Page 36 of Eclipse Pack

Inside the hallway, I see what appears to be a black hole in one of the baseboards. Examining it more closely, I see a pair of eyes looking back at me. What? Surely we don’t have mice or rats in the nursery? Getting down on my knees, I see that the hole is just black paint or marker and the eyes are the googly sort from a craft set. It was done very well because it had me fooled for a moment.

I see a pattern emerging here, and I start to smirk as I sense Coal’s hand in this. Moving to the classroom door, I peek through the window to see what the raised voices are. Seeing Coal standing at his desk with his teacher, Lincoln, leaning over him, I realize my suspicions are correct. As I open the door, Lincoln raises his hand to Coal, and I see Coal flinch.

Before I can stop him, Titan bursts forth, has Lincoln on his back with his paws firmly on his chest, holding him down, snarling. The children are all staring wide eyed, and Coal has flopped back in his chair, mouth hanging open.

Shifting back, I order Lincoln to report to my office immediately and wait for me there. As soon as he has scurried from the room, I turn to the class of pups and apologize for Lincoln’s behavior. Speaking to the pups, I find that this is not an isolated incident and that their teacher has disciplined more than Coal recently. I have to calm Titan before he bursts forth again and goes to discipline Lincoln himself.

Mind linking with Madison, I give her an alpha order to report to the nursery classroom immediately. Talking with the pups, I find that they are all bored with their classes with Lincoln, but they all get more enthusiastic when Madison’s lessons are mentioned. It appears that since my last conversation, shehas introduced many new teaching methods, even taking them outside the classroom on field trips to the orchard where Herb had given them seeds to grow, such as sunflowers and beans.

Madison rushes into the classroom and slides to a halt when she sees me standing there, addressing the pups. Instructing the pups to sit quietly while I speak with Madison in the hallway, I turn and walk out. When Madison has joined me and the classroom door is closed, I do nothing short of interrogate her.

After only five minutes of this, I am satisfied that she knew nothing of Lincoln’s behavior towards the class and explain what I witnessed. Seeing the horror on her face, her first concern was for Coal and the rest of the pups. This puts my mind at ease and I ask her to consider who would be a suitable replacement for Lincoln as I have no intention of allowing him anywhere near the nursery ever again.

“I think you should approach Coal’s momma, Eve. She would be good with the pups and also curb some of Coal’s mischief.” Madison has a thoughtful look on her face as she continues, “She has accompanied us on field trips, as Lincoln was always too busy to help, and I believe she enjoyed it as much as the pups.”

“I’ll speak with her and see what I can arrange. I’m not sure what other commitments she may have.” I think that sounds like a great idea, and why am I not surprised that Lincoln was too busy?

Madison almost raises her hand as she states, “I don’t think she has much in the way of other commitments, and seriously believe that she and Coal could use some extra funds. I’ve noticed that Coal doesn’t attend birthday parties for the other pups and without speaking out of turn, I think it’s because Eve can’t send him with a gift.”

This reminds me of the absence of his father in his life. Mind linking with Miles, I tell him to report immediately to my office and wait for me there. Fortunately, he’s not on border patrol and is paying one of his rare visits to the packhouse, so I won’t have to wait long.

“Madison, can you continue here until I can get a replacement, please? I’ll see that you are rewarded for your dedication.”

“Alpha Heir Bronze, I don’t teach for financial reward. My reward is seeing the pups become valuable members of the pack,” she splutters this out in indignation and it makes me smile.

“I never mentioned financial reward, Madison. There are better ways to reward someone than with money. I applaud your attitude, though.”

Walking back into the classroom, I am about to address the pups once more when I hear a giggle behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I see Madison covering her mouth, trying not to laugh. Following her gaze, I see two more large googly eyes on the slowly spinning ceiling fan. There are two more on the top corner of the blackboard and now that I’m looking for them, I see them everywhere. Coal watches me and I give him a pretend fierce scowl before I can’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing. The entire class is soon laughing as one.

Walking back to the alpha office, I feel Titan starting to tense up and tell him he’s had his turn with Lincoln, now it’s mine. Arriving at the front of the packhouse, I hear the roar of an engine and turn to see Councilman Flint arriving on that beast of a motorcycle of his. He gives me an enormous grin, which soon fades when he sees my scowl.

Pulling up beside me, he hops off his machine and asks, “What has happened? That face doesn’t match the voice that invited me here.”

“Come inside and you can witness me discipline one of my pup's schoolteachers. You can get the gist of it as we go. It’s not something you need to be involved in as a council member, but your feedback later as an observer would be appreciated.”

“Lead the way. You have my full attention.” Flint follows me to the office where a sweating Lincoln is waiting outside.

Ignoring Lincoln completely, we go into the office, where I give Flint a brief explanation of what has gone on. Knowing that seeing me with Flint will have raised Lincoln’s concern to a whole new level, I leave him a few more minutes.

Finally calling Lincoln into the office, I ask the warrior to remain and have him stand behind him. Making sure that I look as though I am struggling to contain both my temper and my wolf, I wait another minute before speaking.

“I have no words to describe the utter contempt and disgust I feel for anyone that would strike a pup. You are fortunate that Titan was able to control himself or right now, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, we would be burning your remains.” Pausing a moment and taking a couple of very audible deep breaths, I continue. “Do you have anything at all to say about your behavior before I decide what should be done with you?”

“Alpha Heir Bronze, I wasn’t going to strike him, it was just a warning…”

“Don’t you dare lie to try to protect yourself! The entire class of pups has stated that it wasn’t the first time, and that Coal wasn’t the only one to be subjected to your temper.” Every fiberof my being wants to rip this idiot to pieces and I can feel Titan encouraging me to do it.

“There is no place for a shifter like you in the Eclipse Pack, therefore you will be…”

“Alpha Heir Bronze, if I may interrupt you for a moment. I may have a solution for this poor excuse of a specimen.”

“What might that be, Shifter Councilman Flint?” Using his formal title may just have Lincoln losing the last bit of control he has left.

“Send him to the shifter council. We are always grateful for candidates for the council warrior training school. If he proves inept at the task, it will probably kill him, anyway.”

“An excellent idea, Councilman. As he seems to enjoy the disciplinary life, it should suit him to a tee.” Watching the color drain from Lincoln’s face, it comes as no surprise when his eyes roll back into his head and he slumps to the floor.

Looking at the warrior, who is grinning like a fool at Lincoln’s prostate form, I say, “Get that trash out of here and arrange for it to be transported to the council lands immediately. He goes with the clothes on his back and nothing else.”

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