Splinter - 9. Apples and Wackos

The Council took a recess to come to some sort of closed decision, and we wouldn’t meet again until the following morning. It was lunch. Part of me wanted to yell at them to just punish me and get it over with, but then the functional part of my brain, better known as my husband, told me they would have taken me into custody if there was even the remotest chance they were going to punish me. Since my declaration of responsibility told them to gimme their worst and leave the rest alone, I was hopeful I would be completely punishment free.

It had been two months since the battle, and I wished I was anywhere but Washington DC waiting for the Council’s decision. It made it too easy for the ECP members to find me and get their revenge, which had happened six times already. I guess some were actually fond of Angus. Aaron and several, okay twenty, of his friends were providing me and Pat with round-the-clock security; it was only Aaron’s job, but the rest were here because of Gene’s legacy. Being a student of Gene’s got you into a super-secret fraternity of uber fighters with ninja skills better than TMNT. If you were Gene’s family, which Pat and I were, you had elite guards whenever you called.

One whacko tried to get close enough to me to set off a sliver shrapnel grenade. Part of me wondered what they were thinking since I had so many people around me that they would have to either lob it from a hundred yards away or get past them to pretty much pat me on the rump. I was told later he had been a diversion. A good one since he had blown off his own arm. There had been a sniper with wolfsbane-infused .50 caliber silver bullets. How they found him was shocking. Lycan bats, or more flashily called Casinycteris Lunais, are a thing, and they have hearing so good this one could hear the round being chambered from six thousand feet away over the sound of city traffic, the din of the many people, and the commercial airplanes that flew overhead. He then proceeded to snipe the sniper, through the cinderblock wall, through a crowded storage room, and right through the guy’s ear canals. Clean all the way through. When I found out, I through, I mean threw, up.

That was only one of the times, but it made me glad I had the uber fighters on my side.

It was only Pat with me as far as Homestead was concerned. The rest of the pack was at home. Dylan hadn’t fought me when I told him he was going home. I would have sedated his kitty ass and shipped him home USPS if I had to. All he had done was hug me tightly, give Pat a hug just as tight, and then literally picked Alice off her feet, set her down gently in front of me, and said, “Guard.” Then he turned and left after she gave him a mock salute. Nice to know he would entrust our safety to an eight-year-old.

The other alphas and Beta Gracin all went back to their groups. They had done a very thorough sweep of the building and found three other hidden rooms with abducted Lycans. Two captives, I was happy to see, could go back to the Pacific Tribes and their families. One had been gone for three years and getting a picture of him and his now four-year-old daughter via email was totally awesome. Maui’s people were talking with the west coast packs and flocks about open travel; they already approved it for Homestead.

Goldie and Alice stayed because the Council thought Alice might tell them more of how she not only survived the fight but won it. They tried for days to get her to say something other than, “I knew I had to be there. Woman’s intuition,” and said nothing more on how she knew. When they asked her how she beat Rhisi, her reply was, “I was born awesome. If you haven’t figured that out by now, then maybe you should step down from the Council so someone mentally capable can take your place.”

Travis and the Head of the Council had to conceal snickers behind their hands, Pat openly grinned, but Goldie and I shared a wonderful laugh. It was no use. They couldn’t get another answer to any of their questions. All she did was look up from her tablet when they called her name, smile sweetly, and go back to playing Minecraft without saying a word. One idiot tried to take her tablet to make her pay attention. He’ll need to heal the compound fracture to the bones in his forearm. Apparently, Alice was taught to never take something without asking. No one tried again.

Children can be stubborn. Alphas are by nature. Merge the two and you won’t win. They never even found out she’s my spawn. That was one little tidbit no one was talking about.

When the Council was called to order the following morning, I saw there were two less Councilmen. Part of me wondered why they were gone, but the fact that the reps were from the east coast pretty much told me why they were no longer around.

