Page 46 of The Bunny Blues

After their plan to kidnap me failed so spectacularly, I doubted they would work up the courage to try again. They didn’t really want me. All they cared about was regaining the power and control they felt they lost and saving face within the burrow.

Reaching the conference room door, Quin opened it and allowed me to enter first. I walked in to find my mother and father sitting at the head of the table as though they were about to hold court.

A gentleman I vaguely recalled seeing at the elder meeting sat on my mother’s right-hand side, and my family’s beady-eyed attorney sat on my father’s left side.

I moved toward the opposite end of the table and paused. Unlike the plush office chairs my parents were using, the chairs at our end of the table looked like they’d been in use for longer than I’d been alive.

I immediately recognized one of my parents’ favorite intimidation tactics. These chairs lacked the levers that adjusted their height. It wouldn’t be a problem for my wolves, but my diminutive height was going to make me look like a sixth grader.

They wanted me to feel like a naughty child who was being scolded by authority figures. I kept my face emotionless, but tried to decide how best to handle the situation.

The three wolves took their seats first, and I knew instantly what I would do. Calling on my newly found confidence, I took a seat on Macarius’s lap. The corner of his mouth twitched, but otherwise, he showed no reaction.

Sitting on his thighs added significantly to my height, and I struggled to hide my grin at the anger flashing across my mother’s face.

“Your thirty minutes starts now.” Interlacing my fingers, I lifted my chin and eyed my parents with cool disinterest.

“How are we supposed to take you seriously right now? I never expected my daughter to become the purse pet of an ill-tempered beast.” My mother’s nostrils flared. It was a small detail, but it told me I’d gotten under her skin.

It was amusing how close to the truth she’d hit, though. I wouldn’t be surprised if Macarius showed up with a purse to carry me around in. I’d had to fight him to set me down before we entered the hotel.

“I think you’ve misread the situation.” Macarius’s voice was smooth as honey, but laced with venom. “I’m Ellora’s pet. Eager to do her bidding and find ways to please her.”

Peas and carrots! His words and the underlying innuendo unleashed a wave of raw lust through my blood. The temperature in the room seemed to rise several degrees, and a thin sheen of sweat coated my body.

“Is that a mate mark on your neck?” My father adjusted his glasses and peered at my neck.

“Yes.” I’d purposely styled my long hair to leave my neck bare so they could see the mark.

“You claimed another mate after your first heat? This complicates things.” The scrawny man scribbled notes on a pad of paper. “The elders will be displeased.”

Technically, my rabbit hadn’t completed the bond, but he didn’t need to know that. I leaned forward. “What do you mean the elders will be displeased?”

“Historically, female rabbits have only been able to take mates after their first heat if the original mates were found lacking.” The man shoved his gold-rimmed eyeglasses up his nose and continued to make notes. “If word spreads about this, it could damage the reputation of four of our finest families. This will need to be handled quickly.”

“So this is proof that Ellora’s matched mates failed her.” Quin drummed his fingers on the table and smiled like the cat that caught the canary. “And now you’re going to try to cover it up?”

“Yes— I mean, no!” the man stammered. “This is a rare situation, and it’s best for the burrows to handle it quietly.”

“Because you would rather blame Ellora than admit she was used as a chess piece for personal gain by her parents, her matched, and the elders?” Coda’s face was calm, but a hurricane brewed in his eyes.

The old man opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, but couldn’t spit out a single sentence. What could he say when Coda had nailed the situation?

Turning to look at Macarius, I asked, “How many minutes are left, my love?”

His eyes glowed for a moment at the word love, then he tapped his phone screen to check the time. “Twenty-two more minutes.”

“I’m afraid it is going to take quite a bit longer to go over these documents.” The lawyer laid a manilla folder on the table and pulled out a stack of papers.

I smiled at the lawyer. “You have twenty-one minutes before we walk out that door, so you should make them count.”

“Ellora! Stop being rude. You will sit here until we sort out this childish mess you have made,” my father scolded me.

My mother rubbed her forehead as though she felt a migraine coming on. “Why couldn’t you just do as you were told? They didn’t beat you, they kept you alive during your heat, and you lived in the most exclusive neighborhood in Greenbriar. What more could you have possibly wanted?”

“It would have been nice if my matched would have allowed me to build a nest for my heat, but they denied my request for fear it would hurt Clarice’s feelings.” I dig my fingernails into my palms beneath the table, determined not to cry. “I was allowed to pick two pillows and a blanket. That was it.”

Macarius’s muscles flexed beneath me, while Coda and Quin stared at me with twin expressions of heartbreak.

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