Free Web NovelChapter 328: Chapter 328 I’ll Carry My Own
Elijah
’Ask for the time,’ Loki says. ’Make the task small and exact.’
"Tea," I say again. "After we get back. Your office or the greenhouse and no one else in the room."
Mother doesn’t answer at once. She eats an apple slice and sets the plate where I can reach it without asking. "You love your pack," she says. "I can tell the difference between when you’re being stubborn and when you’re being loyal. This is both."
"It is," I say. "And I’m not asking you to bless anything today. I’m asking you to use the standard you use for everything else. Skill, conduct and plans that hold."
She blinks once like she heard her own line thrown back to her. "You noticed that the policy reads clean," she says.
"I did," I say. "Allison texted you to say so. She didn’t have to."
Mother’s mouth edges into a real smile. "She did," she says. "And she complimented my lighting on community night before she told me she’d teach. She has manners."
"She does," I say. "She also will not bow to make anyone comfortable."
"I don’t ask people to bow," she says. "I ask them to stand where they said they would." She drinks. "Very well., after the trip, I will hear her out. Tea but no promises."
"Thank you," I say.
She points a finger at me like she used to when we were eight and trying to take cookies we didn’t earn. "Do not bring your father to that room," she says. "And do not ask me to carry your temper if he decides to have one about it later."
"I won’t," I say. "I’ll carry my own."
She nods once. Then she shifts from mother to Luna without changing chairs. "Travel," she says. "Review the convoy order with me."
I slide my phone across and she reads the manifest, stops on Guest, Allison Grey, and doesn’t comment. "Visitor/Ops," she says. "Good. Townhome row B instead of the pack house core. Good. Escort: any Alpha."
"Daniel wanted it flexible," I say. "So Allison doesn’t get stuck outside a door if one of us is down the hall."
"Daniel is correct," she says. "I will put navy on the bed for you. The Crown likes the navy. Tell Allison to wear something she can move in and shoes she can stand in for two hours. Do also note that Maze and Kiara do not answer to you about the housing, they may change it to pack house to keep you close."
"I already did," I say. "She’ll bring the notebook and drills. Ezra will bring cones, I’ll bring patience, and I already discussed that housing with Ethan. It is only written in our own manifest, not the one we send back. We remember our cousin."
Mother lifts an eyebrow. "Bring respect. You can borrow patience from me." She says, a small smile tucked away at the corner of her mouth
I laugh under my breath. "Copy."
She watches me stand and straightens a stack of plant markers she doesn’t need to straighten. "Wolves like us," she says again, but the phrase feels different now. "We keep our word, we correct each other without making a show and we protect the pack and the people we claimed."
"I can live with that version," I say.
"Good," she says. "Text me when you get there Tuesday. Text me when you’re back."
"I will," I say.
She gestures at the apples. "Take one for the road," she says, like it’s still her job to make sure I remember food.
I pocket a slice in a napkin and step into the cooler air of the service corridor. My phone buzzes before I hit the stairs. freёweɓnovel.com
Me to Allison; Greenhouse with my mother, tea went fine. After the trip, she’ll hear you out. No promises. Your call.
Three dots, and I wait.
Allison;Yes. Thank you for asking the right way. Tell her I’ll bring tea if she wants to try a new one.
Me; I will. And, thank you for the rules. I used them.
Allison; Good. We’ll rehearse bail-outs after rehearsal with Daniel tomorrow.
Me: Copy.
I tuck the phone away. Loki sits close and even.
’You held the line without trying to win the whole war in a morning,’ he says. ’That’s the work.’
"It is," I say.
In Ops, Ethan stands at the board with Mother’s co-sign pinned under Policy Mixed Species Access like a quiet anchor. Ezra texts a photo of the cones in the trunk with x12 and a fox sticker Allison sent him as a joke. Father is somewhere else, writing his next argument.
I open the convoy brief and add one line to the top in plain font: fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
TUES 07:30 Leave on time. Respect the room, bring what we said we’d bring.
Then I sent a calendar hold to Mother.
Me; Tea, post-trip in the Greenhouse. She accepts with a single dot. Her shorthand for good.
I breathe once and get back to work.