The Head of the Council spoke. “Alpha Davenport, thank you for your patience during our deliberations. The Council agrees with your recommendation to break up the territory known as the East Coast Pack into no less than fifty new territories.” I nodded because it was a good idea. There would be places for some younger alphas to set up their packs without having to kill anyone. There has been enough death lately. “Since you have taken responsibility for the attack which resulted in the deaths of no less than twenty people from another pack, your punishment will be as follows. You get to draw out the territory lines for the new packs and set up their temporary leaders.”

Oh, you’re evil, I thought, but I said, “Like father, like son.” The Head and I shared a chuckle. It was such a Gene punishment. Find a necessity, and then make someone else do it. “I accept the task with one small condition. I will need to form a committee to help me. I haven’t been too social with other alphas and those who could administer the new territories, so I will need to have help finding people who can manage the places without becoming another Angus.”

With a brief visual vote among the Council, the Head nodded. “Agreed. We have been discussing large packs versus their territory needs. As an alpha with one of the largest territories, do you find the management of it difficult?”

I shook my head almost immediately. “Since I have quite a bit of help from my betas, my mate, my enforcer’s fiancée, and don’t micromanage, no. It has been fairly easy to deal with since I’ve also had help from Councilman Andrews as well as my pop in the earlier days of the pack. Now, I do get the occasional help from my pop to handle times I’m away, but I have been lucky with the members of Homestead. They aren’t idiots, and we respect each other.”

“So, you’re saying that you do relatively little for your pack?” asked the Councilman from Nunavut, Canada. His tone was slightly sarcastic, but not so much as to piss me off.

I grinned. “As little as possible, to be honest. I have an accounting team to handle funds, but I have final say on large transactions. I don’t deal much with small security matters, that’s why I have my Enforcer. When business calls me from home, I have my betas or Pop oversee emergency matters. I handle the diplomatic side of things, which I hate. I’m no politician, I’m civil enough for diplomacy, but if there is a problem the people cannot solve on their own, I step in.” I looked over at Travis. “You can ask Councilman Andrews how often I was asked to mediate something minor.”

Travis grinned. “Once, and the entire pack heard about it. One thing to never do is give Jon fodder for pointing out someone’s stupidity. I believe he takes a perverse joy in making people who are acting foolish see how foolish they are.” I nodded emphatically. “Yet I have seen him set aside business to settle The Great Apple Feud.”

“Dare I ask?” asked Suzette with a small smirk.

“A feud that has been going on for seventy years, often leading to confrontation.” Travis’s tone was grave, but I was almost grinning. I vividly recalled that feud. The most ridiculous thing ever, but it was getting out of hand. “Familial pride can run hot among the men, but hope it never happens in the women. I had seen the two families at each other throats when they were part of the ECP under my leadership.”

There were more than a few concerned faces. If Travis had not been able to stop it, then how had Jon? I could see the thoughts in the heads. “How did it continue into Homestead?” asked one of the Councilman.

“One of the families petitioned to join Homestead, asking Jon. The other asked his mate, Patrick.” Travis shook his head and sighed. “They still live less than twenty miles from each other, and they still continued the feud up until two years ago.” I could tell Travis was having a ball extolling the gravity of the situation. I let him have his fun.

“How bad did it get? We Lycans can live a long time compared to most humans, but surely the feuding generation would have died out. And why is it called the Great Apple Feud?” Suzette asked.

“Mrs. Elena Braeburn is on one side of this. A more irate and petty woman you will never meet. She will get angry with you for not complimenting her Sunday best the moment you see her, and if she thinks you’re not sincere, she’ll take her umbrella to you.” Travis was spinning this tale so well I was almost ready to ask what happened next. Elena, or “Miss Ellie” to everyone, was about the most soft-spoken woman I’d ever met. Never a harsh word for anyone. The only thing she ever threatened with her umbrella was a rude teenager who wouldn’t leave the pretty waitress alone, and even then, all she did was put her hand on it and raise her snowy brow.

“Ms. Wanda Smith is on the other side. Her voice is like skinning a cat when she’s happy, which about once a year when her husband goes fishing for a week. I have yet to see her miss with her favored weapon, much to the county’s dismay. Her grandchildren seem to be the only ones not to catch hell.”

