman, Hannah kept her head held high the entire time.
Caspian was on edge. The dragon calling out liar too many times for one evening. There weren't that many in the pack who were hiding true deep bigotry, most of these were good people at their core. Caspian felt confident they could help Bryan and Max achieve their goals. Bring new life into the pack. Move it forward.
Hannah was unaware of the turbulent waters swirling around her as she worked the crowd of those who tried to get a word in with Hannah before the bell for dinner rang. At least that is what Caspian assumed. She was unflinchingly polite with everyone. Warm, open, and welcoming. She stayed polite and congenial no matter what anyone said to her, a very polite "What an interesting thing to say out loud" deployed with a sweet voice to the worst veiled insults. Years in close quarter customer service had trained Hannah well for the role she now found herself in.
She had no idea that her poised, polite customer service persona was exactly the right attitude to knock back those who thought a human wouldn't be able to cope with their culture. She had defaulted when she realised she was garnering more attention tonight. Managing the crowd of wolves like a full plane after a delay on the tarmac. No one here was going to say or do anything that wasn't at least on the surface polite with Caspian, Holland and Max there. Wolves were much better behaved than air travellers. Hannah was holding her own in this second subtle battle of wills. Hannah wasn't having fun sifting through people as far too many gathered around the table. Holland had a few trying to approach him, and Caspian was doing something that made people avoid him and Aspen.
Hannah knew if she asked, Caspian would do the same for her, or take her away. Hannah found herself expertly trained for this exact scenario of pressure test. A work history that only had face to face customer service jobs. She had spent years now negotiating with drunk entitled assholes until they were back in their seats either willingly or forcefully getting restrained by an air Marshal or a few flight attendants and the largest passenger volunteer to help.
The delightful feeling of watching a bad passengers day fall completely apart because of their own actions; trapped in their chair for the rest of the flight; then being arrested and escorted in handcuffs off the plane and taken away from the airport. Regardless of where their final destination had been. Had always felt like just delicious just desserts every time she got to see it. Most bad passengers got away with no consequences. Hannah liked when bad behaviour, had real consequences.
She wasn't going to get any of that satisfaction tonight. It would be impolite to have any fights at dinner. Hannah felt like she had literally worked a black Friday sale power hours period. Her patience running thin as she was saved by the low ringing that signalled it was time to be quiet.The dinner bell rang and the worst of those waiting for Hannah to slip and be rude finally had to return to their own seats. Clearly miffed they did not get their way and a chance to jab at Hannah. Hannah smiled, everyone had to take their seats and be quiet after the bell. So Bryan could speak the evening prayer.
Hannah did not like the prayer time. Neither did Aspen. Holland did not like, but wasn't bothered. Traditions were traditions, didn't need to mean much Holland thought. Max didn't even see it for what it was. It was just tradition. Not a call to deities who would have damned Hannah for her mates. Whatever the religion was wolves were following, Hannah didn't like her exposure so far. She was polite, she wasn't stupid. She knew there were unsaid jabs at her expense in some of the comments she had received tonight.
There were also a few people who seemed sincere when they introduced themselves to Hannah. Tonight was going to be the last dinner in the pack house for a while at least. Hannah, Max and Holland were going to fly, first class back to the town her dad lived and where she had kept her apartment. She had told the story a million times, she was really settling in, making this her home.
She was sad that her father was already travelling by private ambulance, in a carefully planned route, with frequent driver and nurse change outs to ensure optimal work conditions. As well as periodic, scheduled hospital check in's to ensure her Father remained in good health the entire trip. She would have liked to visit him before he started to be moved. Deloris had said she would be part of the transition team, and would make sure she told him everything that was happening in words out loud. Try and make the move as easy as possible on him.
Hannah wanted a lot of things. She also wanted to have a chance to slowly introduce him to her new life partners. Timing in her personal life wasn't ever where things worked out for Hannah. Regardless of the small imperfections, Hannah was excited to travel actually as a passenger for the first time in years. Not since she was in competition had she flown as a passenger.
