Who is Magpie?
Chapter 41- Tolerance

They gathered in the hall and waited for food to be made, while men and women began presenting Jessamine rapid fire style with names. Conor , Tyler, Chen, Melody, Tania, Ferdinand (Ferdi), Delano, Chey,… she remembered every one. Bronx moved to Ezekiel’s left, momentarily wondering if he should be bracketing Jessamine, but saw her twist her hair back up with the pin that contained the knife and decided she was fine.

Jessamine’s leg bounced nervously beneath the table and Ezekiel brought his hand over to gently rest on her knee. “What’s wrong?”

“I always got my own food. I’ve never waited to be served.” She whispered with the hope that no one would hear her.

“Impatient?” He kidded her but her face remained plain

Shaking her head she replied. “Hardly, but I’d rather not move from being the outcast to the pity case.”

Understanding fell over him like hot coals. He never wanted her to feel like she was either, and leaning over towards her he lifted her up and brought her to sit in his lap. There were oo’s and hollers from those around them and she began to blush..

“Ezekiel! What are you doing?” She hissed, squirming in his lap.

“You might want to stop that, but after what you said outside, maybe you want me to take you right here,…” he trailed off, holding her there with a hand placed in the middle of her bare thigh. She stopped wriggling and sat still, blush proceeding to spread into her chest. “There, distracted? .. Good. You will never be either of those here. You are among wolven now, we are a pack, and we stand together.”

People nearby who could hear him began howling and then others joined in. He held her tightly on his lap, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck. She loved the feeling of his rough face against her skin, letting him warm into her, until he nipped at her skin and she gave a small yelp.

“Jessamine.” He breathed into her neck, absorbing the smell of lilies into his lungs.

“Jessa.” She corrected, not sure why but liking the sound of a name that was hers on his lips.

He squeezed her again. “-mine.” Saying ‘mine’ instead of ‘meen’.

His accompanying smile revealing a dimple under the facial hair that had her forcing her breaths out longer and fuller than before. Everyone’s attention detoured from them as people began bringing in carts full of food. Each of the long tables received platters of sandwiches, and as the head table was served Ezekiel began piling them on her plate.

“You think I can eat all that?” She asked as he continued.

“You will never leave the table hungry again.” Was all he said, and she wondered how he had known. She hadn’t even told Kay about how they limited her portions.

He let her slide back into her own chair to eat, subtly looking over at her as she looked at him. They continued to eat in relative silence until they both sat back with clean plates. Jessamine was surprised she had eaten so much, finishing four cold cut sandwiches on her own, but Ezekiel was offering her more.

“No, I’m full,” she assured and he smiled broadly.

“Good.”He barely held himself back from kissing her again. “I’ll show you to a room where you can settle in, and I’ll come get you in a couple hours after I finish some things with the counsel.”

She pouted. “Locked in another room alone.”

“She could come with me.” Fiona offered from down the table.

“Absolutely not.” And “where are you going?” Came from Ezekiel and Jessamine simultaneously.

“Training wing.” Fiona replied, answering to only one of them. “I’m monitoring the sparring matches, but you could use any of the gym equipment if you don’t enjoy that.”

“Absolutely I would!” And “I already said no” came from Jessamine and Ezekiel respectively.

She frowned at him. “Am I still a prisoner?”

“No, I just……”

“Could I leave if I wanted.”

“Of course, I just….”

“Well I don’t want to, so why can’t I go to training with Fiona?”

Ezekiel sighed before whispering as softly as he could. “Because I wanted to take you.”

She smirked at him. “Is it because you think I’ll join the sparring?”

“I swear I won’t let her challenge anyone.” Fiona assured.

Ezekiel eventually nodded and though Jessamine would have gone with or without his blessing , Fiona was happier that her suggestion hadn’t started a big argument. Jessamine leant down to mkiss his cheek before leaving.

“Thank you for trusting me, and, honestly, so much more,” she whispered in his ear as Fiona was already heading to the door..

Jessamine darted off after Fiona with most of the heads remaining, turning to watch her leave.

“What is going on with you?” Bronx demanded. “Like a week ago your dream girl would come to your beck and call, do as you said, be tall and regal looking, almost delicate… Honestly, I thought you were nuts wanting such a weak female as alpha, but that was your call, now… I’ve never seen you dote on anyone you dated before..”

“She deserves it.” Ezekiel interrupted. “You look at the photo of her from before she went missing, she’s tall and approachable, but mature looking for her age. My mate was that girl, but I missed her, and her life dealt her with new cards to survive. Now my mate is tall, strong, stands up to me when I need it, and has her own drive. There is no doubt in my mind that if i had met her at any other time it would still always be her.”

Bronx doubted that, but arguing wouldn’t solve anything so he just grumbled. “As long as you’re not going soft on me.”

Ezekiel nodded standing up. “You don’t need to worry about me going soft, I’d kill for that woman.” He motioned towards the door. “We better get this meeting over with, if we take too long we’ll miss Jessamine’s fight.”

When the men entered the meeting room everyone was there except Wallace. Though Wallace had been beaten, and the other members of the counsel had voted not guilty, there was still the matter of the Fae’s plans, but Ezekiel’s only goal from this meeting was to settle everything for Jessamine to remain at the pack house.

Ezekiel was glad, this time, that they had discussed things without him to speed things along, but more than that he was surprised about how fast they had come around. However, this surprise was met with being told the Wallace Orman and his wife had left. Avion had gone to check on him in the medical bay but they had never checked in. In their room his and his wives phones were left on the dresser with a note, and at the top it read, ‘If they had known who she was, they never would have let her leave.’

The haunting cringe those words passed around the room, even to those that had already heard it, was palatable.

They had discussed the issue during their own lunch, and believed that Wallace had worked with the Fae for personal gain in the past. They were sure that he knew the Fae had kidnapped a wolven, but not who she really was, not that it made his choice to remain silent about it understandable. They sent a team to try and track him and his wife down, but no one believed they would be able to replace them.

Glossing over the note further only served to anger Ezekiel so he folded it into his pocket to deal with later. The counsel seemed to recognize this, having already seen the note, and kept their mouths shut. The Orman’s were considered traitors, stripped of their rights with the counsel and wanted for treason against their own kind.

Ezekiel was warned that though she was his mate, the long term drug affects are not known, and to keep both eyes open for any signs that the control, or it’s side effects, were still a factor. One of the counsel would stay behind to insure Jessamine was cared for and informed about their world, but they also didn’t want Jessamine being left unattended until her behaviour could be observed for longer.

“Go, spend some time with your mate. This is far from over for any of us, but there is nothing more we can do today.” Hariette encouraged, secretly thrilled that things turned out the way they did and looking forward to talking with Jessamine.

Ezekiel nodded. “Adjourned.”

Everyone got up and began to leave, but Bronx was distracted on his phone, grinning in the corner. “Let’s get going.” He said, walking with a certain eagerness to his steps to the training room the girls would be in.