Okay, this was pretty close to the truth. Wanda had a very nasal voice, but she rarely let it get shrill unless her husband had been out all night with the fellas, which was about once a month. If the men came back after having fun and stepped in her flower beds, she let them have it. They had an eight-foot-wide walk leading up to their porch and another foot of mulch before the closest plant. Plenty of room to avoid stepping on her petunias. If the fellas ever stepped in the beds, out came the wet washcloths and she would snap their behinds all the way down the street. She was a very happy woman, and only got happier when her husband wasn’t under foot so she could do her spring cleaning.

The Head nodded. “Granny Smith and Braeburn. Apples. Cute,” he said, his eyes narrowing as he caught on to this being more than what Travis was telling. “How was it settled?”

“Things came to a head when the county fair was going on. When those two women were in the same tent, it got downright heated and chilly. Their stares were like death if anyone even spoke to the other. Jon was called upon to settle it, once and for all. Many others had tried, but no one would risk choosing sides.”

I knew I had to take over when Travis looked at me. With a dramatic sigh, I said, “I sat there and weighed the options. I knew it would never stop until I made my decision.” I shook my head. “I looked at both women and said, ‘Miss Ellie, your filling is better. Wanda, your crust is better. As good as your pies are, my mom’s apple pies are better, and she’s an Aussie. Still, if you two would stop trying to outdo each other and just bake together, no one will get upset.’ I did end up ruling that the third contestant, a six-year-old boy named Kyle had the better pie.”

I watched all their faces go from riveted to astonished to wanting to laugh and kill us for pulling this bullshit. When they started laughing, they realized we were having a go at them and just played along. “Is that a true story?”

“Yup. Hardest decision I ever made.” That got another round of chuckles. “In all seriousness, it has been the hardest. If it is a matter of law, and the human courts don’t handle it, I look at the laws word for word and judge based on the letter and spirit of the law. Three times I’ve had to sit as judge of a Lycan case. Twice I’ve had to order banishment from our lands, and once I let the man off.”

“Why let him off?” asked the Head.

“He killed the human who lead the gang rape of his son. The human courts tried and convicted the other five, but there was not enough evidence to convict him. No DNA, solid alibi, that sort of thing. The thing the humans couldn’t detect was the ringleader’s scent was all over and in his son. He killed him. I let him off.” I felt no remorse about doing it either. The father had let the human courts decide the punishment. When they failed to punish all involved, he took the law into his own claws.

“What were the charges brought against him, and how long did it take you to decide?” the Head asked.

It was a fair question. “Premeditated murder in the first. It took me two hours to rule, and I convicted him of a crime of passion, sentenced him to two-hundred hours of community service, and to pay the rapist’s funeral costs as a ‘charitable donation’ after they found his body ripped to shreds.”

“And the boy?” asked the rep from the South West.

“He’s in counseling, paid by the other five rapists, until it is the decision of the human courts that he has recovered enough to lead a productive life.” I wish I could say he was doing well, but it’s hard to come back from shit like that.

“So, you have been relatively lucky as far as problems in your pack?” asked Travis. He knew everything that had happened in the pack since its founding.

“A few minor disputes, a border issue, maybe a Feral incursion, but those are the three major things I had to handle personally and couldn’t delegate.” I turned to the Head of the Council. “You’re trying to decide whether to break up Homestead, aren’t you?”

“Yes. With such a large territory, we were hesitant to let it stay that way if you were having problems maintaining order. The former ECP had gotten too large, but it seems as if Homestead, with one small addition, has stayed the same size since its founding.” The Head looked around at the rest of the Council and nodded. “Why?”

“I’m not power hungry. I don’t desire lands. The only reason I took that area was no one was in it. It was unoccupied. With the offer I made to the ECP members when I fought Angus the first time, I knew I would potentially need lots of space. While I could expand without much problem, it wouldn’t serve any purpose and could not be justified. I have plenty of space for my pack to spread out and grow. Even if it doubled in size, it would still be large enough.” It was honestly a bit too much, but I wouldn’t say that. I couldn’t give up the land as I would be giving up my pack.

“That one expansion?”

