The Alpha's Mother-In-Law's Forbidden Love (The Cresta Chronicles)

Ravyn POV

After a tearful farewell, she loped back beside Jude to Graywolf City. He seemed quiet, content to roam with her across the fields.

The long grasses tickled her wolf legs and hindquarters and paws, but it felt refreshing, like getting a massage the entire way. Bram scouted ahead, his tail waving and catching the afternoon light.

"Thoughts?" she asked Jude through the mind-link.

He shook his head. "None save enjoying the walk home. Where there is a pile of work still awaiting us."

"Make that half a pile. I'll help with it," she said eagerly. "Whatever a Luna usually does."

"You are not a normal Luna, so take your pick."

She growled. "JUDE."

He filled her in on the items Bram had flagged. The pack inventory and supply management for the approaching winter. The alliance agreements, trade agreements and counter-proposals and new trade routes and contracts requiring signatures, and in some cases, council approval. New supply caravans needed. Pack enforcer, property status, and intelligence reports.

Ravyn mulled over the extensive list when he took a breath and a drink from a nearby pond. She dipped her nose in the water and drank too. Over the rippling golden-glow surface of the pond, she caught his lovesick smile.

Her wolf eyes fixed on him. "What?"

"You're cute when you drink water. Moon Goddess, why didn't I make you a wolf from the minute we bonded?"

She gave him a wolfy smile. "We had so much else going on? Returned estranged husband? Dark Goddess? Witch circle clash? No wonder they want a revised updated agreement with the Silverpaws. But the Shifter Federation has one, yes?"

"An overall one," Jude acknowledged. "But the individual packs always reserved the right to make their own side agreements with the witch circle."

"Oh yes. Something about not wanting to be 'leashed.'" 

Jude growled. "Jiro said that, and it got taken out of context. He merely meant that every pack has its own interests that a blanket agreement can't and shouldn't cover."

Ravyn resumed their journey. "He should have known better."

"He doesn't spare people's feelings sometimes," Jude noted with amusement. "He's still a consummate politician, the best in the family. But even he makes slips of the tongue. His point is well taken. The individual packs can absolutely make agreements with the Wildefell Witch Circle. And this issue came up during the first sessions of the Shifter Parliament three years ago."

"I remember."

Sometimes, shifter politics made her head spin, trying to keep up with all the ins and outs. But anything pertaining to the Witch Circle automatically stuck in her brain.

Jude turned away from the water. "Quenched your thirst?"

"If I drink any more, I'll float away. Let's get back home to all that paperwork."

His sharp teeth flashed in a smile. "You make that sound half appealing."

They loped back towards Graywolf City, with the afternoon wearing on. It would be good to get to the castle and tackle some work before settling down to a quiet family dinner--or any kind of dinner. The farmers had fed them in gratitude for their efforts, but Ravyn's appetite had tripled since she became a wolf.

Ravyn mused as they ran, pushing their wolf bodies to their limits just for the sheer exhilaration and blowing off steam. "It's a good thing that all the packs had these agreements in place. And that Silverpaw did. That way, no one can accuse Evenhide and Crimsontail and now Silverpaw of getting special treatment because I'm part of all three packs."

"But the Luna of only one."

Jude's pride and possessiveness heated her blood and warmed her heart. "Exactly. I was Luna-in-training in Evenhide in a sense and didn't even know it!"

"Because the goddess was looking out for you," Jude said with simple, pure faith.

Ravyn flashed a grin of her own, her tough tongue hanging out as she panted. "Both goddesses. Brigid and Selene. May they guide all of us."

Jude nuzzled her gently. "So, you wouldn't mind tackling the agreement with the witch circle to make sure everything is in order?"

"I think I can work my magic," she quipped. "And I'll take a look at the agreement with Ransome's company as well as some of the trade proposals."

He woofed. "Paperwork with my mate may actually turn out to be fun."

* * * * *

Jude POV

Ensconced in his office with the early evening light filtering through the arched stained-glass windows, Jude sat at his desk with Ravyn sharing his chair. Paperwork went faster with his mate pressed against him. Although he'd never been able to focus with Emer beside him, and she didn't particularly care for sitting still. 

In his mind, Hades observed slyly, "You never had me in your head either. I can help you focus and concentrate, tuning out distractions. But Moon Goddess, why must we make these contracts and agreements so deathly dull? They're the literary equivalent of wolfsbane."

Jude agreed. "Ten words when just one will do."

"And not even a good ten words," Hades muttered. "It's like word soup. How is anyone supposed to make head or tail of what they are trying to say?"

Listening to their mental exchange, Ravyn read aloud. " 'And pursuant to reusing the existing caravan apparatuses, a certain protocol exists for determining the depreciation of said caravans.' Why can't they just say that we have to check the old caravans to make sure we can still use them?"

"Because that would be too clear and simple," Jude quipped.

Ravyn tapped the paper with her quill pen. "Alright. New protocol here in Silverpaw. Official documents must be in plain and clear language. Do we have that authority?"

"Another item for council approval, but I can't see that being a problem," Jude replied. "Emer complained about it for years." His cheeks pinkened. "I suppose I didn't see it as important enough, but suddenly I have a new perspective."

Having Hades in his head still felt like letting an unruly roommate into his space, spreading his disorder all over. But the fresh eyes, if they could be called that after Hades' long, long life, definitely helped.

Ravyn looked over the agreement. "Are the caravans that we use still good?"

Jude chewed on the feather part of the quill pen, and Hades growled in his mind, "That tastes disgusting. Looks worse. Don't do that."

Chastened, Jude stopped. "Old habit."

"Chew some nuts instead, or candy," Hades directed. "I know where you keep your sweets."

Flustered, Jude unlocked the bottom desk drawer and pulled out several soft, gooey candies, handing a few of them to Ravyn. Her eyes brightened, as if he'd just made her a present of priceless jewels. "Taffy! Now that's a rare treat."

A soft smile spread across his face. "I keep a private supply. The human merchants don't always have it in stock, but with our new human connections in Aquitaine and the other cities of Lugdunum, that may change."

"Could our people make it here?"

He considered. "I don't see why not. Although that could be dangerous. It's addictive."

She smiled, ultra feminine and part wolf. "We can work it off through ... exercise. We can spar to our hearts' content."

Before he knew it, he was pressing her against her half of the chair, bestowing hard, passionate kisses on her. "Woman, you are deliberately distracting me. I've half a mind to drag you to the training arena."

"But what about the paperwork?"

Her innocent but cheeky response earned her another round of all-consuming kisses. "You want to get the paperwork done? Then stop tormenting me," he growled against her lips. "And I'll pay you back once we're alone, after dinner."

Ravyn kissed him back before rotating out of range of his hungry lips. To stop the foreplay from getting out of control, she shoved taffy in her mouth so fast she coughed and choked, and he had to rub her stomach while she calmed down and chewed, then swallowed. 

She turned back to the report on caravans. "Where was I?"

"Caravans."

"Ah yes. How usable are they? Do they look good? Have they been painted in the last five years? How are the wheels?"

He grinned. "Let's inspect them tomorrow. Or this evening after dinner."

Ravyn made a note on a scroll. "Next, the enforcer and intelligence reports ..."

Her kisses still tingled on his lips, and he chewed more taffy himself so he could get through pack business with her. But tonight ... tonight was theirs and theirs alone. He had a feeling that, despite the tiring day, they wouldn't get much sleep.