Hannah had real time off from taking care of every detail of her life. Meals were cooked. Her mates helped plan her days for the next while as she moved her life across the country. She didn't even have to manage her business right now. Caspian and Holland had hired her an assistant for the email management of her business. A very polite and professional editor was reading and responding to all correspondence as required, and letting perspective hosts know Olympic Performance was undergoing a restructuring period, and would respond with an offering of available dates in a few weeks. Hannah had no obligations right now. Other than to follow her own heart, and take care of her lovers. Partners? Mates still didn't sound right in her ears. Didn't match what she felt in her heart. She just felt love.
Bryan finished his prayer, the food began to be served. Same as the previous night. Except tonight there was a serving of roast beef with vegetables and roasted baby potatoes. Again some things were shuffled from plate to plate at their family table, until everyone was more than happy with their meal.
Max had been just getting Aspen to share all the real life virtues of the proposed location for their home, Max was going to make sure everyone knew there were some trees that needed to be protected even if Aspen wasn't brave enough to say it himself. Max did not understand how Aspen's magic and forest worked, but he could feel the power as Aspen interacted with the largest trees in the area. If Aspen said some trees were special while it was just the two of them, if Aspen said a tree was special then Max knew it was worth saving.
Max himself had been directionless after the death of his father. Routine, his fathers last job was supposed to be routine, contracted security at a hotel event. It was supposed to have been human only. A simple event in a hotel. The client had lied. They were a coven of witches who had gotten themselves in far too deep with a vampire nest. Hannah and Holland, Caspian and Aspen they were bringing him back to reality. To remembering the world still kept spinning. Bryan's desire to keep trying to enact his father's grand plans, the same ones Max had been trying to help Alpha with. Max finding Hannah, and everything that followed was his spark. Before he had been unsure, now he was confident in the belief that he and his family with Hannah could make his pack and home a better place.
Aspen was doing a great job extolling the virtues of the land they had chosen. He had already been working on tracings of the map to see where a house could best be located without harming any of the trees he wished to save. There was a good amount of space Aspen had determined, depending on the footprint of the home they would build.
Aspen was speaking about the spring feed creek that also needed to be protected and valued. No one had dared to interrupt Aspen. He was passionate and alive in way that made him almost too beautiful to be real while he was talking about his plans to build a fitting origin altar for the spring. Aspen's face had paled at a sharp bang that silenced the room. The beautiful double solid wood doors to the pack dining hall burst open, and Max's mother appeared looking nearly deranged. She was dressed exactly how Hannah had seen her last. Same dress and shoes. Still wearing the apron she had been wearing since she started to make the soup. The splatters from the immersion blender did staining the crisp white poplin fabric.
She looked dishevelled, her hair unbrushed and tangled. Her mascara had run in lines down her face. Not helping to offset the wild look in her eyes as she scanned the full dining hall. Eyes locking on Hannah. Her arm raised up, finger pointing like a gun directly at Hannah, "Deviant!" Judy hollered. Before Caspian moved his hand, and Judy became frozen in place. Her wild eyes going even wider as she was rendered unable to move or be heard any longer. Her lips were moving, there wasn't any sound except the oppression silence in the room.
"Max," Caspian said with a low voice, in the now nearly silent dining hall. Bryan standing up. Watching every with a close eye. "We seem to have a problem." Trying to figure out what the hell he should do with Max's bound in air mother. He was letting her scream, inside her own little bubble. Other than minimising the harm this moment was doing, Caspian didn't know what the hell to do next. Max's head hung low in shame. He had told his mates they would be safe, he had been wrong to offer anything.
Max had given his mother one chance to explain herself, to calm down and be reasonable. Just be what he needed for once last night. Max opened the window to his mother. It was a wall of hate, more virulent and violent than he had ever heard. She had never been this hateful, not even through the link. Max closed the window. Taking a moment to hold back the tears that wanted to break free.
Max's voice was quiet as he worked to hold himself together, as the room started to slowly fill with the sound of hushed low voices. Whispers sounding like a pit of asps hissing as they coiled over one another. Only Hannah, Aspen and Caspian were close enough to hear him. "She went snooping, got access to my phone history. She knows about Olympic Performance now." Max had gone through the effort to let his mother in. The short amount of time he allowed her had been awful. Max's mother was blaming Hannah for being an amoral human and dragging Max away from the true plan of the Goddess. He had never known this much hate lived inside his mother.