I smiled slightly. “A small pack was without an alpha yet was able to hold down their lands while looking for one. We shared a border with the appropriate buffer, so when they asked me to consider taking them and their land into Homestead, I didn’t see a problem. Should another small pack in the area want to combine with Homestead, I will consider it.”

There were some nods around the room. “Then your pack shall stay as it is. Perhaps we should send younger alphas to your pack to train how not to become Angus.”

“God, no. Send them to Travis. He and my Pop were my role models. All thanks to the Summit of ’83.” Patrick chuckled beside me as Travis grinned and tipped an invisible hat.

Thankfully, nothing else was needed from me until I could come up with the new territories and their leaders. I knew some of it would sort itself out, such as younger leaders coming forward to interview for a free spot. No fighting, no challenges for two years, just go in and try to build up a functional and respectful pack, tribe, flock, or pride. I had one year to get it done, but I did get the committee I wanted. Travis, Pop, Aaron, and Maui all agreed to help me with it. Which is how a pod of dolphins now controlled Chesapeake Bay. Metasepia Lunais now controlled Boston Harbor. They were a fun breed to meet. Lycan cuttlefish, and their leader loved to cuddle.

I was more than happy to handle it all, but I put it off for a week. I had a very important task to attend, and woe to me if I missed it. With Maui in the islands, I had to go to him, and I had a “plus one” other than my husband. While I wasn’t her dad, I still had a small obligation to help Alice become the type of person a parent takes pride in. Patrick and I took her to Hawaii when we went to recruit Maui. She insisted, citing foreign relations as the next alpha of Cali Sands, and it gave Goldie and Lars some time to actually relax. Oh, and Sarge came, too. I taught her the beginnings of how to surf, watched her swim with Maui’s two younger siblings, and had to have a talk with her about kissing the cute Island boys when she thought no one was watching.

“But he’s mine,” she said in the most serious tone she had ever used.

“I am hers,” he had added solemnly. His name was Kahikilani, and he was Maui’s oldest. He was nine.

I looked over at Pat and Maui. All three of us leaned in and took a big sniff. “Son…” I started.

“…Of a…” Pat continued.

“Bitch,” Maui finished. All three of us shared about fifty looks. It had to be handled delicately.

I called Goldie. “Tell me she didn’t kill anyone,” was how she answered the phone. It was near six in the morning in California, so I didn’t feel too bad.

“No, but I think Sarge is about to off himself.” Sarge had been taking a nap since we were watching her, and now he was silently willing himself to die because of his dereliction of duty.

“What has she done?” asked Goldie. I could hear Lars in the background sigh and chuckle.

“Um…well…she found her true mate.” I pulled the phone away from my ear to save my hearing and to take a picture of the two kids. I had enough time to send the picture and down the rest of my adult beverage before the shrieking stopped. “All better?” I asked.

“I want all the information you can get. Is he from a good family? Is he Lycan? Does he have good insurance?” All of the adults laughed at that, but I could see Maui’s eyes sparkling. He heard the order of her questions. Good family was most important to her.

“Here, talk to his father.” I handed the phone over to Maui for them to discuss things. I looked over at the children as they held hands. I had to sigh. “Do you have Skype, Kahikilani?”

“I do. Call me Kahi, only my mother and grandmother ever call me Kahikilani.” He turned to Alice with a lovesick look on his face. “You can call me whatever you want.”

Smooth, kid, I thought.

“Daddy-O, will you help me with Mom? She’s not going to like this.”

I knelt in the sand and looked into her cute face. “I will do what I can. I can vouch for Kahi’s family being good, and his being Lycan, but you have to promise me you won’t make it necessary for him to need good insurance.” She giggled and jumped into my arms for a hug. “So, what does your name mean, Kahi?”

“It means ‘the chief’s arrival.’ Since I am in line for the leadership of the Islands, mom thought it was fitting.” He said all of this in the most earnest tone ever. His entire being seemed serious and solemn. Perhaps she was what he needed, but if he ever took over, how would this work out?
I realized it was really none of my business, but I promised myself I would do whatever I could to help them make this two thousand six hundred mile budding romance.