Chương 24: Gathering (3)

Until the day of the funeral Cally mostly stayed in her rooms with Jessie and Abby. Cally did this for many reasons. She wanted to keep Jessie and Abby away from so many new and strange wolves. She didn't want to deal with the wolves that were curiosity seekers, power hungry, frightened, and just all around pain in the asses. But they came to her door anyway. The council finally came the day before the funeral, minus Catherine Rosemount. Catherine couldn't have crossed the threshold anyway.

The council came prepared with cookies, (they had good intel) cakes, fruit, and as many delicacies as they could carry. They were welcomed in with open arms. Jessie looking at all the desserts asked her bff Abby, "Do werewolves get fat? Have you seen any fat ones yet?" Abby was also worried about the endless supply of calories and whispered, "I don't know. I haven't seen any fat ones but that doesn't mean anything...." Cally who could hear a pin drop anywhere in her rooms called out, "The only way a werewolf will get fat is if she gets pregnant." Jessie and Abby had complicated expressions after hearing this. They suddenly had wild thoughts of birthing puppies, doggy style sex, OMG! Jessie grabbed Abby by the arm, "We are NEVER going to talk about this again. Do you understand?"

The council stayed in Cally's suite for several hours. There are supposed to be about 14 members at any given time. Each council man or woman representing the different clans. In this case, size really does matter. If a clan could not boast at least a 1000 then they did not get a seat on the council. Councilwoman Angela Perez was an at large member of the council. She represented the various individual packs and smaller clans. This was why she was familiar with the bullying of Tom Richardson. She didn't have a strong backer like Catherine with the huge Red Cliffs clan.

None of the council wanted to leave while any other council member stayed to possibly gain an advantage. Jessie and Abby got bored after an hour or so and went to sunbathe on the balcony. Cally watched them go with almost envy in her eyes. Cally responded to the many questions; such as would she be staying? "Yes for a time." Would she be sitting on the council in Olen's place?"When she felt like it." What about Wotan International finances? "What's it to you?" Renard who had presumptuously asked this question hastily backed tracked, "No, No, what I meant was umm Clan Home. Clan Home finances have all been arranged by Olen, yes?"

"Olen had moved away from the daily operations of Wotan. He had arranged for managers to begin dispersing monies to Clan Home and shouldering many of the other responsibilities." Repressively Cally asked, "I hope this meets with everyone's approval?" Heads bobbed vigorously. Very quickly after these comments the council found excuses to depart. Cally asked Angela Perez to stay. The other members did not envy her. The Wotan was in a bad mood therefore getting out alive was best. "I thought they would never leave." Cally moved off into her bedroom and began changing into a swimsuit. "Councilwoman Perez, may I call you Angela? " Cally took this for granted and then asked,"Would you care to join me and the girls for some sun bathing?"

Angela was confused as to why she had been asked to stay behind. "You asked me to stay behind to sunbathe?" "Well, I'm going to soak up some sun. You can do whatever. But I wanted to ask you some questions about the council and stuff. If you want to get sweaty while answering me, why should I care?" Angela decided changing into the proffered suit was her best option. Cally didn't appear to be upset and was smiling slightly even.

All 4 woman got stretched out on the chaise lounges available on the balcony. Angela thought it quite decadent with iced strawberry lemonades and chocolates. Soft music played and the sun felt very nice beating down on them. Angela never got to relax much as she represented so many constituents from so many backgrounds. "Chieftain Wotan.."Cally interrupted, "That sounds silly. Call me Cally." Angela stuttered, "I, I thank you C Cally. Umm you wanted to ask me questions?"

"I did?" Cally muttered. "Sure, fine. How's things going for our at large member?" No one ever asked how her day was except her staff. Angela was surprised and after a slow start talked until all the lemonade was gone. She talked through all the Sangria-esque, wine spritzers which she had made. She somehow poured out every grievance she had bottled up inside. Until Angela spoke of some them she had not realized how much she was bothered by them. When she finally ran out of steam she stared in shocked amazement at Cally and the girls. "I don't know why I said all that!" Abby smiled and drank more wine, "It's Cally's Professor X's powers."